BK-One preview
Metro, Chicago
Thursday, November 18, 2009

Brother Ali, whoβs headlining this Metro gig, is a lot to handle. Heβs bright white, self-righteous, on the big-boned side, and spits like a llama. You might not notice his DJ.
Thatβs sort of the point, though isnβt it? Even when DJs release albums, as BK-One has with Radio Do Canibal (Rhymesayers), itβs best if they stay out of the way. The elite know how to dovetail with their rappersβ flows β anyone who works overtime to get their signatures in might as well fashion a wooden box for a house and cut out a pigeonhole.
BK-One gets highlighted on wax this fall because he and Benzilla have been looking for an avenue to explore their South American fetishes. Luckily for them, the only time you really notice it is βTema Do Canibal,β an ass-shakinβ, β70s bossa funk that has just enough weight not to be a porno track, and βLove Like That,β which Aby Wolf sings like sheβs auditioning for Morcheeba. Everywhere else, a backpack-rap whoβs who (Ali, Slug, Black Thought, P.O.S., Murs) runs riot with mostly classic, battle rhymes over James Brown-influenced grooves (though βFace Itβ could be a track Barry White was looking to cover βFameβ over). The way it should be.
Brother Ali headlines; Evidence and Toki Wright open.
β Steve Forstneger
Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly