If you’re not familiar with Brand Nubian, hurry up and go purchase their debut album One For All and then slap yourself for sleepin’ on it since 1990. The group consisting of Grand Puba, Sadat X, Lord Jamar and DJ Alamo performed together tonight for the first time in many, many years at a spot called Sputnik in Brooklyn. Although I have several gripes with the venue’s incredibly shitty sound system (Sadat & Puba continuously asked for the mics to be turned up but it was no use) and lack of a real stage (it was like two feet elevated off the floor), nothing could surpass the hype show all three (Alamo wasn’t there) put on. Puba started it off with Step To The Rear, one of the best tracks off their debut and my personal favorite along with Ragtime (the performance of this track would’ve made my night so much sweeter). After that, the group went through hit after hit like Slow Down, All For One, Punks Jump Up To Get Beat Down and Don’t Let It Go To Your Head. And when the trio wasn’t blessing us with past material, they managed to keep the crowd going by spittin’ some acapellas and freestyles. To sum it up, it was a spectacular show as one of the best groups from the infamous golden age era of hip-hop performed tracks off of one of the best albums from that period.
Big ups to Greg Nice who was in the building and be sure to check out the new Brand Nubian album when it drops!
And did I forget to mention that I got great video of most of the performances? Check back soon for that!
see also:
Brand Nubian in Brooklyn, NY (8/11 @ 9pm)