Hypothetical question

By now, you’ve probably heard of Random Abiladeze: He’s gone to high schools and colleges to lecture and recite poetry; he busted rhymes in front of patchouli-drenched hippies at Davis’ Whole Earth Festival; he’s even been known to hang out in local coffee shops, debating the state of the world and other important matters. Well, now you can catch Random at Capitol Garage, where he’ll perform and probably sell his latest work, Brutally Honest, while hyping up his new CD that’ll be out in December—a side project called The Other Poets (T.O.P.) with Prozak Morris from A New Hope. With a constantly updated MySpace page and a comprehensive newsletter, Random’s as good at marketing himself as he is at putting the English language to a beat. Performing with Random Abiladeze are the Live Manikins, who aren’t as good at marketing, but they benefit from being arguably the best hip-hop group in Sacramento. Righteous Movement and 2-4-1 will also take the stage to round out the night. Here’s a quick question that just popped into my little head: Is it possible to attend a hip-hop show without seeing an oversized New Era hat or a hideously colorful sweatshirt? The answer, of course, is “no.”