My senior year in college, the student activities board at my school booked Blackalicious for our annual Fall concert. I was so pumped! Nia and Blazing Arrow had been dominating my playlists for some time, and I couldn't wait to hear the tracks performed live. Alas, when the day of the show arrived, Gift of Gab was sidelined for a medical issue. So instead of Blackalicious, we got Maroons - Chief Xcel and Lateef the Truthspeaker. Lateef is an able rapper, and Maroons put on a good show, but my anticipation for Blackalicious was so great that I could only partly enjoy the performance.
Nearly the same scenario played out Saturday night at the Austin Music Hall. I had been impatiently awaiting my chance to see ferocious Atlanta MC Killer Mike for months. I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind Vol. I and II had been on my Sansa Clip nonstop. However, within minutes of arriving at the venue, I learned that Killer Mike was nowhere to be found, and in his place would be Oakland rapper Mistah F.A.B.
Mistah F.A.B. put on an inspired performance, energizing the crowd with tracks from his upcoming Da Yellow Bus Rydah. The high point of his set was a regionally inspired freestyle that unified the crowd in appreciation for his considerable skills. It was a fun twenty-five minutes, but I couldn't help but wonder how the act I intended to see would have performed.
