MC Paul Barman, Prince Paul, and Venture Klan at The Safari Room at El Cortez
On Thursday, March 7, 2019, MC Paul Barman, Prince Paul, Venture Klan, and Youngman performed at The Safari Room at El Cortez.
Harlem hip hop group Venture Klan opened the show with an energetic set, encouraging people to cheer, sing along, and to come closer to the stage if they weren’t busy eating (The Safari Room is above El Cortez, a restaurant).
Prince Paul (Stetsasonic, Gravediggaz, Handsome Boy Modeling School, BROOKZILL!) followed Venture Klan with a DJ set. It’s been a while since I’ve seen him do a DJ set although I saw him perform last April with Handsome Boy Modeling School. Towards the end of his set, Paul told the crowd that he wanted to play songs that were familiar but present them in a way we’d never heard before and if that was his goal, he achieved it easily. For example, he mixed Prince’s “1999” with the music of Nirvana’s “Come As You Are,” transitioned Tears for Fears’ “Shout” into “Deep Cover” by Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg, and much more. Prince Paul ended his set by playing Sister Nancy’s “Bam Bam,” including a reggae in his mostly hip hop set by the person that would be headlining the same stage the following night for a sold out show. Before leaving the turntables, he played the music to “The Joy of Your World,” the first song from MC Paul Barman’s 2000 EP that he produced, which began Barman’s set.
Paul Barman released Echo Chamber on Mello Music Group in May 2018. In addition to performing songs from his first release, he included songs from his most recent one as well, backed by DJ Steel Tipped Dove. During “I’m Fricking Awesome,” he rapped while drawing a portrait of an audience member named Jocelyn. Barman concluded his set by performing a written piece with the help of Donwill (Tanya Morgan).
Youngman was scheduled to close the show but as it was nearly 11:30 and since I had to work the next morning, I didn’t stay for their set. I heard from a friend that Youngman was actually Paul Barman performing again so no photos of that in the above gallery, unfortunately.