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Review: Sugarhill Gang sweetens up fans after Tampa Bay Storm loss (w/ photos)

Rappers delighted disgruntled fans.

James Luedde

Sugarhill Gang walks on to the fieldl at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida on April 15, 2017.

Saturday night was a rough one for fans of the Tampa Bay Storm. The game was the type where adult fans shriek and curse at the ref and then bang their hands against the inside wall of the playing field after an incomplete pass was called. The match at Amalie Arena ended in a close loss against the Philadelphia Soul.

Luckily, fans were treated to a post-game performance by rap grandfathers The Sugarhill Gang, a show which appeared to lower the crowd’s collective blood pressure. The crew hammed it up, with Hen Dogg strumming his pimp cane like an air guitar and Master Gee adorned in black leather pants looking like Cameo without the codpiece.

But no one could deny that the Gang brought the crowd back to 1979 with “some real hip hop partying. Their late 70's hit ” “8th Wonder” came on, and Master Gee hyped up the crowd with some call and response.

“Just throw your hands in the air, and wave ‘em in the atmosphere!” he instructed the audience.

The Gang gave a “worldwide shout-out” to fellow hip hop pioneers Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Master Gee even spat a few verses from the group’s landmark hit “The Message,” and picked up the mic stand as he was feeling rebellious.

The show ended with the Gang’s two most culturally dominant tracks, “Apache” and “Rapper’s Delight.” For one of the last verses of the latter, Gee ended up on the floor and on his back with the mic, stand and all.

After “Rapper’s Delight,” the crew talked about how much the world needs love and unity right now, and the members led everyone in a chant of “Peace! Peace” complete with double-fingered hand signs. And for a shining second, the crowd appeared to forget every call the ref had made.

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