Sound System, Song Choices Hurt Kurupt’s Performance

Musicians usually cater to their audience--especially during a concert. On Thursday at Club Soho in downtown Los Angeles, however, rapper Kurupt seemed more concerned with entertaining his friends on stage than the customers who paid to see him.

As one-half of Tha Dogg Pound, Kurupt and partner Daz Dillinger skyrocketed to stardom in the early ‘90s along with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and the rest of the Death Row Records family.

Their recording history, which features a number of gangsta rap hits, is storied and chock-full of classic material, yet the Philadelphia native chose to perform lesser-known cuts from his recent “Kuruption!” double album and other various Dogg Pound recordings during his 50-minute set.

In fact, some of the music accompanying the slim rapper contained vocal tracks, creating a bizarre two-tier presentation whenever he would be slightly ahead of or behind the recording. The club’s sound system also worked against Kurupt, as its poor quality made it hard for the sparse crowd to decipher his ad-libs.

Only when Kurupt--who had been joined by Daz, Soopa Fly Priest and Baby S soon after taking the stage--invited nearly every female in attendance on stage for the rendition of his hit single “We Can Freak It” did the audience seem totally enthused.