Geek Rap

As promised, I was at the MF Doom/Brother Ali show this past Wednesday at B.B. King's in the city. It was a great show at a nice, small venue that can be characterized by one word: geeks. The crowd? Mostly male, mostly white, mostly in hoodies, all geeks. True to form, the crowd knew its stuff, with almost everyone chipping in an Ali or Doom rhyme here and there. MF Doom in person? Kind of a geek in that endearing way, with his mask, high beer belly and comically stiff gestures. Before seeing him perform, I had a hard time imagining what a Doom performance would be like because of his complex, scattered style and non-traditional song forms but he had a way of pulling it all together that brought new light to even the most familiar material.

One of the biggest highlights and, simultaneously, biggest disappointments of the night was meeting Brother Ali. Even though he was billed as an opening act, I was almost as excited to see him as I was Doom. He is an artist of incredible power and conviction and I think that "Shadows on the Sun" was one of the best albums of last year. When I saw him come out to sign autographs and meet the fans after the show, I brought over my newly purchased Champion EP for him to sign. The conversation went approximately like this:

(firm handshake)
Me: Hey man, great show.
Brother Ali: Thanks man.
Me: I've been waiting to see you for a long time and this was my first chance. I ... wonder if you could sign this. (handing him the CD)
Ali: Sure, what's your name?
Me: Lincoln. My brother is ... Minneapolis, so that's ... how I know everybody. You guys are all great.
Ali: (hopefully ignoring me, signing "Allahu Akbar")
Me: I just wanted to say ... keep doing it.
Ali: Thanks man, keep listening.

I BLEW IT. Obviously Ali handled the situation gracefully but I was a total drooling mess of a fan. It is not easy to say the things you want to when you're face-to-face with someone you admire so much. I would have been happy if I had gotten in any of the following:

• "I think your music's got more heart than anything else out there."
• "Rain Water ... right on. Great song, great performance."
• "Stay strong brother, we need you." (accompanied by some kind of raised fist or something)

Oh well, I'll have to save all of that for next time. And if these guys keep making music this good, there will definitely be a next time.