Shabazz The Disciple
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@ Brixton Jamm, London, 31 October 2012
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by George Mitton
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"Somehow Brixton reminds me of Brooklyn," says Shabazz the Disciple, as he throws a microphone lead over one shoulder and pulls his sweatband low over his eyes. It's his first show in the UK in a decade and the hip hop fans in the crowd are delighted to see him. As Shabazz spits bars from his best-known mid-90s records such as Crime Saga, a mosh pit develops in the back room at Brixton Jamm, not a typical event at a hip hop night.
As if in answer, the rapper discards his red leather jacket to reveal a T-shirt bearing his own likeness and two chains swinging round his neck - one attached to a silver mask and the other the Star of David. One of many MCs affiliated with the Wu-Tang Clan, Shabazz the Disciple never achieved the commercial success of Clan artists such as Method Man, Ghostface Killah or the RZA, on whose label he was due to release his first solo album in the late 90s.
Relations reportedly strained with the RZA and Shabazz didn't release his debut album until The Book of Shabazz (Hidden Scrollz) hit the shelves in 2003. But among aficionados, Shabazz has always been held in high regard. His lyrics achieve the difficult balance between street-level credibility and a spiritual depth that can be profound. Just take the haunting Death be the Penalty, with its searing criticisms of slavery - "I hear the snap of my great great grandfather's neck in the noose" - and occult references to mysticism, holy psychiatrists, Jesus and holy chariots.
Shabazz is perhaps most famous for his role in hip hop collective Gravediggaz, particularly the first verse on The Diary of a Mad Man, a darkly comic look at mental health and demonic possession, which seems inspired by a strange blend of religious terminology and horror films. He's performing solo tonight, though, with DJ Snuff from the UK playing the records. The gig was a last-minute addition to his European tour and Shabazz, who travels light, has been bedding down in a nearby flat for a few days, sipping Hennessey and rapping in the front room while waiting for the auspicious date of Halloween to put on the show.
On the night, though, he's full of energy, with confidence that comes from a belief in the significance of his message. He has, after all, been doing this for some twenty years. One negative element, though, is that it seems as if Shabazz is rapping over records that already have vocals on them. At times there is a ghostly echo as he raps on top of a recorded version of his own voice. But the crowd don't seem to care. Mostly male, mostly wrapped in jackets and hoods, the audience became suddenly lively when Shabazz took the stage, unlike during the warm-up acts, who struggled to build a rapport. The exception perhaps was Caxton Press, who brought energy to the stage with their politically conscious lyrics criticising capitalism and urban deprivation. Cyrus Malachi also had a good reaction for his set, though it seemed he was as in awe of Shabazz as anyone in the crowd. "He's in, like, my top ten lyricists of all time," gushed Cyrus, "I can't believe I just met the guy."
The atmosphere, then, was primed to explode when Shabazz took to the stage with a swagger. Perhaps after such an enlivening show, he won't wait another ten years before coming to England.
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