Too Short, Devin the Dude, DJ Kid Capri House of Blues January 16, 2010
The truly legendary lineup of DJ Kid Capri, Devin the Dude and Too Short came together Sunday night for Houston's first major hip-hop show of 2011. The term "legendary" is often just a synonym for "old," but these three dudes brought back the kind of '80s and '90s swag we don't get a chance to experience enough anymore.
Capri, the East Coast veteran and self-proclaimed "World's Greatest DJ," played everything from Jay-Z to Tupac to Outkast to UGK, covering each region of the most influential wombs of hip-hop (with the exception of Erykah Badu). After a 45-minute mix he affectionately introduced Houston's Devin the Dude, reminding everyone how integral he is to the hip-hop community...as if we didn't know.
The Dude really is one of a kind. There is no one like him; he raps, sings, tells jokes, smokes a lot of weed, and is just an all-around personable dude. Although he hasn't experienced mainstream success and recently parted ways with Rap-A-Lot Records, countless major-label artists have featured him on plenty of tracks. He's been deemed your favorite rapper's favorite rapper.
Devin (above) came onstage with his Coughee Brothers entourage and delivered an hour-long set of classics like "Sticky Green," "Lacville 79" and "Doobie Ashtray," to which the animated crowd sang along word for word. It is this sense of community and hometown love that Aftermath admires so much about Houston rap shows.
No album was left untouched as Devin progressed to his most recent studio release, Suite 420, before ending his set with the melodious "Anything" from "To Tha X-treme." His singing voice was as soulful as ever, and our hearts filled with appreciation and adoration as he repeated both verses a second time around.
As he departed, he reminded his loyal H-town following to never give up on themselves. He gave some words of advice: "Wherever you go tonight, get there the way you came here: Good-hearted, good-minded, and good-spirited people." Then, for his encore, the Dude came back on with E-Rock of 5th Ward Boyz for "Pussy Weed & Alcohol."
After the traditional H-town head-nodding and communal rapping in a cloudy weed haze, Capri (above) came back onstage to prepare the audience for the Oakland headliner. To be completely honest, he could have spun for another 30 minutes and we would not have objected, but another half-hour of Dipset and Gucci Mane could not have prepared us for the freakiness that was to come.
Too Short is notorious for being one of the most pimping rappers, which may be why he got along with Pimp C so well; say what you will, but he knows women and he knows how to work them. He has a pimp's bravado, slow and choppy delivery, and a short (duh) bald-headed stature as unmistakable as the way he says his favorite word: "Bitch!"
