Three Acts Celebrate Richness of Hip-Hop

When a hip-hop emcee yells, “Break it down,” it’s usually a cue for the deejay to literally break the beat down into its component parts. Monday’s “Elements of Hip-Hop” revue at the Loft in Pasadena was a hip-hop breakdown writ large, with the three acts serving as exemplary emissaries for three hip-hop disciplines.

San Francisco’s X-Ecutioners came to demonstrate the art of turntable deejaying, which they do with more technical acumen and ingenuity than just about anyone else. Flipping volume toggles and dexterously scratching vinyl at breakneck speed, the X-Ecutioners conjured brittle, jagged beats that hearkened back to the exultant primitivism of hip-hop’s old school. Unfortunately, they played only one number together and devoted the rest of their performance to solo showcases that killed the set’s momentum.

Rahzel, a member of the rap group the Roots, gained it all back, however, and all he needed was a single microphone. An expert in the art of the human beat box, Rahzel rocked the crowd with his astonishing technique. Using only his voice, Rahzel simultaneously created a booming bass line, a drum pattern and a sputtering melody. He even pulled off the near-impossible feat of singing over his own mouth-generated beats. In a word, uncanny.

Common closed the show with an adrenaline-filled set featuring his unique blend of urbane smoothness and roughhouse grit. Backed by a five-piece band, Common effortlessly bounced from self-aggrandizing hip-hop boilerplate to urban cautionary tales in a strident, declamatory style over neo-fusion arrangements. It was a fitting finale to an evening that, more than anything else, served as a showcase for the cream of hip-hop’s new guard.