The Sun Rises in the East is a classic hip-hop album from the early 1990s. It is chock full of great -- really, really great -- beats courtesy of DJ Premier and is almost flawless, other than the annoying and degrading track "Da Bichez." Jeru takes aim at commercial rap artists and record labels with a flow that is at times purposely off-cadence and was beautifully original for the era. He followed it up with another great turn-in, Wrath of the Math.
Now, 15 years later, Jeru the Damaja is playing the White Room. He has put out a few so-so records since Math and no longer works with Premier, but I imagine that he will be doing some of the classics that made him famous. Hopefully we won't be subjected to a 45 minute a capella freestyle, which he is known to do from time to time. Either way it's worth the money to see a guy as talented as Jeru can be.
Jeru the Damaja plays Friday, June 12 at the White Room. Also appearing are Juan Basshead, Alukard, Artofficial, Korpus Kounty, Don Sha, Nickle and Haulover Drive. Tickets cost $10 and the doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets available at www.presaleplanet.com