As Hieroglyphics@@http://www.hieroglyphics.com/@@ walk onto the stage, the crowd throws their hands in the air, waving them back and forth, entranced by the showmanship of the veteran MCs who stand on the stage before them. The WOW Hall gives a warm welcome to the seasoned, six-member hip-hop collective, who are no strangers to Eugene.
“Eugene is a familiar city to us,” rapper A-Plus said. “We’ve been here many times, and each time is so special, so we really enjoy stopping here.”
The Hieroglyphics, hailing from Oakland, Calif., started in the early 1990s as a group called Souls of Mischief and have perfected their sound over the years through collaborations, solo projects and the eventual creation of their current group. The collective is currently traveling with members A-Plus, Opio, Casual, Pep Love, Tajai and Phesto.@@see link above@@ The group also features turntable genius DJ Terrain spinning the tracks.
With clear and smoothly delivered lyrics on top of some of the greatest produced beats to come out of the East Bay, they incorporate sounds from jazz and funk classics. Although the group has mountains of old material, everyone was able to throw in a couple songs from their respective works in progress and solo albums they’ve been working on.
“It’s impossible to work everything in, so you just got to do what you feel like doing, play what you want to play,” Pep Love said.
Pep Love, who is set to release his new album “Rigmarole”@@http://www.peplovemusic.com/fr_home.cfm@@ in March, gave the crowd a little preview of the album by performing his title track. A-Plus performed songs from his newest project titled “Pepper Spray,”@@http://aplus.bandcamp.com/@@ an album completely comprised of beats sampling Red Hot Chili Peppers songs.
The group also threw it back, playing songs from their collective albums “3rd Eye Vision”@@http://www.allmusic.com/album/3rd-eye-vision-r346978@@ as well as from their 2003 “Full Circle.”@@http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/full-circle/id6564531@@ Hieroglyphics fans received a stellar performance from these performers, and the crowd showed them the love the group said they have come to expect when they tour through Eugene.
“The crowed is always hyped here and we feed off that, so that really lets us perform to our full capabilities,” A-Plus said.
The group expressed their love and respect for the city and the Pacific Northwest and said they plan to stop back through on their next tour.
“We do, like, one or two venues whenever we come out here, and it’s fun and exciting,” Casual said. “It’s West Coast, so that’s what you come to expect.”