Pop Music Reviews : Whodini Tops a Poorly Planned Rap Show

The dozens of dancers jamming the stage at the end of the show Tuesday at the Celebrity Theatre in Anaheim served as gyrating evidence that the marathon evening of rap music had produced some good rocking.

But while dozens danced, hundreds departed--a sign of the patience-taxing delays that had gone before. The four-act program, headlined by Whodini, ended nearly four hours after it was scheduled to begin, yet encompassed less than two hours of music. Delays averaging about 30 minutes between sets prevented any cumulative momentum from building.

The best rap encodes street realities in a beat. Second-billed Kool Moe Dee reached that level with the evening’s most memorable song, “Wild Wild West.” In it, Moe Dee acknowledged the reality of gang fighting but urged that it be carried on without guns.

“It’s a way of life, it’s here, it’s real,” he said after finishing the rap. But by subtracting firearms from the equation, “When (the fighting) is all over, you go home. It’s cool.”

The battle that really preoccupied Moe Dee had less to do with the street than with tiresome show-biz hype: He couldn’t stop referring to his own self-created dispute with L. L. Cool J over who deserves top ranking among rappers. Moe Dee would have done well to change the subject.

Whodini’s set had a polished cast to it, with quick pacing and melodic refrains that leavened numbers like “Friends,” “One Love” and “I’m a Ho.” The trio didn’t match the force of Kool Moe Dee’s peak moments, but it was an earnest bunch that stayed in perpetual, well-coordinated motion.

Joining the two New York rap acts were local groups J. J. Fad and King Tee with Mixmaster Spade. Whodini and Kool Moe Dee play tonight at 8 at the Hollywood Palladium, along with Zapp featuring Roger.