Hip-Hop Showcase Spirals Into a Mere Display of Egos

What could have been an enjoyable evening of old-school hip-hop marking 20 years of rap on Sunday at the Universal Amphitheatre turned into a showcase for a group of narcissistic artists who seemed more concerned with celebrating themselves than their music’s achievements.

There’s no question that Whodini, Kurtis Blow, Sugarhill Gang and Run-DMC were four of the most significant figures as the genre graduated from street corner performances to recordings. Yet from the beginning of Sunday’s show, each group seemed to feel that the audience owed it something.

It didn’t help that these musicians, all of whom are at least in their mid-30s, looked a step too slow while performing.

Opening act Whodini set what was, in retrospect, an ominous tone for the evening. Group member Jalil spent the first 15 minutes of the set complaining about the Brooklyn group’s bottom billing. When his rhyme partner Ecstacy finally took the stage, Whodini’s music took over. While performing monumental hits such as “Freaks Come Out at Night” and “Friends,” Jalil’s bitterness evaporated as he reveled in the high-energy moments.

Kurtis Blow, for many years rap’s best-selling solo artist, delivered the evening’s most enjoyable performance, enhanced by remarkable break-dancing by the New York City Breakers. Blow even joined the dancers during an animated rendition of “The Breaks,” one of his most influential songs. Still, he expected the small crowd to give him more adulation than it did, and he ended his set by demanding a show of appreciation.

Sugarhill Gang’s gripes concerned the practice of sampling. It’s a view with some merit, but it seemed hypocritical considering that the instrumentation backing his group’s biggest song and rap’s breakthrough single, “Rapper’s Delight,” was derived from Chic’s “Good Times.” Furthermore, the group went on to perform portions of hits from Eminem, Puff Daddy and others in what seemed an effort to connect with younger fans.

Headliners Run-DMC also seemed to expect the respect of the patrons, rather than earning it with a riveting performance. Group leader Run, paradoxically, belittled his crew by boasting of the trio’s appearance on the MTV Video Music Awards last week, as if that was an important achievement in a career that led to hip-hop’s pop explosion through songs such as “Rock Box” and “Walk This Way.” On Sunday, however, Run’s attitude made him seem like just one of the guys.