IT’S IMPOSSIBLE to cram a quarter-century’s worth of scene-defining hip-hop into a single night, but the South Park Coalition gave it one hell of a shot at their big anniversary show on April 14, 2012.

Why not? The word “impossible” had never stopped them before. Houston’s original rap clique blazed funky trails since hip-hop’s introduction to the city, and their approach to every obstacle remained unchanged throughout: strength in numbers.

To celebrate 25 years of underground rhymes and grinds, the S.P.C. brought both the quality and quantity of music it’s known for to the dark, dank confines of Numbers Night Club.

It was an interesting pairing of artists and venue. While the corner of Westheimer and Taft is about as far away culturally from the corner of Bellfort and MLK, the long-lived dance club somehow seemed an altogether fitting place to celebrate the legacy of one of Houston’s most influential musical forces.

After the clock struck 12 a.m., the curtains closed onstage as the Coalition assembled for an epic session of pass-the-mic. Announced one by one, S.P.C. mainstays PSK-13, Murder One, Ganksta NIP, Point Blank, Sniper, Rapper K and K-Rino took the stage along with more than a dozen more rappers, friends and family.

The crowd was into all of it, but nobody was having more fun than the Coalition members themselves. Apropos of the occasion, the S.P.C. was engaged, energized and having an inexplicably good time.

K-Rino, one of — if not the — best rappers in Houston history, ultimately took the mic and killed everybody with his “Book #7” and “Ghetto ABCs.” The music kept on and on as it got later and later.

The crowd started to thin out after 2 a.m. or so, but the S.P.C., true to form, displayed no intention of going anywhere. At times it felt like they were trying to fit another 25 years’ worth of music into a single night.

 

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