Words by George Greenstreet & Tim Gagnon
Photos by Eric Walker
2015 has been a banner year for Converse’s free Rubber Tracks series, but all good things have to come to an end. However, on December 15 they did it in grand fashion, bringing in the pimp half of Outkast, the one and only Big Boi. Flanked by two promising young rappers, Big Boi put on a stunning set rooted in the legacy of his many classic tracks while also shining a light on his forward-thinking recent output.
Opening as representative for upstart Southern pride, Renegade El Rey provided the right levels of energy needed to take on the wintery East Coast masses. Claiming Memphis by way of Atlanta as home, El Rey aimed for “buddy playing the neighborhood block party” levels of at-home personality, mentioning his engineer day job before leading chants of “fuck ‘em all” aimed at shitty co-workers. Despite near constant trap horn interjections and a bit of awkwardness in bringing a girl up on stage to serenade, El Rey’s promise lies in interjecting goofy amounts of energy at every moment possible, pulling a fair share of good will during his 30 minute set.
Honestly, as a former college kid in New Hampshire, I’ve never heard a single positive thing about Nashua. To give perspective to out-of-staters, I heard homegrown friends and professors alike use the nickname “Trashua” more often than the actual city’s name. The name belittles its residents’ economic and societal struggles, but if Aziz the Shake’s set was any indication, he’s got a fair shot of bringing New Hampshire some serious national spotlight, never mind shining the Nashua name a bit. Coming out in a Bruins jersey and giving shout outs to Gang Starr, Aziz certainly knew the way to a Bostonian’s heart, but his relentlessly hard hitting yet effortless flow sold us. “Sunroof Vision” opens by placing Boston at “the center of the universe”, unfolding Aziz’s world of constant hustle and effort in climbing out of hometown trappings. With constant charm and a Snakes On A Plane-sampled intro though, Aziz The Shake sounds well on his way to making his name outside his neighborhood.
Big Boi’s set was as fan pleasing as anyone could have hoped for, covering a large spread of his impressive career. Anyone who has seen many hip-hop shows can attest that a live band can make all the difference, and the bass, drums and female backup vocalists filled out the beats perfectly, making for a rich sound worthy of Big Boi’s energetic performance. If that wasn’t enough, the one and only Sleepy Brown came along to act as both hypeman and singer (making for a gratifying take on “The Way You Move”.) That said, none of the supporting players took attention off of Big Boi, whose immaculate flow, excellent crowd work and irresistible charisma reinforced his status as a Southern legend.
Outkast material made up a huge chunk of the setlist, with hits like “B.O.B.,” “Ms. Jackson,” “Rosa Parks” and “So Fresh, So Clean” getting a rapturous reception from the crowd. While many solo artists playing their old group’s hits just go through the motions onstage, last year’s Outkast reunion seems to have brought a new vitality to these songs for Big Boi, with him giving animated performances every bit as bombastic as those at his recent shows with Andre 3000. Generally cut down to about 2 minute versions with a refrain and Big Boi verse, some songs felt a little stilted without Dre’s parts for balance, but that in no way detracted from their impact. These tracks were an absolute pleasure to hear live and Big Boi was wise to spread them liberally throughout the set, keeping a high crowd energy over the course of his hour onstage.
Cuts from his collaboration with Phantogram, Big Grams, were also a big part of the show, with Big Boi’s passion for the material showing each time he announced he was playing a track off of the project. Ably cutting through the lush, stoned beats of the EP, Big Boi’s powerful voice hasn’t sounded so vital in years. “Born to Shine” and “Fell In the Sun” made for cathartic high points, while trap banger “Drum Machine” had the already hyphey crowd nearly moshing. While Big Boi’s band sounded great through the set, they felt most central here, especially the female vocalists who did a great job filling in for Sarah Barthel. While a Big Grams show would be the preferable way to hear these songs, given the rarity of those performances it’s great that Big Boi has put such thought into adapting them to his own show.
The rest of the material covered odds and ends of Big Boi’s solo and feature career. Often feeling a bit overshadowed by the Outkast and Grams material, these tracks nonetheless kept up the show’s impressive energy. “Shutterbug” popped off almost as hard as the Outkast material, while closer “Kryptonite” seemingly wrapped things up with a touch of Southern crunk. However, the best surprise of the night was the encore performance of UGK’s “Int’l Players Anthem.” Wisely throwing in Andre 3000s classic opening verse before bounding onstage, Big Boi’s giddy espousing of safe sex made for a joyful end to the night.
As usual, Rubber Tracks did not disappoint. Big Boi’s killer performance, plus the great showings from El Rey and Aziz, made for one of Boston’s best hip hop shows in ages. We look forward to seeing what Converse has in store for 2016.
moments in between songs served as a space to understand what you were experiencing and played a crucial part in the impact. The climax of these realizations were the couple seconds of silence after “Driver”, when Graves throws herself, wailing, “I have a history of surrender, part of a certain set of choices found among the many paths forged by lies I told myself lies like ‘I will be protected’, lies like ‘death might forget me’, like ‘home is where I’m never invited’, like ‘my voice provides a light’, like ‘I can have everything I want before I die.”
