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NEWS : STORIES
Here's the short version of what happened during Thursday night's Hieroglyphics show at the Maritime Hall in San Francisco: Typical of hip-hop shows, the DAT kept dropping out, there was too much bass, a litany of bandmembers and associates
Your typical, by-the-numbers hip-hop show, right? Well, here's the even shorter version of what happened: The Hieroglyphics, as the phrase goes, wrecked shop. The ability to survive technical glitches while putting out great music was a tribute to the extended Bay Area hip-hop family known as the Hieroglyphics. Once the darlings of both the hip-hop underground and alternative hip-hop circles, Hieroglyphics crewmembers Del the Funkee Homosapien, Souls of Mischief, Casual and the Prose have bound together and are coming back strong after a hiatus that began when they were all dropped from their respective record companies in 1992. Longtime Hieroglyphics fan Jason Donovan, 27, was typical of attendees at the show in that he was anxious to see his favorite rappers get their props. "The Hieros are the shit," he said, "and I really wanted to be here tonight to hear some of their new joints to get myself psyched for Tuesday," which is the release date for the crew's latest, Third Eye Vision. The Hieros didn't disappoint. After opening up with energetic versions of classic tracks from Casual ("V.I.P."), Souls of Mischief ("Balls Don't Bounce") and Del ("Doctor Bombay"), the Hieros balanced the rest of the show with new tracks such as "See Delight," "Go The Length" and "The Who." All the new tracks were warmly received, but fans such as Donovan seemed less interested in dancing to them than they were in soaking them in. At the conclusion of a devastating rap from Phesto Dee of the Prose on Third Eye Vision's "After Dark", Donovan just shook his head in amazement. "That was the joint right there," he declared. "I can't wait to get my hands on it!" The intensity of the Hieroglyphics' stage show Thursday night matched the excitement of witnessing their return, but the sheer volume of new and old songs, including classics such as Casual's "Caught" and Del's "Mister Dobalina" seemed to wear on the performers and audience. The crowd was constantly in motion for the first half of the show but eventually was reduced to enjoying the groove in a calmer manner due to sheer exhaustion. For his part, Del The Funkee Homosapien was practically reduced to a blubbering mess, repeatedly telling the audience how "juiced" he was (as in "gin and juice") and eventually sitting on the corner of the stage, seemingly drained from inebriation under the hot stage lights. His last freestyle of the night ended with a few guttural grunts, a la gangsta-rapper Master P, and the words: "Video games! I'm just hear to talk about video games! I'm a video game freak, y'all." A few quick seconds passed. Del racked his brain for something new to rhyme about before he grunted again, smiled and left the stage. The rest of the Hieroglyphics crew followed, laughing at his drunken predicament. At that point, it seemed like they'd given their all, and it was more than enough to whet the appetites of their fans. Spotted at the merchandise table in the lobby as he was picking up a T-shirt, Donovan was more than satisfied. "That was the bomb," he replied when asked about his overall opinion of the show. "I'm definitely psyched for the new stuff, and they played all I wanted to hear. I'm in Hiero Heaven!"
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