The abbreviated time slot meant the big man didn't get to swap rhymes with Pikahsso as planned. And while everyone would have loved another shot of Pikahsso's "celestial brain phunk"--a mind-bending mix of confessional reality and spaced-out wordplay more sung than rapped--his set was enough to prove him one of the most original MCs out there. Straight-up rap was on point at Final Friday, too, and in particular, the "Bioniq MC" Steve Austin put on an impressive verbal display. Though his stage presence usually demands attention, a projector took some focus away, playing a photo slide show of jokes, lyrics and nude women. "Lick" gave the impression he likes to get his dick sucked; a hilarious "Gold Digger" parody that encouraged women to "Give head, girl, go 'head, go down" solidified it. Headkrack then joined Austin in an intense performance of the pair's "It's a Monstah," while Headkrack's solo set was almost as good, with the obvious highlight being the politically charged "Drug Wars." Another highlight was King Ashoka; a bottle-shattering fight between two ladies in the audience was the only thing that distracted me from his set. The a cappella ending to "Give Me Mine" was especially captivating.
The same couldn't be said for David Chris--his performance was a parody of rap excess, with a single chrome 20-inch wheel propped on a stack of Sean John boxes surrounded by hype men and models tossing out $1 bills and pouring cups of champagne. He should have kept it and given out time instead--by cutting his set length--so that Waters, the Money I was more interested in, could've had a longer set.
