Rodrigo Mejia, Staff Writer

Amidst the dry heat of a Saturday afternoon, throngs of local residents found solace amongst cool heads as they flocked to USC to catch the likes of Aceyalone, Del the Funky Homosapien, De La Soul and Lupe Fiasco, for the hefty price of nothing.

The ensemble was nothing short of momentous as heralds of Hip-Hop’s finest sounds took the stage on an evening that would have otherwise emptied the pocket books of countless fans.  Stephen Angulo, English major from UCLA found himself crossing rival lines to join others like him looking to satisfy their musical appetites.

“You have emcees here spanning from all corners of the Hip-Hop genre” said Angulo, looking upon the quad of his collegiate competition. “I may not like USC, but their shows are nice.”

Brandishing a Kool Keith shirt, he was quickly engulfed by a crowd eager to experience a line-up of mad flows and outrageous styles.

Aceyalone, the first rap artist to perform, brought the crowd out from their holes of comfort to the shoulder-bumping stage. Gripping a mic in the same city where he first found Hip-Hop, Aceyalone gave his hometown a resounding portrayal of freestyle prowess as each delivered line rippled through the torsos of the crowd and outward through their soon to be sore throats and possessed legs.

Whereas The Aquabats and Saosin had sated their fans in the early hours, Aceyalone’s appearance ripped into the minds of all attending, reminding them that the night belonged to Hip-Hop.

Following Aceyalone was an emcee that alone would have drawn in any local Hip-Hop enthusiast, Del the Funky Homosapien. Any vacancy on the show floor was quickly filled by more ears as Del (Hieroglyphics) was joined by A Plus (Souls of Mischief) and DJ Zac Hendrix.

“I’ve been looking forward to Del all day,” said Rebecca Row, UC Berkeley graduate who merely wanted to enjoy the spectacle. “It’s free and it’s great. What more else is there?”

Del, well-versed in rocking crowds, reached deep into each person’s Hip-Hop consciousness as he concluded his set with his patented version of the Gorillaz’s ‘Clint Eastwood.’ Dressed in his usual funky garb, the cousin of Ice Cube let the air permeate with the same old school currents that De La Soul would breathe in and spit out.

De La Soul has been around for 20 years and celebrated that historic feat Saturday night. Revisiting perennial classics from

‘De La Soul is Dead’ (1991) and their latest album ‘The Grind Date’ (2004), De La Soul paid homage to preceding performances and to those who couldn’t be there as they remembered the late J Dilla.

“De La Soul put on a really good show, they got the crowd involved,” said a smiling Angulo. “That’s what old Hip-Hop is, getting the crowd into it. Even if you didn’t know who De La Soul was, you wound up chanting their name anyhow.”

De La Soul’s energy turned the crowd into a united body pointing towards midnight while they traversed the Hip-Hop clock with their champion sound.

To conclude the night, Lupe Fiasco arrived with as much clamor as his self-proclaimed “Lupe Fiasco Show” sought to prove.

Toting a live band onstage, Lupe brought the night its final exclamation point. The reservoir of emotions, elations, frenzied movements and undirected passions finally erupted with a blaring sound of trumpets and drums that melted the crowd’s nostalgia.

PCC student and sociology major Darlon de Vera, said: “From the moment [Lupe] stepped onto the stage to when the show ended, it was a nonstop rush of high energy.”
A signature of Lupe is his relentless execution of one sensory onslaught after another.

“The aura he gives off is overwhelming due to his amazing stage presence. He walks, dances, hops all over the stage and even jumped on top of the speakers several times,” added de Vera after an exhaustive display by the Grammy-winning artist.

By the time Lupe wrapped up, the sun had long been drowned out by night but the same energy that gathered the community to the event could not be dissipated as each person carried with them a viral affliction bred of the Spring Festival and poured out into the streets. Spring break had a hell of a start.