BERKELEY — Thirty years after The Score changed what a hip-hop album could be, Ms. Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean brought it back to the Bay on Wednesday night, Nov. 4, at the Greek Theatre.
The music was everything people came for. The wait was longer than anyone planned for.
A hometown opener
The night started on time with the Golden State Warriors’ own DJ D Sharp, who opened at 7 p.m. with a set that ran from soul classics to hyphy. He brought out Richmond rapper King NTG to perform songs from their new album together, The New Standard, and gave the early crowd a reason to be in their seats.
The headliners took longer. Fans were still lining up outside half an hour before the advertised start, and the full band did not take the stage until about 8:50 p.m.
The Score, front to back
When they came out, they went straight to the record. Ms. Hill and Jean opened with “Vocab” and “How Many Mics,” then dug into deep cuts like “The Beast,” “Cowboys” and “Manifest,” the songs longtime fans have carried since 1996. Ms. Hill freestyled over the beat from Mobb Deep’s “Shook Ones,” and the old heads in the crowd knew exactly what they were hearing.
The room lit up when Ms. Hill went into “Doo Wop (That Thing).” Jean took his own turn with “Maria” and a cover of “Guantanamera,” and when he dropped a piece of “Mi Gente” into the set, the whole hillside moved.
Ms. Hill brought back “Ex-Factor” with a new arrangement built around a guitar solo, and the group closed with the songs everybody waited all night for: “Killing Me Softly,” “Ready or Not” and “Fu-Gee-La.” Between songs, the screens played vintage footage of the Black Panthers and hip-hop pioneers, a reminder of where this music comes from.
Leaving them wanting more
The set ran a little over an hour. For fans who waited nearly two hours past showtime, that was the hard part, and plenty of people walked down the hill wishing for more. But for one night in Berkeley, the songs that defined a generation were back where they belong, played for the people who grew up on them and the ones just finding them.
Thirty years later, The Score still holds up. The Bay just wanted more of it.
Photo: The Greek Theatre, Berkeley.
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