Music > Live Reviews

KRS-One

The Adrian Flux Waterfront

26/02/17

As I made my way down to the Waterfront, in the back of my mind I was pondering some of the elements of hip-hop shows that can cause me irritation. No doubt he’ll be late on stage, I thought, and will blame the early curfew for the short set we were no doubt going to get. Would there be a surfeit of posturing wannabe tough guys in the crowd? I was looking forward to spouting off about some of these negative aspects in this review.

Arriving early, but not that early, the Waterfront was oddly empty with only very quiet background music being played. As the crowd began to build, bang on 7.30 The Mouse Outfit’s DJ took the stage, the volume kicked in and we were off. Soon joined by rappers Sparkz & Dubbul O they very quickly created a brilliant atmosphere.  It can be a thankless task having to take the stage so early, where people are more interested in getting a drink and chatting, but Sparkz especially was a charismatic frontman and they soon had the crowd gathered round the front of the stage. Heavy boom bap beats, ingenious samples, deft rhyming and an endearing attitude meant they went down a storm. Great to see some talented UK hip hop being given the chance to support a big name.They’re back in Norwich in May, headlining the Arts Centre - miss them at your peril.

Straight after we had 40 mins of crowd pleasing hip-hop classics in the company of DJ Predator Prime - the son of KRS-One. Just a few minutes after his advertised stage time KRS-One came bounding onto the stage and proceeded to blow everyone away. Norwich has always done well to attract some legendary hip hop artists to our venues over the years, and this Bronx native is about as legendary old skool as they come. There was a brilliant celebratory atmosphere, no posturing at this show, just a sea of smiling faces and positivity. KRS was a livewire on stage, working the audience, playing the different sides of the crowd off against each other and dropping classic after classic - Stop The Violence, MCs Act Like They Don’t Know and Step Into A World all ramped up the excitement. He didn’t even need to leave Sound Of Da Police till last, his set was so full of quality tracks. Some of the best bits were when the DJ lowered the volume of the music and KRS rapped unaccompanied, showcasing his incredible MC skills. If anyone who claimed not to like hip hop could have seen him in full flow, their minds would have been changed. He told us how our future selves are our own guardian angels, and I loved the little nuggets of profundity he kept dropping in.

The crowd from where I was standing went crazy throughout, and there was a brilliant Friday night vibe in the room - a couple of dudes even handed him their treasured BDP vinyl which he duly signed. After comfortably more than an hour KRS-One left the stage to rapturous applause. Hard to believe I’d had a few negative thoughts on my way down - KRS-One was absolutely brilliant, giving an incredible example of live MCing, and combined with a great homegrown support act this was one of the best hip hop shows I’ve ever been to.

Photos by Tayla Lungley