Pigeon John

Like many of his Quannum Projects labelmates, Pigeon John delivers creative, thinking man’s party-rap in which old-school grooves can, and do, sidle up to Pixies samples. The L.A.-via-Oklahoma rhymesayer once told me that hip-hop first grabbed hold of him when, as a skateboarding youth, he encountered a girl who was playing De La Soul’s “Jenifa Taught Me”: “I fell in love, with her and the motherfreakin’ music, bro.” De La (especially Prince Paul’s breezy production style) and A Tribe Called Quest have certainly influenced PJ’s work – his textures veer between Native Tongues jazz-soul sampling, Fishbone style alt-funk, and kaleidoscopic psych-pop. And he’s got a smooth, easygoing flow that’s somewhere between Mos Def and Q-Tip, as he casts himself as the likeable, nerdy underdog in tales about the ladies or his underground hip-hop status. With Braille, Ohmega Watts and Theory Hazit. Nectar Lounge, 412 N. 36th St., 632-2020. 9 p.m. $10. MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG
Thu., April 17, 9 p.m., 2008