Talib Kweli with Jean Grae @ Sonar

Sometimes the worst thing about going to a performance is the opening act. Smh...This was D E F I N I T E L Y the case last night! Talib Kweli performed last night with Jean Grae at Sonar. So with the traditional "doors open at 9 show starts at 10" the wait for Talib to come on began.

Some group called the "The Vets" performed first. Now, I'll admit, their first song had some very slight potentional to be something interesting. Too bad I don't know what it was called. The main thing that stuck out about them was that they tried, and failed, a Mariah Carey "Touch My Body" remix. SmH...What do The Vets need? A P.Diddy Making the Band boot camp! They remind me of the very first MTB, "Da Band", everyone with their individual style which painfully throw the group off balance.


Now, don't think I'm just being mean. E V E R Y O N E thought the same!! At one point the music stopped like the DJ had an "ut oh". And the crowd began to cheer! What made this extermely funny is that The Vets thought these were the supportive "the show must go on cheers"! NO!!! These were the "GET OFF THE STAGE LOSER!!!" cheers followed by boos when they tried to continue!! {LmAO}

But that wasn't the end. After another half hour of DJ P-Funk "on the ones and twos" and Busy B as the emcee, another group came on. Don't know the name of them. Honestly, I was nodding off through a lot of this mess and clearly no one around me was paying attention because they didn't know either. This nameless group was from New York City and they were just flat out wack. One song in particular just made me mad. They kept screaming "PUT YA MUTHAF***'N UP!" over and over and I'm just like "WHY ARE YOU CURSING AT ME?!!? I DON'T KNOW YOU SIR!"

Well...at least the couple next to me were thoroughly enjoying it. But I think they were their parents...or drunk...or both.. smh But again, the highlight of the set was watching them get boo'd off the stage. LoL I loved the crowd last night!

Speaking of which, the ratio of black to white last night was a shocking 2:3! Who would've known that that many white people were really into REAL hiphop?!


And the most interesting person? The ultra buff security guy...that kept walking around like he owned the place

F I N A L L Y well past mid-night, Talib Kweli came on stage!!! It was worth the wait! From the second he stepped on the whole crowd just wanted more and more. I don't even know where to start - how about Jean Grae as today's premier female emcee? I don't know how anyone else feels about that but I can't think of anyone else who really flows and holds her own like she does!

What I loved about her last night is that onstage with Talib, she seemed like "one of the guys". And when we got a chance to see her backstage she was really "girl next door" seeming. At one point she was clearly about to cuss but caught herself and said "opps! the show is over, none of that".

And Talib Kweli? What can I say that hasn't been said? He's a lyrical champ bringing the standards of "old hip-hop' to the forefront as "real hip-hop". But you can get that all from just listening to his albums!


He is without a doubt a great performer on top of it all! And with Jean Grae by his side they were just feeding off of each other and the crowd, serving up a great night.

By 1:15 am the show was slowing down and Talib Kweli began to say goodnight with "Black Girl Pain" but this Baltimore crowd was NOT having it!

He came back on stage for an encore, performing about 3 more songs before officially saying goodbye and FINALLY playing "Get 'em high" and "Listen".

Overall the night was L O N G but Talib's performance was awesome! The only question I still have is...

{Happy Valentine's Day!}