E-40, Too $hort, Andre Nickatina
The Observatory
12/29/13
Bay Area legends E-40, Too $hort and Andre Nickatina made their way to OC on the Lord's day to sprinkle some game on good folks of So Cal. Nickatina, a gritty underground favorite, started off the multi-headlined night, spitting verses for classics like “Conversation with the Devil” and “Ayo for Yayo.” Grasping the air with his hands raised, Nicky gave repeated praise to his late partner Mac Dre several times during his short set, which captivated college looking students and graffiti artist types alike.
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After a drawn out intermission, Too $hort appeared from backstage, peeling out of his Golden State Warrior jack while Wiz Khalifa's portion of “On My Level” played through the house speakers. At first, Short Dawg recited his verse nonchalantly, hardly reciprocating the crowd's excitement to see the average-sized rapper.
“Now, let's get started!” Too $hort said before prompting those who were life of the party before going into the hit song known to make house parties pop off since it's release. With this, the Bay Area pioneer was turned up never missing an opportunity to say his favorite word– “Bitch!”– throughout his set.
The party of the night really began when a few girls were invited on stage to do a little booty bouncing for the performance of “Sliding Down the Pole.” One girl engaged in some lightweight gymnastics, stepping over multiple rails on her way from the side of the venue of the stage much to $hort's amusement. BITCH!
“Give me a high five, bitch,” he told the fanatic girl on her way back to the crowd.
But $hort wasn't all about demeaning the ladies who couldn't help but lose themselves to the sounds of the Bay Area. He had a lot of game for the ladies in attendance, reminding them that whoever called them a “bitch” should be corrected and be notified that “boss bitch” was appropriate. $hort further enlightened them that as long as they had labia, monetary struggles should not hinder their life in those exact words. BITCH!
Following this “touching” moment it was back to the $hort we all love as he chanted a sentence comprised totally of profanity and altered the different ways he could say, you guessed it, “bitch” to a rhythm. BITCH!
His set concluded with a few more of his classics, giving way to another long intermission that saw a drove of folks head home.
Right around midnight, after a Tupac sound byte introduced the ambassador of the Bay, an E-40 look-a-like in a big red shirt rapping one of the Vallejo legend's newest verses. E-40 emerged just behind him to finish the song wearing a sweater reading “BEST” in his favorite team's, the 49ers, font under a chain bulky gold bar medallion. As if he started rapping about the first thing he saw in the venue, he broke into his verse from “White Girl.”
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During his a first break, one fan started singing the “Gimme Head” chorus, to 40's reply of “That's a banger right there!”
“It's way to early for y'all to be tired” 40 Water said during the break. The standing room part of the venue and the enduring of the opening acts had visibly taken its toll on the crowd.
E-40 infused his trademark slang into his set; “I don't sound like none of y'all” he reminded us while performing “Yay Area” at one of the most hype moments of the night. The new music from E-40's recent release “The Block Brochure Vol. 4, 5, 6” went beyond the crowd's ability to recite lyrics fluently but did not stop them from grooving to sounds similar to the quintessential 40 Fonzarelli.
Twice during the night E-40 took the backseat to allow his friends perform. Nump performed semi-hit “I Got Grapes” before Bounce of the R3jectz did his Cat Daddy for the crowd. EvenToo $hort came back for a cameo to perform, you guessed it, “Bitch” with E Feezy.
A tired call for an encore brought E-40 back from beside the DJ booth to perform the 1995 song “1 Luv” before saying his farewells to the crowd after the Bay Area affair.
Overheard: Some jealous chick who seen her friend up by the stage, “Is that Robin in the front? That hook head bitch!”
Critic's Bias: It's perplexing when two songs are performed by different artists at the same show. Why couldn't they coordinate performing the song together? It would have been awesome for the two to perform “Sliding Down the Pole” with the girls on stage.
Random Notebook Dump: The man born Earl Stevens, E-40, has acquired quite the slew of nicknames since he came on the scene in the early 90's. E Feasable and 40 Belafonte did not make it in to the post.
The Crowd: 20 somethings who love getting turnt up and freakdancing until the night is over.
Set List:
Too $hort
On My Level
Life of the Party
Shake That Monkey
Bossy
Don't Fight the Feeling
Gettin' It
Money Maker
Blow The Whistle
Sliding Down the Pole
Gangtas and Strippers
Fuck Faces
I'm A Player
Burn Rubber
Money on the Flo
E-40
Sideways
White Girl
Candy
Sprinkle Me
Captain Save A Hoe
Playas Ball
I Got 5 On It
My Shit Bang
Im Da Man
Yay Area
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Episode
Sliding Down the Pole
U and Dat
Snap Ya Fingers
Tell Me When to Go
Function
Bitch
1 Luv
See also
10 Punk Albums to Listen to Before You Die
10 Goriest Album Covers
10 Most Satanic Metal Bands
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I listen to music. I write about it. I like hot sauce on my chicken.