DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist made Afrika Bambaataa’s importance in hip-hop apparent during their Sept. 22 set at the Fillmore Theater in Silver Spring, as they played Bambaataa’s personal record collection.
The show got off to a mellow start with a small, aging crowd and an act with DJs Edan and Paten Locke. Both DJs worked together to integrate rapping, cutting records, beatboxing and sound manipulation into their set. The theme of the night for Edan and Locke was positivity and good vibes mixed with berating and well-crafted rapid-fire lyrics.
The duo almost seemed gimmicky after covering Beatles songs with an acoustic guitar, one mic and a kazoo. Edan sang “Strawberry Fields Forever” while Locke went to the front of the stage to pass out flowers like it was the 1960s all over again. Edan and Locke’s style was experimental and focused, but the gimmicks were distracting and forced.
After the duo left the stage, the crowd packed in and became restless as a crate of records were put on either side of the stage for DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist. After Shadow and Cut Chemist took the stage and gave a great overview of Bambaataa’s talent and influence, the young boys took the chance to yell “Play Bonita Applebum!” while another man yelled for them to “just start.” DJ Shadow noted the importance of describing how important Bambaataa was and continued with his speech before spinning the first record of Bambaataa’s collection.
Both DJs started with funk and early rap before branching into disco and some rock tracks. A James Brown record was one of the first to play and the duo mixed go-go into the set while highlighting its influence in Washington, D.C.
The energy was high and the crowd was free to dance with some tracks while watching an incredible video play on loop behind the DJs. Footage of Bambaataa, his collection and graphics of New York during the 80s and 90s helped bring his collection to reality.
Despite petulant concert-goers and gimmicky openers, the set provided for a lot of dancing and a chance to see two hip-hop greats pay homage to the grandfather of cutting records.
