I only just recently came around to Cage. After years of hearing his name across other Definitive Jux releases, I sat down and listened to his albums not three days before seeing him live, and I'm feeling it. Hearing Cage really makes you wish that it was him you heard on the radio all these years ago and not Eminem, who upon hearing both sounds like the former's whiny kid brother, copying his style but doing it wrong. Comparisons between the two are not new, and both specialize in an angry brand of horror rap, brimming with blood and sometimes-wild, often-tragic drug use, but simply put, Cage's kung-fu is better than Eminem's. While he definitely is an album-over-performance artist, Cage's live set puts the personal intensity of his songs right in your face, which makes for a great show. Cage is supported on this tour, for last years LP Depart From Me..., by Timmy Wiggins, Kill City, and roster oddball, hardcore four-piece Hate Your Guts.
Wiggins opened things up with stripped-down blunt-smoking gutter beats courtesy of Chauncey (who rocked Cage's beats later that night), topped with heady hustle-and-grind rhymes. Kill City brought a warped ghettotech to the table that was pretty awesome, despite a third of their band showing up late thanks to a flight delay. Big props to whoever had the idea to get Hate Your Guts on this tour. First, a hardcore band was a cool change of pace before the headliner, and second because it was hilarious (and always is) to see kids at a show looking genuinely scared by heavy music. And third, because they were actually very good. Bravo to all, and thanks to the Mohawk for hosting, and for the cheap beers.
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