What is it we find so intriguing about the Renaissance man, the one-man band? Perhaps it's the ratio of performer to sound: for the recent Superb-hosted Pauley Ballroom concert, underground hip-hop producer Rjd2 worked four turntables, a 16 button touchpad and dozens of records spanning jazz, electronic and especially soul.

And he's not just laying down simple beats, either. If that were all he did, Rjd2 would get boring fast without someone rapping. Instead, his instrumental hip-hop has complex structures with Protean progression that makes people want to dance, but also gives them the delicious anticipation of a song's approaching climax.....

Sometimes the absence of a rapper is disappointing, as with "Final Frontier," which lacked Blueprint's lyricism. But in general, Rjd2's beats and arrangements are strong enough to stand on their own.

On top of that, Rjd2 styles his live show to distance it from his albums, which makes for a more engaging performance. For "Smoke & Mirrors," he can't help but smile as he scratches and warps the deep and soulful voice sample, once so clear on Deadringer, that sings "Who knows what tomorrow will bring, maybe sunshine, maybe rain."

Or maybe tomorrow will bring an advanced version of Rjd2's "medium tech" touchpad. His current touchpad is a four button by four button grid that's sensitive to how hard he hits the keys, produces sounds ranging from bass to violin, and contains a different set of sounds for each song. If it were any more complex, it would be a case of technology outstripping the human ability to keep up with it.

However, I have not ruled out the possibility that Rjd2 is a robot. A screen at the back of the stage displayed a close-up of his fingers, which sprinkled and pounded across the touchpad in blurry cascades. The memory and coordination alone requires the firing of a suspiciously high number of synapses.

Or just look at how he deals with his turntables: He first delves into some boxes, then resurfaces with a record in each hand, quickly sets up his tables and touchpad, and then moves down the line in an explosion of activity with the mechanical precision of a robot at an auto manufacturing plant.

Also, Rjd2 is only one character removed from R2-D2. Coincidence? I think not. But in his defense, Rjd2 has some human qualities as well. There's the way he scratches, for example. It takes a lot of human creativity to get people on the floor huddled together to get a better view while making people in the back stand up on the seats of their chairs, all of them listening and watching in awe, and then exploding into applause after the solo's viceral climax finishes. And there's that grin again. There's no doubt that this guy loves playing the entertainer.

Other lines of evidence that corroborate this statement: the seamless blending of one song into the next, as well as the surprising and effective mixing of songs, including "Since We Last Spoke" with "Good Times Roll" by the Cars, or Trick Daddy's "Shut Up" mixed with his own lambent "Iced Lightning."

So what is he, then? Man or machine? We may never know, but we do know that Rjd2 doesn't just excel as a deejay in the studio, or in collaboration with rappers. He also delivers a live show that's a dizzying blur of talent and efficiency. By the end of the show, everyone leaving the Pauley Ballroom was thinking the exact same thing: if Rjd2 is a robot-and he probably is-I certainly won't hold that against him.

December 29, 2007
Doors/Show: 8:30 PM / 9:00 PM 
Ages: All Ages
Tickets: $20.00

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