Brother Ali with Toki Wright and Abstract Rude

BK-One played on his tables for a few minutes to hype the crowd up before Ali took the stage. Then, disaster: from the moment Ali started rapping it was clear his voice was nearly gone, due probably to a demanding tour schedule and the show he had played earlier that night at Kilby Court. This ruined the show for me, though it looked like the rest of the crowd either didn’t notice or didn’t care. Ali knew his voice sounded horrible, he apologized for it and said he wouldn’t even be there if it weren’t for the "love." The crowd seemed to like that.

Toward the end of his set a group of hominids to my right began copulating with their clothes on. This was extremely funny to watch – furtively – until one of the girls began having sex with the back of my legs, at which point I had to relocate for fear of her ruining my freshly washed slacks.

Ali did more songs than I expected, very conscious of giving the people what they paid for. I felt for him because he kept rapping even though he sounded horrible. It wasn’t his fault, it was just one of those uncontrollable variables. I doubt anyone else could have done better (except maybe Big Daddy Kane, he could put on a show with no voice at all–while having sex with five women).

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