On a sweltering Friday night, the halls of Psi U are packed. The air is thick with body odor, cigarette smoke and the tense excitement of the overtly-political indie rap fiends that comprise the night’s crowd. It is, however, all the “weed smokers” that Harlem-based rapper Immortal Technique demands to “make some motha-fuckin’ noise!” as he takes the stage for the evening’s long-awaited set.
Seeing a bunch of predominantly white, shaggy-haired hipster kids pump their arms in an “I feel ya!” rhythm to songs entitled “Harlem Streets” and “Peruvian Cocaine” is awkward, and perhaps questionable. But it is nonetheless an indicator of Immortal Technique’s lyrical and sonic energy, intensity and passion.
“I really liked it. I thought it was very powerful. I don’t own any of his albums, but I was sitting up front and I thought the lyrics were great and the beats were well-produced,” said Vlad Gurewich ’10. “He’s got a lot of stage presence. It was cool to see how he translated what ideas he discussed in the seminar [that afternoon] into his art form.”
An ex-con turned activist, academic and rapper, Immortal Technique (born Fellipe Coronel)’s lyrics run the politically-charged gamut of anti-Iraqi-war jargon to tirades against Fox News to condemning the “crack life” glorified by today’s mainstream hip-hop culture. These words—often muffled by the fuzz bass or drowned out by his posse’s incessant “Yeah-uh!”-ing—were nonetheless well-supported by the minimal tight beats of DJ GI Joe. The lack of sampling was a refreshing return to old school hip-hop with a message (a la Grandmaster Flash), where the voice of the MC was its own instrument to support the music.
Some attendees, however, such as David Snydacker ’09, were incredulous of the true hold the rapper’s music had over the audience: “Ninety percent of kids at that show are gonna grow up to make money off of people more from Immortal Technique’s background. He’ll alter the views of a few kids, but still… they’re capitalists, and they’ll still exploit people.”
Perhaps, but with students climbing chairs, tables and banisters to pump their fists and chant lyrics extreme as “Bush knocked down the towers!” it’s difficult not to have even the tinniest resurgence of faith in our generation. The night was not without it’s crunk moments, however. Opening act Diabolic raised a bottle of Bacardi as Immortal declared, “Legalize it! Marijuana kills racism, ‘na I mean?” So perhaps we’ll keep smoking our Big Tobacco cigarettes while donning Immortal’s “American Distress” t-shirts. Maybe our generation will affect positive political and social change, or maybe we’ll move to the suburbs and send our kids to private school. Remember, irony is in.
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