Music > Live Reviews

DJ Yella and Lil Eazy E

The Adrian Flux Waterfront

21/07/17

This was one of those events where I literally had no idea what to expect. Wordily billed as ‘Straight Outta Compton with DJ Yella from NWA featuring Lil’ Eazy E’, I have to admit that I headed down to the Waterfront with really low expectations. Yes it would be cool to see a founding member of the one of the most legendary hip hop acts of all time, but having Eazy’s son on board felt a bit tenuous, and the tour billing was vague enough to allow us to hope that they might play the Straight Outta Compton album in full. Did they? Did they fuck!

Good midsummer vibes were in full effect on arrival, where despite the expert selections of Chrome, Illinspired & Just One, a fair amount of the crowd chose to sit outside and chill in the sunshine before heading inside for the main event. It was a good sized crowd too – more than were there for both KRS-One and Big Daddy Kane in fact. There were loads of youngyuns in the house too, rocking their best tough guy stances – showing just what a huge hit the Straight Outta Compton movie has been, introducing NWA’s music to new generations. By the time showtime arrived there was a brilliant atmosphere, with the venue feeling like it was a club night. Yella came on and proceeded to play a selection of west coast classics – Dre, Snoop, NWA, Eazy, Tupac, Ice Cube and it was great. Good and loud, with what I guess I’ll call his hype man Playboy T dancing around, handing out shots to the audience, until the buzzkill bouncer stopped him at least – a veritable Compton Bez. If I was to compare Yella’s skills to Grandmaster Flash then I’d take Yella anytime – he was on the mic rapping along, working up the crowd and it was good to hear different tunes to what we normally hear at hip hop nights where east coast selections are the norm.

After 15 minutes he was joined by Lil’ Eazy E, decked out in shades, chains and leather jacket, he looked the part and although he doesn’t sound like his dad he did a decent job of bringing the songs to life. We raised our middle digits and shouted FUCK THA POLICE, we got caught out when they played Straight Outta Compton and went straight into Eazy’s verse, and there was a genuinely great atmosphere in the room. Lil’ Eazy was clearly having a great time; Yella telling us it was his first time in the UK and he was blown away by the crowd. I found him rather endearing actually – let’s not forget he lost his dad at a young age and after the success of the film it’s hard to begrudge him the chance to earn a living off the back of his dad’s fame. As is so often the case at hip hop gigs, though, the night kind of just fizzled out. After 30 minutes of Eazy & Yella together they came down to the front of the stage to pose for photos – and by the time they’d finished doing that a lot of the crowd had just drifted away. Yella did play another 15 minutes of tunes but the momentum had been lost sadly.

Straight Outta Compton, NWA, Eazy E and DJ Yella are all brand names. A cynical view perhaps, but the truth. In 2017, though, these brands are still marketable and for as long as that is the case there’s always going to be a crowd anywhere in the world willing to pay to be a part of that.