Bigger Than Hip Hop Tour 2006
Fergus Brady
It’s a mixed night for three letter acronyms. The Sankey’s crowd has already heard ‘fuck’ firmly prefixed to the BNP and IMF by the time bandana sporting rapper MCD takes the stage and the term RBG (Revolutionary But Gangsta) is invoked by Dead Prez to define not just their aesthetic, but a participatory lifestyle. This idea, there being something beyond the music, is central to the tour, which is accordingly affiliated with such organisations as Love Music Hate Racism, Afrikids and Justice For Columbia.
The extent of non-musical activity is made clear when a union representative urges those in attendance to join the union and ‘make the right choice’ in the (at the time) forthcoming local elections. But does trade unionism actually have anything to do with racism? The organisers seem to be striving to convey an impression of an all embracing leftist agenda, which seems disingenuous given the sexism that is unsurprisingly expressed at several points in the evening. While spoken word performer Nii Parkes, with the most moving set of the night, ruminates on colonialism and deracination, LFG debates ‘Your mouth or your ass?’
Musically, though, tonight is awesome, a barrage of mostly short, mostly sweet MC and DJ appearances, culminating in Dead Prez’s tour-naming anthem. And as for the politics, in a world of competing voices it can only be good to hear some radical opinions put out there.
Bigger Than Hip Hop Tour 2006 @ Sankey’s Soap
2nd May 2006
3.5/5
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