If hip-hop is a religion, then the various members of Californian collective [a]Quannum[/a] are its Jehovah’s Witnesses: the persistent, enthusiastic, determined keepers of the faith. And here, as in church, the word is love, the message peace and the congregation well-versed in specific (B-boy) rhetoric. No guns or bitches, then, just universal enlightenment and an awful lot of rapid-fire wordplay.
When [a]Quannum[/a] debuted in Britain six months ago, DJ Shadow manned the helm but the show’s rolling revue format lacked cohesion, detracting from the fact that [a]Quannum[/a] is essentially an ideological and creative umbrella under which local crews like Latyrx and Blackalicious can unite in their long-term search for The Truth. Earnest intentions, for sure, but in today’s Wu-saturated world of playboy rap, maybe that’s what’s missing; the success afforded the ‘Spectrum’ opus would suggest so.
Quite what Latyrx are on about, however, is pretty hard to decipher, but in between songs [a]Quannum[/a] architect Lyrics Born and partner Lateef urge the predominantly white crowd of nodding Mo’Wax aficionados and trainer fetishists to shout loudly and love one another. At the back, it’s the inventive turntablism of DJ Marz which wins the most prizes. Otherwise, Latyrx is like being lectured at, and people didn’t pay for that pleasure.
Blackalicious, on the other hand, really are here to teach us a lesson. Hawaiian shirt fan Gift Of Gab waxes lyrical about his crew (fellow rapper Versatile and decknician Chief Xcel) and the “purpose” of our lives and demonstrates with the oratory skills of a politician the extent of his vocabulary on skits like ‘Alphabet Aerobics’ and ‘A2G’, while Xcel ignores the jazzier sequences on their current ‘NIA’ album and maintains an even funk keel.
After Blackalicious‘ assured display, it’s difficult to see the relevance of [a]Quannum[/a]. If it exists only as a launch pad for Latyrx and Blackalicious, though, it will have done more than enough.