Philly emcee/producer Lushlife, a.k.a. Raj Haldar, released his most ambitious recording to date for Weathervane Music’s Shaking Through series last month called “Toynbee Suite,” which was inspired by the cryptic, ceramic Toynbee tiles that can be found throughout the world for over the past 20 years. The four-movement, hip-hop/orchestral masterpiece runs ten-plus minutes, and features contributions from talented peers/pals rjd2, Dave Hartley (Nightlands, The War on Drugs, etc.), YIKES the ZERO, Ricardo Lagomasino (Many Arms), Joshua Stamper, who worked on the string arrangements, and many more. Tonight, Lush will be warming up the crowd at World Café Live opening for legendary West Coast hip-hop duo Blackalicious, which consists of emcee Gift of Gab and DJ/producer Chief Xcel. I am sure that Haldar will be picking up plenty of new fans with his nimble, old school-style flow. World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., 8pm, $17 – $28, All Ages (Photo by Phil Bradshaw) – H.M. Kauffman
