Posted on 03/31/2009
Anyone else who saw the flyer for 2 the Hard Way: Jean Grae vs. Tamar-kali may have joined me in a silent, 'Guh?' Besides their brown skin, the only things these ladies seem to share in common is their gender and choice of profession. Jean's hard rhymes might bring comparisons to many, but somehow the pierced Geechee Goddess wouldn't be on the list. Yet, after listening to Ms. Grae break it down at Santos, she's been a fan and friend of Tamar-kali for about a year now and the only connection she needed was their mutual flyness. No other female rapper brings the awareness and cynical humor to her work that Jean Grae does and no other rocker comes as bad and reckless as Tamar-kali's culturally relevant, empowering epics. Still, seeing them face-off in a battle royale of the rap and rock worlds could have been an evening of ups-and-downs, depending on who you came to see, or a night of music worthy of two fiercely independent artists who don't take kindly to ambivalence from any crowd. Thankfully, it was the latter.

Tamar-kali's "Boot" and Jean Grae's "Nothing to Lose" kicked the night off as Jean joined Tamar onstage. It wasn't exactly the bare knuckles brawl that can evolve at hip-hop shows even when not part of the advertising, but instead a show of solidarity. Though it was an interesting mix with Tamar dropping in and out of her verses to let Jean jump in with hers as the band played throughout, the set up did each performer a disservice as you struggled to get a feel for each song, assuming you didn't know each performer's catalog inside out. Prepared for some cheesy 'Linkin Park meets whatever rapper is silly enough to jump on their bandwagon' night of mash-ups, relief swept in as Jean exited the stage for what was evidently just a Round 1 stunt, leaving Tamar-kali and her band to completely shut it down for the next 30 minutes.

It's hard to describe exactly what is so transformative about a Tamar-kali show. Part of it is how tight the music is. Before launching into "Boot," Tamar and crew warmed up with a sick instrumental, winning the crowd over before a word was even uttered. But then, when you allow the music to fade into the background, you realize this chick has a phenomenal voice. Like Nina meets Tina, bold, unrelenting, punch-you-in-the-face good. Not loud music masking a mediocre singer, but grinding music to keep up with its stellar frontwoman. It's the kind of sound that can bring rap fans to their knees and it did. There was a healthy show of hands when Tamar-kali asked halfway into the set if there were any converts in the crowd, folks who didn't anticipate liking the rock 'n' roll portion of the show, but couldn't deny getting into it. Her lyrical content also proves that just because you hold a guitar instead of the crotch of your pants, you're no less capable of addressing 'real' issues. Throughout her set, her tales of pain and revolution encouraged an all-girl, mini-mosh pit to lose its mind in front of the stage. At different intervals, you could see Jean peek out from backstage giving nods of approval to Tamar-kali as she threw down.

Joined by DJ Chaps, who seemed to be having more fun than he's ever revealed behind the deck at Talib Kweli shows, Jean's set was a more subdued affair, having a less consistent plan of attack. While Tamar-kali built a steady barrage of awesomeness, Jean was more schizophrenic, doing a verse here and there, then scrapping the rest of the song. She spent most of her time going through tracks from the 9th Wonder collaboration, Jeanius. The crowd wasn't really feeling the vibe of the slow songs she threw in, so she took them back to hip-hop land with "Think About It," "This World" and two new songs that showcased her straightforward honesty with a more upbeat sound than usual. All the while, Jean kept things moving with injections of her random humor, calling out audience members who thought they were too cool to throw their hands up, at one point having one stubborn person put both of their hands up while everyone else was told to keep theirs down. By then, the crowd was with her (in a totally different way than with Tamar-kali), but still giving good energy. To close out the night, she enlisted four back-up dancers from the crowd to two-step during "Don't Rush Me."

Even though 2 the Hard Way ended with more hugs than knockdown, drag-out mayhem, it was a fantastic and rare sight to have two underappreciated, female artists rock a crowd just because they admire and respect each other. Hopefully it was successful enough to encourage a repeat match-up.

- Candace L.