BUCK 65 feat SCRATCH BASTID + Cadence Weapon @ Le National

By J-Nice - The Limelight - 04/19/2008

“Everybody, are you ready for Buck 65?” The crowd screams and claps in anticipation as he casually walks towards the mic (enter stage left). Now Buck 65 is fairly new to me. After he played a few tracks off his album Situation, I realized that this cat is pretty good. His flow is a little different, but I guess that is what I like about Canadian hip hop. We think outside the box and at times push the envelope. Now, I wasn’t sure what I was expecting Buck 65 to look like, but for some reason I was expecting a typical rapper-esque dude to stroll out and get busy (shame on me for not checking his website). So when this tall, cool looking guy wearing a shirt (somewhat like a cowboy), jeans and black shoes that looked like size 14 humbly walked over to the mic while the crowd was going bananas, I was like “This IS Buck.” I was shocked.

By the time he finished his opening speech, thanking peeps for coming and giving a general introduction, I couldn’t wait to hear him bless my ears with some of his songs, old and new. What’s really nice about Buck 65 (born Ricardo Terfry) is that his awkward style, easygoing personality and smooth, laid-back voice is what makes him a really good performer. He wasn’t jumping around the stage or running up and down but just kept it simple and did his thing. I would chuckle when he did this little “step away from the mic” little jig (if I can call it that), but that’s what was so cool about seeing him on stage -- he was being himself.

The crowds soaked up his music, sang and dance along to songs they loved and remembered. Man, I couldn’t wait for him to rap one of the songs I knew, so I could participate. His music is infections, perhaps even at times uncanny, but that’s what made being there so much fun, much more than I originally anticipated. Along side Buck 65 was an amazing Dj, Skratch Bastid. He performed a set before the opening act and I was blown away. The first time I saw him was when he was playing music for the Concordia outdoor concert (the night K-OS performed) and I was impressed. So getting another chance to see him live doing his stuff was a pleasure. Cutting, scratching, beat-juggling was all on the menu for Bastid -- he went from old/new hip hop to funk, to rnb and soul, blending all the styles together into a perfectly engineered set. And to top it off he had a blast doing it, smiling, clapping in between scratches, talking to the crowd, dancing -- it made you respect him and how he has mastered his craft.

After Bastid came Cadence Weapon and Dj Weez-L. He rocked the crowd with poppy (energetic) tracks that had you dancing along with him. His style was nice with a good flow, and his catching lyrical style made watching him perform a real pleasure. His partner Dj Weez-L was definitely a comical character, having fun while playing on the 1’s and 2’s adding a nice touch to Cadence Weapons performance.

All in all, it was a superb concert -- entertaining, fun and a times quite inspiring. I look forward to hearing more from them in the future.

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