EDINBURGH 2023: Review: TONES: A HIP-HOP OPERA, Pleasance Courtyard

August 11 1973; the date often accepted as the birth of hip-hop. And 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, Morris Heights, New York City, the often accepted birth place of the genre. 50 years ago to this day DJ Kool Herc presided over a party in the apartment buildings rec room as one of the first ever DJ's, with Theodore Puccio as one of the first ever MCs.

50 years later and Gerel Falconer and Wound Up Theatre show us just how far rap music has come and the different ways in which it is now being used as an outlet and voice for the disenfranchised and the many battles that come with it.

Tones: A Hip-Hop Opera follows Jerome (Gerel Falconer) aka The Professor, as he takes us through his battle with his own identity throughout his upbringing, a journey through the depths of Black-British culture, class and belonging.

Whereas some of the earliest hip-hop can be mocked for the sheer random subjects that they chose to rap about such as The Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" discussing situations such as going over to a friends house to eat "and the food just ain't no good", the genres ability to give a voice to the voiceless cannot be understated.

As Jerome takes us through his life via an hour of almost non-stop rapping, the ability of rap music to tell a story and to deliver a message of the deepest depths of one's soul becomes clear.

The stage set up is minimal but ingenius in that it places very little on the stage (paint cans, methylated white spirit, a hanging microphone and a bare sound system set up); very little to distract from the performer or the performance, all the while each item that is on stage is a representation of the themes of the show or a vital prop that will come into play later down the line.

In spite of the bare minimum design, Falconer uses his body throughout the show's 60 minutes to transport us from a little room in the Pleasance Courtyard to the setting of the show itself; his childhood livingroom, an abandoned apartment building playing home to a rap battle or even a hospital bed. It is this physicality of the performer which truly brings both the character and the entire show to life, a terrific performance which should not be overlooked.

The poster for the show pays homage to De La Soul's debut album '3 Feet High and Rising', which not only makes for a great poster but the intent of which was also clear. Tones: A Hip-Hop Opera structures itself like a hip hop album, with songs making up the majority of the track listing but with skits thrown in throughout, not only to split up the tracks themselves but to bring some playfulness to the proceedings. Incidentally, '3 Feet High and Rising' is generally regarded as the album that popularised the use of skits on hip-hop albums.

Though the homage is a clever one, it does bring attention to a major component of rap music which is not made use of throughout the show; that of sampling. Whereas rappers have famously made use of sections from other songs in their own music, such as Tupac and Dr. Dre's "California Love" sampling Ronnie Hudson's "West Coast Poplock" or Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton sampling multiple tracks like Mobb Deep's "Shook Ones, Pt. II", this is not something that Tones makes use of, or not that this reviewer noticed, anyway. Given the fees and copyright hassles involved with such a process it is understandable why, though one can't help but notice and miss what isn't there.

Regardless, the original tracks that have been composed for the show are fantastic. At points the production can be played a little too loud to understand the lyrics, or Falconer's mic is turned up too loud to truly appreciate the beats, when the perfect middle ground is found it is clear what a talented lyricist and MC Gerel Falconer is. One can only hope that Tones: A Hip-Hop Opera will return with a UK tour and hopefully even a studio album of some sort.

Rapping for almost an entire hour straight, Gerel Falconer quite literally uses all of his own breath to breathe new life into the hip-hop genre, proving that even when the music is thriving and perhaps at its most popular there are still new ways in which the music can be told and in the case of Tones, told beautifully.

At points funny, intense, wonderful and harrowing, Tones: A Hip-Hop Opera is a must see of this year's Fringe.

Tones: A Hip-Hop Opera is at the Pleasance Courtyard until 28 August.

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