If you’re a fan of classic hip-hop, you’ve no doubt noticed the occasional elaborately programmed package tour coming to town, usually sporting such a litany of well-loved but past-their-prime acts that it’s a wonder they can fit them all into one show. They always seem promising. Of course, who wouldn’t want to catch some of the biggest names of the Golden Age, and all in one go, no less? But, more often than not, they achieve such a high level of variety by sacrificing any kind of substance whatsoever, offering up bite-size installments of greatest hits nostalgia and little else.
On the surface, this “Experience the Legends” tour, featuring venerable rap staples Too Short, Scarface and DJ Quik, along with special guests Twista and Trina, would seem to fall into a similarly overstuffed, old-school obsessed category, but it didn’t take long into Saturday’s lengthy bill to realize this wasn’t just some kind of throwback cash-in. Far from simply reliving their glory days, all involved seemed intent on proving that they’re as vital as ever.
Since Trina, best remembered for her bawdy turn-of-the-millennium debut, The Baddest Bitch, was sidelined thanks to a cancelled flight, the evening began with notoriously speedy Chicago MC Twista, who took to the stage as much of the excited, sold-out crowd was still finding their way into the enormous Miller High Life Theatre (known as the Milwaukee Theatre until earlier this year). Once the audience reached critical mass, however, Twista quickly had them dancing in the aisles with a setlist that focused on songs from his early-aughts heyday—such as the Kanye West collaboration, “Overnight Celebrity”—but also made plenty of room for newer material, like 2015’s “Gucci Louis Prada,” which provided the most dramatic demonstration of his tongue-tying lyricism and rapid-fire delivery.
After a short break came a sort of split set from Scarface and DJ Quik, who, backed by a live band, took turns rocking the mic, sometimes joining forces for classic cuts like “Mary Jane” or the Quik-produced “Bitch Betta Have My Money.” The pair’s easy-going chemistry, combined with the full band (which Scarface occasionally led on bass guitar) and the cognac they were sipping, created a palpable party vibe, which culminated with a couple-dozen women being pulled onstage to dance, causing the duo to retreat to the drum riser just to be seen among the throng.
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The excitement only increased with Too Short’s entrance. One of the true West Coast originators, Short’s unapologetic raunchiness may have cost him the kind of mainstream exposure many of his contemporaries enjoyed, but that ultimately did little to prevent him from becoming one of the most recognizable voices in the entire genre, and Saturday’s in-your-face performance made it easy to see why.An impressive exercise in cramming as many songs as possible into a small amount of time, there was little from Short’s decades-long career that wasn’t touched on—from raw ’80s-era tracks like “Freaky Tales” to more recent entries such as “Blow the Whistle.” While some classic rap tours may disappoint, these particular legends are still very much worth experiencing.
