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It has been awhile since underground hip-hop has proven true to its name, so when Hieroglyphics came into town Friday, it was a big deal. The Senator Theatre could not have prepared enough for the powerful show that Hieroglyphics would perform.
Before the show, people mingled indoors, dancing, buying merchandise or getting beers at the bar upstairs, paying no attention to the theater's hot temperature. Outdoors, friends gathered to take a break in the cool alleyway where conversations and cigarettes were lit up.
The audience was pumped with the performers prior to Hieroglyphics, but it wasn't until the group appeared on stage that the crowd went wild. Immediately, hands were in the air, pointer fingers and thumbs pressed together forming the "halo" sign above heads.
Cheers and screams were the response to anything said from the band. Old and new fans began to clap and move their bodies in anticipation for the beats. Each member of Hieroglyphics was into the show just as much as the crowd was. Although the entire group was not there - Del the Funky Homosapien, Phesto and Opio were missing - the remaining members delivered their lyrics effortlessly and put on a show that kept the crowd moving.
Spencer Murphy, a fourth-year recreation major, is a longtime Hieroglyphics fan, he said. The group has always had a cool composure about them despite the media and growing fan base.
Sweaty bodies rubbed against each other as each member of the audience got taken over by the raw beats of underground hip-hop. Their voices brought power and energy to the crowd. Each lyric boomed throughout the Senator and into the minds of the audience.
Hieroglyphics, also referred to as the "Hieroglyphics Crew" and "Hiero," was formed in 1991 by rapper Del the Funky Homosapien. It is an American underground hip-hop crew that combines original, funky beats with powerful lyrics. Its style brings freshness to the played-out sounds of today's rap. Hieroglyphics is well-rooted in its morals and beliefs about music and the industry.
The group doesn't seem to let its growing popularity or income change the way it creates music or the way it perceives the industry.
Although popularity and fans are important to the band, it does not seem to make or break the group.
"Hopefully they'll like it, but if not I'm not going to stop making music," said Tajai, an original member of Hieroglyphics.
The members have not lost touch of their originality, he said. They have long used the three-eyed, straight-mouthed face as their symbol.
The third eye represents enlightenment and a higher state of thinking, Tajai said. He held three fingers up, telling the crowd to do the same and explained that not only did they represent that everyone sees with three eyes, but they also represent 1993, the year Hieroglyphics began to grow in popularity. The band then played an older, well-known song that got everyone from the back to push to the front.
"Nowadays too many people are into bad hip-hop such as mainstream artists, like Andre Nickatina, as opposed to good hip-hop like Hiero," said Tyler Duffy, a fourth-year civil engineering major.
Somehow, through all the cookie-cutter sounds and fluffed talent of today's music industry, Hieroglyphics continues to do what they do best: give underground hip-hop the label it deserves. It was much more than a show, it was a movement.
Kyndrah Carson can be reached at kcarson@theorion.com
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