Cunninlynguists and friends stay up late
While it may seem impossible to get a venue of people jumping with joy on a Sunday night with finals fast approaching, the Cunninlynguists succeeded with their heavy beats and fast-flying lyrics.
The Fox Theatre had waves of audience members flowing in and out on Sunday night, most stopping in to see the headlining act, but others to see their favorite opening artists. Mr. SOS, Substantial, Pack FM, and Tonedeff each performed a hefty set, holding off the Cunninlynguists’ appearance until midnight.
Like any other group of performers, each opening artist brought a new attitude to the stage. From crazy to nasty to smooth, the crew brought variety with each set.
Mr. SOS entered first to a semi-empty venue, but still threw out every ounce of energy to get the night pumping.
“This is looking too empty up here,” Mr. SOS said. “Where are all of my hip-hop heads at?”
With a projection of the globe spinning behind him, Mr. SOS spoke blatantly about his political views. Unafraid to voice his real opinion, he sang a song about shooting the president and told the audience they wouldn’t be arrested if they felt the same way and sang along.
Substantial hit the stage next with a smooth style. With a slower delivery of rhyme and sampling from jazz albums, Substantial cooled down the audience. Unfortunately, he said he didn’t want people to be as relaxed as they became.
“I hope you’re all not chilling,” Substantial said. “You’re all supposed to be alive right now.”
The livewire of the group was Pack FM, a rapper on springs who flung himself around the stage to get the audience excited. He chanted back and forth with the willing audience and shared his love of the hip-hop culture.
“My favorite part of the hip-hop culture is graffiti,” Pack FM said. “We need to appreciate that art a little more.”
The last of the openers, Tonedeff, brought mind-bending lyrics that spilled out too fast to catch. He quickly established himself as the nastiest of all the performers, singing a song about being a pervert and indulging the audience with the only three things to know about himself.
“Number one: I’m a Sagittarius. Number two: I love to rap. And number three: I love the vagina,” Tonedeff said.
He brought up an audience member and looked up her skirt, then proceeded to make a conga line through the audience. His livewire antics were the perfect segue into the energy of the Cunninlynguists.
Not getting started until early Monday morning, the Cunninlynguists entered the dim stage to the flicker of lighters and cell phones held up. The silence was broken by psych-rock laden with heavy beats, and members Deacon the Villain, Kno and Natti flew out to the stage.
Each song seemed to feed the energy of the crowd, bouncing more and more as the set rolled on. The group, known to tour with Aesop Rock and Kanye West, made it clear what makes them stand apart from the mainstream artists.
“You know what you’re paying 50 bucks for at a Kanye show? Lasers and robots,” Kno said. “We don’t have those here tonight. We just have pure unadulterated hip hop.”
Contact Campus Press staff reporter Carolyn Michaels at Carolyn.michaels@colorado.edu.
