De La Soul’s Friday set at the Fillmore made occasional nods to older material and likeminded artists.
headlined the Paid Dues Independent Hip Hop Festival at Denver’s on Friday with an energetic trip down rap’s memory lane that was a reminder of all the subsequent acts this trio has influenced.
Like each of the entertainers who came to Denver on this year’s Paid Dues bill, De La Soul took a dark stage with minimal lighting punctuated only by DJ Maseo’s raised platform. Along with Posdanus, who for the most part exhibits the same exuberant delivery he did 20 years, and Plug 2, wearing a half-cocked red baseball cap and throwback Nikes that were also like a flashback to the place in hip-hop time from which this group hails, De La Soul commanded a fast-paced set showcasing snippets of old faves like “Potholes in My Lawn,” the occasional nod to likeminded artists like and the late , and a handful of newer, lesser known tracks.
They were a satisfying climax to an underground- and independent-minded tour that included a thunderous, booty-shaking set by California’s , impressive, silver-tongued delivery by Rhode Island’s , along with a half-dozen other progressive rap acts including the enigmatic show host, .
In its fourth year, Paid Dues has the feel of a scrappy, sleep-on-a-stranger’s-floor road trip. The emphasis is clearly on rap’s cornerstones: heady beat mixing, confident and poetic lyricism, and audience participation. That made the cavernous Fillmore a dubious venue choice for the Colorado stop, not only because the place was less than half full, requiring the compulsory mid-floor curtain to visually shrink the room, but also because the large stage is better suited to large productions, and the crowd is separated from the acts, an arrangement that on Friday seemed counter to old-school rap’s participatory nature.
Itap a safe assumption that Paid Dues would have sold out the in Boulder, a venue that continues to pump blood into the heart of Colorado’s loyal underground rap following. It probably could have sold out multiple shows there, and would have been better served by that theater’s cozy stage-to-crowd layout.
Reverb contributor Elana Jefferson is the Room editor at The Denver Post.
