How many times have you seen “Allah U Akbar” live? For me, it was never, until I saw this video.
Decked out in army fatigues, the puba-less Brand Nubian tear up the stage. The best crowd reaction is when they drop the unedited and highly controversial “Punks Jump Up To Get Beat Down”.
Hey superfan, where were you when the man was still alive?
This flyer here is for what was said to be the first show that the late legend J-Dilla ever played in Toronto at a venue called Roxy Blu, (which I don’t think even exists anymore). The series entitled, “Doin’ It” put on by R.E.M.G., brought every hip-hop fans favorite producers to the spot to rock the crowd on some dj’ing shit. Everyone from ?uestLove to Ali Shaheed Muhammed rocked Doin’ It, but this was the first one that I remember attending.
Dizzy Gillespie did not play the sax!
We’ll let Greg Nice slide for that little faux pas since he and partner Smooth B absolutely tear up this live performance of How To Flow.
Their backup singers definitely add an extra flavour to the whole vibe for the nation(that was my best Oliver impression for BE..haha) and in general this is well, Dope.
Sidenote: Smooth B the original ghostwriter? No wonder Bobby Brown sounded good when he rhymed.
Kardinal Offishall - Fresh Arts Freestyle
More early 90’s Masterplan heatery. Here we have a young Kardinal Offishall (then known as Kool Aid) freestyling with Marvel at the Masterplan Show. Kardinal absolutely KILLS IT over the “Lesson Pt.2″ instrumental. This session was also featured on “Fresh Arts:The Music Perspective” cassette-only release.
My homegirl Rea Mcnamara did a dope piece on Fresh Arts about a year ago in Eye Weekly.
Yes, I know we are getting a little Black Moon heavy around here. But there is no way I could stop myself from posting this.
Judging from Bernie Macks intro, this should be Black Moons first TV appearance.
Mad energy from the jump. You got 5ft grinding up with girls in the front row and Buckshot on some spiderman shit, jumping off speakers. I always remember seeing him do this high kick at the beginning of the video for “who got the props”, that dude has got crazy balance, he would definitely make an ill baller.
Anyway, this video is dope. Black Moon - Who Got The Props (Live)
I still remember every word of this interview. I was a major Del/Hiero fanboy back in the day and when this album dropped, I skipped last period to go to 333 Yonge St HMV and catch a live performance. There were about 14 people there total and Del’s reaction to the small crowd was classic. He still tore it down and signed autographs for everyone though.
You cant forget about Apollo Comedy Hour. There were some serious gems coming from this late night show.
This clip is no exception, De La Soul - En Focus live.
November 30th, 1991 - 89.5FM CIUT Toronto’s Masterplan Show
- John Bronski, MC Motion and DJ Power
Download the mix here. (Man, we’re too good to ya’LL).
Well it’s “May TwoFour” long weekend out here in Toronto, and a lot of our beloved heads will be outta town and outta commision ’til Tuesday. We at TheMeaningOfDope thought that it’d be fitting to hit you off with a crazy Masterplan Show Mix from November 30th, 1991 to hold you down while you’re stuck in the bumper to bumper ‘up north trip’ traffic on the 400 to Wasaga, your rich friend’s cottage, or Canada’s Wonderland to hit the “beHEMOTH”. Or maybe you’re like me and feeling a little too old to join in on those festivities. It’s all good, BBQ’ing and playing dominoes never tasted so good. Tracklisting can be found below…
Fat shout to David Dacks on the hookup.
This video has it all, the good, the bad and the down right ugly.
Good: Erick Sermon cameo
Bad: Pete Nice too scared to actually make his way to the front of the stage
Ugly: MC Serch’s dance at the begining of the track (although, you have to give him his props for being confident enough in the first place)
There are some great moments in here. An appearance from a young Zev Love X, now known as MF DOOM. Also watch for Serch’s jumping fist pump when he hears the crowds reaction to “what do we think about hammer?”. That dude had HANGTIME.
I love double negatives. Say what you want, but there was a point when Fu-Schnickens were the biggest group in Toronto. I swear they did 3 shows here in the year this was on Rap City. As a crew, they definitely worked on their routines and this impromptu session and concert footage shows it. Plus, they’re having so much fun!
