Show Recap: Naughty by Nature at Yoshi’s
Kevin / March 25, 2011
Naughty by Nature swept into San Francisco on Thursday night, playing at the legendary jazz club Yoshi’s in the middle of the Fillmore District. There was a notable lack of kiddies in the crowds, as you would imagine a show for an act that haven’t (yet) released an album in almost 8 years. But what they make up for in age was skill befitting of a 20-year career. This crew from Jersey are professionals in the craft of hip-hop, able to move a quiet crowd into a frenzied mob in a matter of moments. They showed off their years of experience of knowing what buttons to push, and they jammed them like it was Street Fighter II.
For a San Francisco crowd, why not throw in a bit of Journey and the Luniz to warm the crowd? And hell, since there’s no kids in the crowd, why not pour out some Henny for the folks in the front of the stage?
Their best trick, of course, is their back catalog, and probably there’s none in hip-hop that just exudes joy like the 1-2 combo of “OPP” and “Hip-Hop Hooray.” (I can’t think of another set of hip-hop songs that’ll get a crowd of middle-aged middle Americans going like the one they did on Letterman.) But they go one step further—to go out on the highest note possible, they close out the show with “Hip-Hop Hooray,” but not before they emptied most of the crowd from the floor in favor of the stage. And there’s no encore quite like shaking hands and posing for pics, a benefit of an intimate venue like Yoshi’s.
Check out our exclusive gallery from the show and more pictures from our archives on flickr:
Naughty by Nature’s new album, “Anthem, Inc.,” is due in stores in May. They are currently on tour and are performing with Salt N Pepa’s Legends of Hip-Hop tour.
Richmond, VA (w/ Salt N Pepa, Doug E. Fresh, Biz Markie, and MC Lyte)
Richmond Coliseum
3/25
Cincinnati, OH (w/ Salt N Pepa, Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick)
Cintas Center at Xavier University
4/8
Milwaukee, WI (w/ Salt N Pepa, Kool Moe Dee, Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick)
Milwaukee Theater
4/9
Detroit, MI (w/ Salt N Pepa, Doug E. Fresh, Slick Rick, Biz Markie, MC Lyte, and Whodini)
Fox Theater
4/23
Minneapolis, MN
Cabooze
5/21
Niagara Falls, NY
The Rapids Theatre
5/19