can you hear that, rap won't save you.

actually, i may have to disagree with mr. mictlan on that line. shit was dope enough to save my bored drunk ass for sure. wound up checking out the cd release show for minneapolis/doomtree's very own paper tiger thanks to my pal mr. stensby on saturday night. first time at the new hipster swank venue, sauce. reminded me of a nicer/newer schuba's if i had to stretch for a chicago equivalent. maybe like if the owners made lincoln hall the same size/structure of schuba's - one main bar/food/room when you walk in, and then a small intimate kinda stage area in the back where the performers go on, but everything seemed shiny and new. it was cool. didn't know too much paper tiger's background other than that he's affilliated with the doomtree family and was more on the production/beat maestro swing of things.

had seen various members of the doomtree crew live in the past, predominantly p.o.s., and then sims, mike mictlan, dessa and lazerbeak. dug em everytime i saw em. my pals had mentioned that members of d.tree would probably make cameos if we were lucky to support the cd release, and it turns out they did and made the night pretty memorable, busting out tracks every other joint to the crowd's delight. not only was paper tiger in attendance, but dessa, sims, mictlan, lazerbeak, pretty much all the crew but p.o.s. no complaints. i can't really say too much in a review type of format as i was happily hammering my $3 pbr tallboys (HEAR THAT CHICAGO, $3 TALLBOYS, LET'S SEE IF YOU CAN UP THAT!), and enjoying my friends' company, but the soundtrack was banging. it was a super small venue, solid sound and positive energy. when mictlan busted out my fave doomtree track, 'game over (go big or go home)' i lost my shit. definitely one of many highlights from my venture 'up nort' this past weekend.

for those of you who aren't the most hip hop literate and more indie scene, i guess my way of describing doomtree would be to say its the equivalent of underground hip hop (think atmosphere, they roll with him time to time), but like broken social scene. each member is core to the group and performs as a collaborative effort, yet still breaks out and does their own stint. it's super positive, rad ass beats, and got hot as hell peeps in it. if you haven't heard em yet, check em hurr: http://www.myspace.com/DOOMTREE