Majesticons - Post Bling Party 93 Ft. East
“3 MCs and 1 DJ, we be getting down with no delay.”
The great thing about the film Being John Malkovich was the brilliant consistency of its absurd parallel universe. So watertight were the mechanics of its ridiculous theories and character motives that anything the director and writer threw at you seemed normal after a while. The sight of Malkovich dancing a ballet round his room being controlled with puppet strings by a longhaired John Cusack is a classic image.
Which brings me to the Majesticons. The parallel universe created by Mike Ladd in his Transformers/Star Wars battle of good and evil. Hiphop semantics vs. hiphop lifestyle excess. The battle for black music, apparently. The Infesticons being the saviours of truth and hiphop reality battling the Majesticons, the lord of the après bling Cristal and tailored suits. So consistent is the logic and plotting within Ladd’s alternate universe, we can’t help but be sucked in.
The show begins quietly with an intro proclaiming the mission statement of the Majesticons: to the turn the whole world into a disco. Fuck the Infesticons. Even when the intro proclaims that the Majesticons have teamed up with the Trusticons, we’re convinced, it’s plausible, this is a long, long time from now in a galaxy far, far away. And then the beat drops and the vocalists bounce on to the stage. Omega Moon, Son Superstition and Creature bounce about hyping the crowd while a funk-driven electro-beat pulsates through the PA system of 93 Feet East, rapping about how much cash they’ve got and how the ladies all love it. Mike Ladd stalks the stage in a tailored pin-stripe suit and cravat, hiding behind his glasses, cementing his bling-obsessed alter ego into our crowd’s subconscious. He rants and raves about the dirty Infesticons, convinces us of the way of excess and raps with cool conviction, bouncing up and down and adjusting his cuffs in the same move. Mike Ladd is a cool bastard. The female vocalists add a cutting high frequency to the groove-laden funk and Creature does well as a hype-man and mentalist. The amount of energy and all-important presence on stage is enough to make up for the lack of instruments and the tired DJ/MC line-up.
I’ve always felt that live hiphop was too low in its scope, that there’s only so much a DJ and an MC can accomplish. Adding live instruments, a bassist, a guitarist and someone with a high frequency instrument makes the entire set so much more passionate and textured than people rapping over pre-produced beats.
However that is overlooked tonight as the beats add layer upon layer to the synth funk and mute guitar blitzes. The electronica elements of the music go over well and the syncopated electro beats shuffle along quickly and bouncily, pushing the vocalists to work harder and thus deliver a pitch perfect performance with character, wit and precision. Their flows are dirty and float back and forth between staccato punctures and flowing rambles. Omega Moon’s dirtily distorted voice is grimy and smooth all at once. Platinum BlaQue had me pogoing along, reaching for the sky as the MCs sprayed the crowd with water. DJ A La Fu is a competent scratcher and Infinite Livez provided a hilarious cameo dressed in a brown pinstripe suit and pipe, body popping and flopping about the stage majestically.
The problem with the Majesticons is in fact their strength. The tunes are too good. In the battle for supremacy, they are upping the ante on the Infesticons by being bouncier, funnier and having better harder funkier beats. After suffering defeat in the first instalment, they’ve counter-attacked Empire Strikes Back style. If they’re the enemy, damn, Sam I’m following them. If they’re the scourges of Ladd’s galaxy, the bling-parody only serves to up the ante on conscious hiphop. They’re intended as Ladd's damning indictment of big bucks hip-hop and all who feed off it. The only flaw in his plan is that they're also inventive to boot and at times heroic especially in their hilarious Bush baiting. Helicopter Party showcases their inventiveness well with its incessant Sly-Stone type space cowboy assault.
Ladd only breaks from the consistent universe once at the end to deliver a perfectly timed crowd-pleasing Infesticon Hero Theme, which tears the crowd up.
All in all, the bass-heavy, funk-touched music is addictive and powerful. The vocalists deliver and at the end I’m left with a dilemma. In theory I want the Infesticons to win but goddamnit, the Majesticons have got the funk. It’s a tie now. 1-1. We anxiously await the final showdown.
Love and respect
Just as an afterthought, before the show, Mr Lingo and I were discussing hiphop when we were growing up. And you remember the Keith Murray song that went “The most beautifuliest thing in this world is just like that…?”
Like what, Keith?! Ten years later and he still hasn’t told me. Does anyone know?
- Shook-Yaa
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