Scribble Jam – 2005 US Tour
Every year, the cream of the US underground hip hop scene make a pilgrimage to the holiest of holy places – Cincinnati, Ohio. Scribble Magazine puts on Scribble Jam every year there, a coming together of the 5 elements, with graf expos, MC, DJ, Beatbox and Breaking battles, plus the biggest names in the underground appearing live on stage. Previous Scribble Jam DVDs have been excellent, showing the best of the battles, 15 minute features showcasing the best of the graffiti and also footage of the live sets of artists such as Atmosphere, MF Doom, Eyedea & Abilities, RJD2, Blueprint, Brother Ali and many more.
Last year however, instead of just holding the big event itself, a 13 date tour of America was put on, with Mr Dibbs, Glue and Blueprint travelling the length of the States to garner interest in the event and also to hold preliminary battles for spots in the main diss-off at Scribble.
Whilst this DVD does have a tour diary featuring the artists who performed, it comes in at only a little over 30 minutes, which doesn’t really give much depth to the interviews and clips are at a premium. This is a shame because what is there is great, some funny anecdotes and some good live cuts, but it just isn’t long enough.
The bonus section, which is usually live footage from the event is this time set out as a map of America, with each section from a particular date on the tour. Again, the unfortunate thing is that the footage isn’t of any of the artists, but the best bits of the battles, some of which are cringe-worthy. There are some great lines in there, but you have to dig around to see them, and it just seems a bit of an effort.
Of course, it is a different type of Scribble Jam DVD because it is of the tour and not the main event itself but I still feel it comes in a little lightweight, and would have benefited from a longer set of answers from Dibbs, Glue and Print and more live footage of them, rather than the amateur MCs. Still, you do get a free CD, which includes tracks from Listener, Mac Lethal, Glue and Abjekt favourites Doomtree and that can’t be a bad thing now can it?
Abjekt