SXSW 2012

From Thomas Fawcett, The Austin Chronicle:

Building off a Left Coast legacy from Freestyle Fellowship to Pharcyde, the Quannum crew breathed life into Bay Area hip-hop previous to the new millennium with relentless creativity. Backpacker anthems "A to G" and "Alphabetic Aerobics" proved Blackalicious MC Gift of Gab one of the all-time great verbal acrobats, while Lyrics Born and Lateef the Truthspeaker pushed the sonic boundaries of hip-hop as Latyrx. Although not on the same label, Chali 2na, whose bouncing baritone anchored Jurassic 5 harmonies, embodied a similar ethos. The crew reunites on this night with help from West Coast vets Eligh & Amp Live, formerly of Living Legends and Zion I, respectively, who recently teamed up for Therapy at 3. (Shockingly accurately) self-described "half-retarded super electro-charged sex rap" of Colorado's Cobraconda opens, while Minnesota (the DJ, not the state) offers an interlude of throbbing dubstep and glitch-hop.