Top of the morning, pilgrims!
When it comes to shooting certain hip-hop rap concerts, there are, in my honest opinion, certain pictorial & socio guidelines are important to consider in order to be able to get the job done:
- Whack your shutter to at least 1/350, if there is enough light to do so. If not, then you are fresh out of luck. And be ready to bring down the iso should there be that certain explosion of stage lighting!
- Never plan a romantic date around the timings that a hip hop artist would normally have to start the gig. Let’s just say they go with ‘African o’clock‘ mentality.
- Have the camera set to ‘burst mode’ (continuous shooting), because the concept of ‘picking your shots for the perfect frame‘ gets thrown out of the window! Oh, and be ready to be disappointed: for every 15 frames you take, you just might walk away with a 1 ½ good shot!
- Expect 25 metre sprint dashes back & forth on stage from the artists, so motion blur/out of focus shots are inevitable (see points 1 & 3 to remedy that situation).
- Security is always more stringent than any other musical gig, with the presence of the old bill. I mean, let’s face it: When was the last time you saw the police at a Jazz/Classical gig, or had to be frisked 2-3 times and go through a metal detector? I didn’t think so.
- There will always be the pubescent boys with facial fluff and the permanent ‘gangsta scrowl‘, who just have to kick off a fight.
- A copious outpouring of expletives ranging from #*$!!! to **&%$!! If you have a weak constitution for profanity, just give certain hip hop gigs a wide berth. I mean, it’s a rainbowed skittle of swearing. If it were possible to raise the dead by just using bad language, undertakers would be out of business! If you’re familiar with the cult TV Comedy, ‘Father Ted’, you’d be able to relate to Mrs Doyles’ concern about colourful language.
So, how did O’Shea Jackson’s (Ice Cube) & Naughty By Nature‘s gig pan out yesterday night? Well, it ticked all the above boxes, and then some, that’s for sure!
©Akin Aworan
©Akin Aworan
©Akin Aworan
©Akin Aworan
©Akin Aworan
©Akin Aworan
©Akin Aworan
Food for Thought & Soul: Walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise. –Ephesians 5:15
Aworan 
Why yes sir, I do agree with your opening paragraph! I will bear some in mind if i manage to get down to Q Tip next month!
Heyya, Its Danielle, nice to chat to you last night 🙂
Nice pix, love the one of Treach – loving your blogs about the shows.