Hip-hop and House music may not seem like a combination that would mix, but each work quite well to take the edge off the other. Afrika “Baby Bam” Bambatta of the Jungle Brothers played a signature blending of the two at the Viper Room to a small appreciative crowd on the 23rd of February.Opener Mark Bell of Blakkat Sound System got the night moving spinning moderately paced house music. Initially, with few people in the audience, not much happened. The first chunk of the DJ’s set found the crowd standing there socializing and drinking. Not to say the beats weren’t good, just without the audience to feed off of, the show’s feel was stagnant. Before long though, a couple people (including the headliner Baby Bam) felt compelled to begin dancing. After a mere handful of moments those 2 became 10 and shortly thereafter the whole room was up on their feet.
In a seamless transition, Baby Bam took the stage along with his DJ as Mark Bell picked up a bass guitar. Baby Bam, still dancing up a storm shouted, “We all having a good time tonight?” as the beat picked up in tempo. Baby Bam jammed the modestly sized crowd through a concise set of danceable hip-hop. Some were almost disco in style with a pulsing house music backdrop as Bambatta spit slogans such “Yo what you waiting for?” Although the combination doesn’t sound effective on paper, the good vibes displayed here through this hip-house music were right on track. The only real question is where was the rest of the crowd the show sorely deserved?
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