I thought people loved Spank Rock. I thought people made a big deal over Spank Rock. So what was with the shortchange Friday night at Emo's? Spank Rock got all of maybe ten minutes to come out and mess around with the crowd, sandwiched between Freddie Gibbs and a blistering Pharoahe Monch/Jean Grae set. It was tough to see him play for such a limited time, though.
The tenor of the party was pretty testosterone-heavy (even Jean Grae is pretty fierce, even ballsy), and when Spank Rock came out in skinny jeans, big glasses, and carrying a tote bag, I thought he might be in for a tough time. But when the beat got going, MC Naeem recalled nothing so much as an olden-days Slick Rick, cracking jokes and signifying through each number. When an MC is a few levels more aware of himself than the audience is, he gains a special kind of control over the atmosphere, able to fine-tune his pacing and repartee to keep things right on track.
