Live report: Looptroop, Timbuktu, Spotrunnaz, Chords @ Joe's Pub, NYC 12/12/05
First off, I need to admit, seeing Timbuktu, Chords, Spotrunnaz and Looptroop in New York City was bound to be special for me. I am sentimentally hung up on Timbuktu and Looptroop since spending springtime in Göteborg this year, right around the time Timbuktu's hit, "Alla Vill Till Himmilen", was owning MTVE and ZTV - a smart and irresistible track ("everyone wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die"), and catching a Looptroop video was just a kick in the head, which all got me thinking how awesome hip-hop and rap can be when you take it out the hands of Puffy and away from American poser conventions; if you're a Swedish rapper, there's just no way you're going to front like you come from Brooklyn or Compton, and just no need. So it's pretty well all about the music.
But the groups playing Joe's Pub after midnight on a Monday blew me away like I never could have expected. The show was a packed, a "VIP"-heavy affair, and mostly attended by Swedes - New Yorkers and friends of the groups who had followed them over to catch this debut. With the end of the year approaching, and me a newly-minted New Yorker myself, the circumstances were just perfect.
All the performers were fantastic, I can say without hesitation, but Timbuktu, with his full live band [ed: Damn!] - including trumpet, trombone, flute, accordion (!!??), bass, guitar, drums - and sharing mic time with Chords, made an impression it would be hard to top. The bulk of the set was in Swedish, but tight rhymes, rhythm, urgency and enthusiasm require no translation, so no good times were lost on the non-Swedish speaking minority in the crowd. They switched over to English for a track in the "Fuck the Police" tradition about corrupt and abusive cops in Malmö (with a special "fuck you" going out to the NYPD - how refreshing!). Another track in English was dedicated to "places we're never going back to" - "We ain't never goin' back to St. Petersburg... We ain't never takin' a ferry to Finland again," followed by a blatant tribute to "Gettin' high high high high high" and "chillin'" with a "spliff in my right hand and a brew in my mouth." Alright you gotta love that. Timbuktu is credited with single-handedly building up a southern dialect Swedish rap tradition, but they've gone and mastered ebonix too. The hit - "Alla Vill..." - was saved for the end. The suspense was killing me. There were nearly tears.
Old school vibe prevailed all night, but Spotrunnaz were the most traditional rap act of the night - two MCs with a DJ, dressed in baggy sweats and baseball caps, trading rhymes in a tight form, and... I'm sorry, I have to admit that I got all distracted during their set by running into Timbuktu out in the hallway, where I got to gush and tell him how special it was to see him live for me and how much I love Sweden, etc. etc., and he was nice as hell about the whole thing. And then suddenly it was Looptroop time, the band I had more eagerly anticipated - expecting big things from dreadlocked madmen (well, just the one guy with the dreads, Promoe, who steals the show, of course). Looptroop delivered, and comparing them with Timbuktu is apples and oranges at this point. The three MCs deftly trading and sharing vocals backed DJ/producer Embee - different setup, different sound. But huge goddamn energy. And at this point I'm drunk, trying snus for my first time and dancing badly. So forgive my lack of details, but honestly, Looptroop blew my mind and had my rapt attention. Suffice to say, this was one of the most enjoyable - not just enjoyable, like, ecstatic, amazing, insane - live shows I've ever seen, ever. Ever. I am thoroughly convinced that these rappers from Sweden bring a better live show (and better recordings) than any of the American superstars could hope to. I like how they take the musical idiom, but they don't have to posture like they gangstas. I am in love with Timbuktu's big band. And Looptroop... well, let's just say I haven't done anything resembling dancing in, like, three years. This was something else, and I really just hope the American takeover these guys are laying groundwork for is truly in sight.
.:About the author:
Katie Vrabel is a music journalist (read: coffee barista) living in Brooklyn, New York, and is a contributing writer for the Advocate weekly newspapers and Outburn Magazine.
Photos by David Grubb.