As soon as I walked into Irving Plaza, the ambience set the mood for a night of hardcore hip-hop - without disappointment. Two big-screen TVs blasted humorous obscenities and a live DJ entertained the guests as they impatiently awaited the arrival of Dilated Peoples, an underground hip-hop group that have been around for over a decade.

 

At 9:08, DJ Syncity, waltzed onto the stage with an attitude that would resonate throughout the night. She threw it down for 88 Keys, a new rapper on the scene who was the first opening act. He performed songs from the mixtape, Adam's Case Files, produced by Kanye West. The production was up to par and the skit he developed beforehand was somewhat charming, but his lyrics didn't always live up to the music.

Aceyalone, an artist with a huge fan base in the West Coast was up next. The crowd was more familiar with his music, but the best part of his performance was probably when his DJ stepped out of his booth and rocked the stage with incomprehensible lyrics and inexhaustible energy.

Hailing from California, Dilated Peoples came onstage with a tremendous amount of contagious energy that reverberated throughout the intimate NYC venue. It was the moment the audience was waiting for. Evidence and Iriscience, two thirds of the trio, kept the audience hyped throughout the night with vocals that stimulated everyone’s serotonin levels. Their third member, DJ Babu, did a solo in which he scratched with such incredible skill and precision that the crowd could do nothing but watch with wide eyes and dropped jaws. Alchemist came and remained onstage with Dilated Peoples, much to the pleasure of their fans. He even performed a song off of his unreleased album.

The DJs, referred to as the "backbone of hip-hop" by the members of Dilated Peoples, lived up to the hype and delivered audio with the fans in mind. The concert had its ups and downs throughout the night in terms of talent and stage presence but the crowd, whether they were inebriated or not, showed nothing but love and respect for the newbies and OGs alike. The artists brought it back to the roots of hip-hop, none of that monotonous crotch-grabbing that's going around nowadays.