While Wonder Bread poster teen Hilary Duff was at Freedom Hall, proving that cartoons can sometimes come to life, Twista and Nappy Roots came to Cardinal Stadium to show what can happen when hard work is applied to basic, occasionally inspired talent.
Nappy Roots, the pride of Bowling Green's hip-hop community, hit the stage after a stirring introduction -- which had to be repeated after they comically missed their cue.
They almost didn't need music. Between consistent shout-outs to Kentucky and especially Louisville, one might think that they were natives of Louisville instead of Bowling Green.Nappy Roots worked hard at being the most popular guys at the block party. While Twista sold himself as a benevolent "classic pimp," Nappy Roots were confident enough to just be real.
When you've got a handsome R. Prophet in a cowboy hat, taking off his shirt to reveal a muscular chest, dripping with sweat in near 100-degree temperatures, the ladies don't care what song you're playing.
If, at the same time, you've got the heaviest member of the group, Big V, taking off one of his dripping shirts, assuring the male portion of the audience that they're not in such bad shape after all… well, we can all relax.
Their stage show was well-paced, though occasionally contradictory. Some tunes seemed to require the type of choreography usually seen performed by pop boy bands, while others required random wandering.
A freestyle portion of the show, seemingly well-scripted, served mostly to highlight the abilities of the preppily attired Skinny DeVille, the most likely candidate for solo stardom.
The rousing song "Roun' the Globe" had the majority of the large crowd on their feet, bouncing and shouting along to the sort-of locals done good.
All that, and they even risked losing the momentum of their non-stop to set to stop for a few minutes and promote literacy.
And proud we are of all of them.
Twista, crowned the world's fastest rapper by the Guinness Book of World Records, is enjoying the late-blooming success he's found in recent years. The 15-year Chi-town veteran commanded the stage and continued to receive the love that the crowd had shown his openers, despite being in the second hour of a very hot -- in more than one meaning of the term -- concert.
Twista rapped extremely fast. He rapped moderately fast. He performed "Slow Jamz", his hit tribute to the subgenre known to get you in the mood. The crowd, both young and old, responded with dance moves appropriate (and, in some cases, not so appropriate) for their age groups.
He also paid tribute to fallen hip-hoppers. He sampled Ozzy Osbourne and Luther Vandross. He pulled out some old school material. Then he pulled out another jam "for the ladies," "So Sexy."
Despite using an unimpressive bullet sound effect between songs, Twista kept it mostly family-friendly. In fact, the whole show was an impressive display of how to give a large range of people a fun night of dancing and singing without having to rely on shock value – or on a manufactured TV star better known for her smile than for her musical talent.
