Prince Paul/ MC Paul Barman/ dälek

Featuring Mos Def, Talib Kweli and others
Maxwell's, Hoboken, NJ
02.21.01

Prince Paul, MC Paul Barman and dälek offer three drastically different approaches to hip-hop. Put them together on the same bill, and you get a pleasingly disjointed puzzle of the ever-evolving state of the genre. On this evening, inside a small club on the outskirts of New York City, these wildly diverse acts came together to explore the endless possibilities of such a disparate combination.

Opening the show with thudding beats and dark, ominous soundscapes, New Jersey's experimental trio dälek set out to warp our minds with a hip-hop version of heavy metal. Clutching the microphone with eyes squeezed shut, MC dälek delivered apocalyptic lyrics over violent turntable scratching coupled with plodding rhythms, all for our headbanging pleasure.

Soon, dälek's explosive noise gave way to the eccentric musings of nerd-rapper MC Paul Barman. The goofy MC's oddball charisma, mile-a-minute pop culture satire and shameless dance moves all added up to some serious chutzpah. His tongue-twisting, lyrical jumbles amused and impressed as his hardcore fans attempted to keep up with him word-for-word. Blending jerky, arrhythmic prose with playful music in his hilarious stage show, this self-conscious buffoon showed us a lighter side of rap.

Immediately following Barman's final brain fart, Prince Paul appropriately took the stage like a stand up comedian. Casually joking with the audience, he began sizing up their musical tastes. With career highlights including working with Stetsasonic, De La Soul, Dan 'the Automator' Nakamura and Chris Rock, this DJ/producer was clearly in control.

"I'm a DJ," the mixmaster explained as he stepped behind the decks to spin a seamless set of hooks. Mixing classics by De La Soul, Rob Base, Public Enemy, Wu Tang, House of Pain, Onyx, LL Cool J, Digital Underground and Black Sheep with more recent cuts, Paul's high-energy set was a crowd-pleasing tribute to the vitality of hip-hop.

However, with each record, the set became increasingly predictable, unfolding more like a college party than a hip-hop show. Hoping to hear "Booty Clap" or any trademark Paul material, I soon realized that I had the wrong expectations tonight.

While dälek and Barman both represented their own underground corners, Paul showed us various facets of hip-hop's mainstream - everything from gangsta rap to booty bounce. But while dälek and Barman pushed their respective envelopes, driving their shtick all the way home, Paul kept it in cruise control tonight, granting us just a small taste of his diverse talents.

Story and photos by Hal Miller

This review originally appeared on FUBU's Y2G.com.