Slick Rick Rocks Red Bull Music Academy [Recap]

“News from the east, sire, Rick the Ruler has returned!”

Not lying! The Redbull Music Academy knew that it was a great idea to bring the Ruler back to rock the resurrected Paradise Theater, in the Fordham area of the Bronx.

Opening the night and setting was DJ D-Nice, who did an especially amazing job taking us on a time machine from the 80s up to present day. D-Nice also did a special dedication to the South Bronx starting with KRS-One’s legendary “South Bronx,” he then lead us into the classic “Ante Up (Remix)” from M.O.P., D-Nice then flipped Remy’s “Bring Pun Back!” line over and over blending it with the already present “It’s So Hard” instrumental into Pun’s “It’s So Hard” and then of course… “Twinz (Deep Cover ’98).” The crowd definitely caught goosebumps at the moment, all singing Pun’s lyrics in harmonious cooperation.

The announcement of The Ruler incites excitement among the People!!

But instead…

Slick Rick’s live band for the night the “Get Lifted Crew,” had a little kidnap plan of their own, where they took the event hostage for what I remember to be 15 minutes. To be fair, I’ll admit that they’re not terrible, but no where near the best at what they do. And I have realized that most MCs that belong to live bands do great covers as opposed to original songs for a very obvious reason.

There was a moment where they poured their guts into their set and one of the MCs yelled, “PUT YOUR FISTS UP!” The crowd crossed their arms in defiance. Aside from those 2 girls near me who did raise ‘em up. Whenever a song was done, the crowd took the opportunities to shout comments that were clear signals about their anxiety and their want of Slick Rick’s presence. But I’ll give Get Lifted credit for the last song, which they had the courage to perform after an agreed consensus of boos & no’s from the crowd, called “I Want To Bust My Nut On You.” Some of the crowd got around to enjoying that song. I would certainly recommend that they work on more parody/comedy raps.

BUT FINALLY!!!

Slick Rick appeared on stage and rescued the crowd. The Ruler RETURNED!! The Ruler began his set with “The Ruler’s Back” and “Lodi Dodi,” which he also credited Snoop Dogg for “keeping it alive.” Unlike Slick’s usual off the wall, dancing kind of demeanor, he was certainly more reserved in that respect, but effortlessly engaged with the crowd, who rhymed right along with him. His control of the crowd came with pure ease as he also had no trouble projecting his voice over the live band combined with his instrumental.

“Children’s Story” had a greater involvement by the live band, having sped up the tempo of the song and Rick rode the beat like a breeze in Summer. Rick also resurrected some of his collaborations with Outkast such as “Da Art of Storytellin” & “Street Talkin.” After a whole hour of the Ruler taking us through “The Great Adventures of Slick Rick,” he willed everyone to their humble abodes with love and wished for all to keep positivity in their hearts.

Divino DeNegro is a journalist and host of Culture Vault Radio. For more information on Divino, follow him on Twitter @DDeNegro and visit www.culturevaultradio.com