Surprisingly, for a hip hop gig, there were no delays in opening the doors or for the show to begin. Rakim began out night with a lenghty but tepid performance of old (largely forgotten tracks).
De La Soul really lit up the stage with excellent wordplay and renditions of their best songs.
As for Blacksar.... overall OK but the duo went through only three of the Blackstar albums songs. Talib clearly brings out the best in Mos because, solo, often Mos in often incoherent and drifts into totally unknown material. I maintain his latest album is him worst material to date but he was keen on bringing out at multiple times during the night. The crowd was obviously tired and bored during a lot of Mos Def's solo stuff.
Talib, one word: fire!
Nice cameo from Jay Electronica for 'Just Began.' It would have been nice to see more of him.
Overall a good night but a bit disappointed by 'Blackstar'