From the sublime to the ridiculous

Michaeli's Constant (Great name. Great act, for that matter..) kicked off The Unseen last night: 'Proper HipHop Vibes in Brum' according to the strapline. Last night's hip hop shindig at the Bull's Head seemed a bit more cuddly than 'proper' however; for 2 reasons: 1) Wu Tang cookies on arrival 2) People rapping about God. Both weird and wonderful additions to a hip hop night though - making a change from wannabe gangstas blowin' each other out innit. Let's have a home-baked cookie and praise the Lord instead.

Anyway, back to Michaeli's...

Almost too clever by half, you've got to really shuffle up close to hear every word. I did attempt to do this but my brain began to implode with their machine-gun-fire, deep, spiritual wordplay: this is not what you expect from a hip hop set-up. But it was undeniably talented, and there's always something fun about things being taken out of context; or a twist being put on a form that you don't expect. I started dreaming up other weird scenarios; maybe a musical about venereal diseases, or a death metal band album on fluffy lambs and kittens ...

And so, from the sublime to the ridiculous. Although I feel a bit cruel calling Deadline and Mr Dick ridiculous; because they weren't. The latter just has a ridiculous name... They were, however, again not exactly what I was expecting - in that they looked like a pair of podgy accountants or office clerks being let out for the night to let off a bit of steam. But again the unexpected proved a class act, musically - a kind of punky Brummie Beastie Boys with a brilliant bassist and not one but two outstanding drummers. It was a little strange, however, shifting from 'Jesus loves you' to 'Laminate my bitch, motherf***er' within the space of 15 mins. (Actually I'm not entirely sure that was what they were saying exactly.. Perhaps it's that officey look that confused me)...

Anyway, it's good to know that hip hop is alive and well in Birmingham; albeit slightly surreally. And even better to know that it's got a real twist and individuality to it that I've not seen much of elsewhere.