Edo.G, Big Shug, and Akrobatik hip the hop at the Middle East on Saturday, 23 March 2024.

A stacked bill includes M-Dot, Lateb, Mello Dee, Sandro Castro, XL the Beast, DLabrie, Reggie Hue, The Price Boyz, Jason Price on the keys and more.

Mr. Psa cracks wise on the mic in the host spot.

If you knew nothing about Boston hip hop (raises hand), Saturday night wasn’t a bad introduction. The bill at the Middle East was stacked with local legends and young talent both.

Of course, you’ve got to be a little loose with the tag ‘Boston’. North, west, south: anything in the general metro area was fair game.

Plus, DLabrie is more of an Oakland guy, but Tom Brady was Bay Area too (so argued the artist), so it’s all good.

You got to be loose with the tag ‘hip hop’ too. The night opened up with some soulful RnB on the keys from Jason Price, before transitioning to an a cappella set from The Price Boyz.

And why not? All the genres are close cousins. And how many times have you heard a rapper take a quick interlude into song, whether they can stay in key or not? You might as well have some artists in the house who specialize in holding a tune.

Standouts included a strong set early in the night from Reggie Hue, who delivered cool medium tempo rhymes with a kind of old school candor and observational wit. He was joined later by Najee Janey and Forté for a solid ensemble performance.

DLabrie landed on stage like a UFO, just back from doing something in Philly with Doodlebug, delivering a little informal standup, and working the pit during his set. Good vibes.

Lateb and Mello Dee performed their single “Shooter” with XL the Beast in the house for the featured cameo.

M-Dot had a new record to promote, Daze of Greed. He pulled more than a few tracks from that album with the help of the EMS crew.

You could stop right there and it’d be a full night already. But the headliners hadn’t even made their appearance yet. With Edo.G, Big Shug, and Akrobatik, you start to dip into pre-millennium hip hop. These guys were in the lab, putting pen to pad, years before that became a merely proverbial saying. When they got their start, the Willennium was just a twinkle in Will Smith’s eye.

Shout out to Edo.G rocking the backpack full of his vinyl, like he was hawking his merch on the corner outside the club in 1988. Some habits die hard. Check out his latest LP We Do.Good.

[Note: XL the Beast and Mello Dee are misattributed in the above Youtube recap. -Ed.]

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