Meechy Darko, surrounded by red mist, stood on a pile of graffiti covered ruble, the massive, fallen head of the Statue of Liberty looming behind him. His deep, gravelly voice boomed across the audience gathered on the White Oak lawn.
“Houston what the fuck is up?! Are y’all ready for Beast Coast?”
Below him members of Beast Coast, the rap collective composed of the Flatbush Zombies, The Underachievers, and members of Pro Era, gathered in front of the screaming crowd. The stage cleared leaving only the Flatbush Zombies. The beat for Bounce dropped and there was an audible gasp as the three East Coast MC’s launched into the air. Each member spit their verse while flipping and spinning above the stage.
The Beast Coast: Escape From New York tour brought the group to White Oak Sunday evening, headlined by Joey Badass and The Flatbush Zombies. The show mainly split time between the 1999 MC and the group responsible for hits like “Thug Waffle”, but still had plenty of music from The Underachievers, Kirk Knight, Powers Pleasant, CJ Fly and one notable, surprise MC from Houston.
“Back in 2012 I was in H-Town for the first time,” recalled Joey Badass as he prepared to introduce the guest. A group of fans in the audience began to scream out an inaudible name as he calmed them down.
“If you know his name chill. Good for you” he sarcastically laughed. “I just remember this young rapper that was back stage with us then and wanted to bring him out now. Y’all know Maxo Kream?”
The Alief rapper strolled onto stage to a roar of applause and joined Joey Badass who he collaborated with a few years ago on the hit “1998.” Fans buying tour shirts or food on the outskirts of the venue dropped everything to run up and see the two MC’s on stage together. Maxo, donning a graphic T-shirt and short set, and Joey, in a black bucket hat and jersey reading “Suck It DX” stood back to back as the music played for the surprised crowd.
The show, which donated a dollar of every ticket sold to Brooklyn schools, included fan favorites like “Temptation” and “Clockwork Indigo” but also had a number of moments where members would perform unreleased music. Audience members laughed with the performers as they prompted people to leave the picnic on the lawn and come to the stage during an impromptu stop in the show.
“Wait..wait. Stop everything,” sighed Meechy Darko as the music trailed off. “I can’t perform like this. I just saw you yawn.”
He pointed at a member in the crowd, laughed, and fake argued with the singled-out fan before turning back to the DJ to restart the song.
“The sun finally went down. The weather is nice. It’s still hot as hell…but it’s Houston. We doing it again”
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2019.
