Concert Review: Chali 2na

Every once in awhile I'll go to a concert and will do my best to copy Mark's format for reviewing concerts. And not just any copied review, I'll grade everything that goes into a good concert going experience (10 categories) and then average out that score out in the end. Grading scale goes from 1 to 10, 1 being the lowest score and 10 being highest.


Bands: Prophit, The Ear Force, Elemental Kazen, Sons of Kalal, Whosane feat. Pangaea, Chali 2na
Venue: Middle East Downstairs, Cambridge, MA
When: 7.16.09

The Lowdown: Chali 2na was once the much-beloved baritone MC from hip-hop group Jurassic 5. Two years after J5 went their separate ways, Chali 2na has just released his first proper solo effort "A Fish Outta Water". I went with a couple of friends to see if he could live up to the hype that J5 had set him up to deal with.

The Venue: Middle East Downstairs
Score: 9
I love Middle East Downstairs. It is definitely one of the best club venues in the Boston area. The place has a good sized floor and a raised floor to the right of the stage so it's always fairly easy to get a place where you can see clearly. The sound was solid and with two bars serving $3 tall boys, it's a great place to party. Plus, you can snag some tasty eats upstairs before the show.

Price: $15 at the door.
Score: 7
Totally reasonable, although I've paid less for shows there.

The Chicks
Score: 4
There were definitely a some attractive girls there but they were either slightly trashy or not interested in talking to anyone new. Wasn't the kind of show I expected to find tons of friendly chicks at so it wasn't a problem.

Jail bait
Score: 10 (1 being full of it and 10 being none at all)
I try not to deal too heavily in non-21+ shows these days...

The Crowd
Score: 5
Honestly, the crowd was much smaller than I expected it to be. I thought that the draw of Chali 2na would be enough to convince all the suburban white boys who thought they knew hip-hop to come out for this show, but apparently I was wrong. The people who were there were really into it, but the numbers were weak. Also, it was mostly white suburban dudes, like myself.

Ganja Factor
Score: 10 (1 being I could have gotten a contact high, 10 being sXe)
Nada. Middle East security was pretty tight and the crowd wasn't big enough to have lit up.

Hilarity Factor
Score: 8
Funny might not be the exact word but between how much we laughed as some of the opening acts and how much Chali 2na made everyone smile, I'll put it up there.

Douche Factor
Score: 8 (1 being full of douches, 10 being none at all)
There really were not too many douches around. At worst, there were some guys who thought they were fairly "hard" but they weren't bothering anyone. A pretty good crowd all in all.

The Opening Bands: Prophit, The Ear Force, Elemental Kazen, Sons of Kalal, Whosane feat. Pangaea
Score: 5
I was going to give this category a 6 because 3/5 of the openers were solid but I had to bring it down a notch because The Middle East shouldn't have allowed there to be five openers in the first place. They ran into Chali 2na's 11:45pm start time, which is late for a Thursday when I have to work at 8am, and some of the openers were terrible. Prophit (Queens) started off the show with a good set that presented those who were there early enough with a taste of what's going on in New York's scene right now. The Ear Force (Boston) was an absolute joke. Out of four MCs, only one had decent flow, so why not spend at least a quarter of your set free styling? Terrible. Elemental Kazen (Seattle) brought some fury. A rapper originally from Cambridge, brought his rapid fire rhymes back to his home town and was nothing short of impressive. Sons of Kalal (New Hampshire) were the second terrible four-MC group of the night. At least they gave everyone something to laugh at. Whosane (Brooklyn) feat. Pangaea (So. Africa) was the opening act of the night. Whosane brought heartfelt and well spoken rhymes to the stage and kept the energy high the entire time. Pangaea added a wonderful female vocal part to many of his songs and the chemistry between them was great. Check them out if you have a chance.

The Main Act:
Score: 8
Chali 2na had a room filled (well, actually, quarter-filled) with people there almost solely because of his former crew Jurassic 5. With such high expectations, 2na did a great job not disappointing. Playing with the only live band of the night, 2na kept it funky and fresh throughout his whole set. The biggest pitfalls where his renditions of J5 classics What's Golden? and Quality Control, although he did a great job with Freedom. I can understand why he wanted to work a couple J5 tracks in there but without the whole group, it's near impossible to do those songs justice. Fortunately, his solo material had plenty of groove and funk to keep everyone dancing throughout the set. His hypeman/backup MC, whose name I don't remember, had a great energy and held his own with the larger than life 2na. Their occasional choreographed dance moves helped keep the energy going too. While Chali 2na's flow can get a bit repetitive over the course of a set (and no doubt on his new album), he is such a charismatic character on stage that his live show is simply one big party. The best part was that he might have been having more fun than anyone in the house and when an entertainer can get that across, you know they're in it for the right reasons.

Average Score: 7.4

Final Thoughts:
Aside from the lengthy opening sets, and the fact that two of them were terrible, this was an awesome show. Certain things like a lack of loose women weren't really a concern and Chali 2na wasn't deterred by the lack of a full house. It ran a bit late for a weekday show but 2na made it all worth it in the end. I would recommend checking him out in you get the chance.

Worthwhile:
Elemental Zazen
Whosane feat. Pangaea
Chali 2na