Sometimes, a concert is more than just a collection of songs.
When Dayton MC TINO took the stage at the Dayton Library's Miami Township Branch, he didn’t just deliver a powerful set of original music. With DJ Fatty Lumpkin, he also gave a hip-hop history lesson commemorating the 50th anniversary of the genre’s origins. TINO opened the mic with an homage to the earliest roots of hip-hop, which originated in the early 1970s with New York DJ’s like Kool Herc, who used a pair of turntables to extend instrumental drum “breaks” from funk tracks. TINO told the audience,
“People like to think of MCs when it comes to hip-hop, but the real innovators were the DJs themselves. You used to have DJs get together out in the park in New York City. They would have turntables and they would play some of the best funk records of the time—stuff that was created right here in Dayton, Ohio. They would play those records and you would have people who wanted to dance, and their favorite parts were known as the “breaks.” They would take a second turntable to “juggle” those breaks—that means, to replay that break over and over again so that people can have extended time to dance. And those people became known as break dancers. So we're gonna let Fatty give us a little demonstration of that right now.”
DJ Fatty Lumpkin provided a live demonstration of the earliest turntable techniques, flexing his juggling and scratching skills, while TINO delivered a freestyle rap. From there, TINO performed songs from his two latest albums, Midwest Sorrow (2023) and La Pie Bavarde , as well as several unreleased tracks. The material ranged from the nostalgic, soulful opener “Summertime” to the introspective “Sad Song,” to “Odyssey,” which is inspired by Homer’s epic. “Some rappers read books, I promise,” he joked. To end the show, fellow Dayton MC K. Carter joined TINO on stage to perform “Mimosas,” a certified banger from their 2021 collaborative EP, Safe Money.
TINO performed at the Dayton Library's Miami Township Branch on Thursday, June 22, 2023. Tiny Stacks is a collaboration of WYSO, Dayton Metro Library, and the International College of Broadcasting.
Personnel:
TINO - Vocalist
DJ Fatty Lumpkin - DJ
K. Carter - Guest Vocalist
