Stones Throw gig is hip-hop extravaganza

An abridged roster of artists from LA-based experimental hip-hop label Stones Throw Records blew minds Sunday at Neumo's on Capitol Hill.

After hours of straightforward DJ-and-MC hip-hop dominated by the dusty, stoned sound of reclusive hip-hop production genius (and erstwhile rapper) Madlib, it was time for a switch-up.

Recent Stones Throw collaborator Karriem Riggins began improvising rap beats on a rock drum set while DJ J-Rocc provided freestyle polyrhythm, cutting between two turntables connected to an iBook. It was hip-hop, but the duo played like jazz musicians.

When Riggins started playing the beat to the 1987 hit "I Know You Got Soul" by rap group Eric B. and Rakim, J-Rocc took visible notice and Madlib, Stones Throw's hyper-prolific musical backbone, immediately threw his hands in the air.

The beat to "I Know You Got Soul" sounds like a lot of late-'80s hip-hop, but Riggins perfectly mimicked the rising hi-hats of its drum sample, replicating the clipped effect of the looping process with unmistakable accuracy. The original drum pattern comes from the 1971 Bobby Byrd song of the same name, but Riggins was clearly copying the hip-hop interpolation from 20 years ago.

The multiracial packed house followed along, collectively thinking: "Riggins is playing Rakim, and I bet J-Rocc has that record. He's going to play it and this is going to be perfect."

He did, and it was.

The audience went nuts, immediately understanding how cool the re-(re-)remix sounded, gradually appreciating its referential invention.

As owner of Stones Throw Records, Peanut Butter Wolf turned the promotional tour for his just-released "2k8: B-Ball Zombie War" mixtape into a State of the Label Address: Openers are newly signed artists (witty Detroit MC Guilty Simpson; legendary South Bronx rapper Percee P); Arabian Prince; and in-house DJ J-Rocc; the headliner is The Supreme Team, the project du jour of Madlib (Otis Jackson Jr.).

Stones Throw Records tore apart hip-hop and put it back together with seamless style, proving the music's future belongs to those that understand its past.

Andrew Matson contributes to Seattle hip-hop sites www.raindrophustla.blogspot.com and www.206proof .com. Reach him at matson.andrew@ gmail.com.