HOMEBOY SANDMAN
It would not have been out of the realm of possibility for CL to enlist Homeboy Sandman to write his own eloquent and effervescent concert recommendation. Along with effortlessly lyrical jams, the Ivy League-educated MC has penned pieces for the Huffington Post and Gawker. Sprinkle in some time abroad, Harlem bartending and a couple of years teaching in New York public schools, and it's no stretch to describe the rapper as a renaissance man of sorts. The culmination of those sorted events is a lyrical punch that isn't surprising for its skill so much as for its accessibility. Sans the holier-than-thou flow you'd expect from "real" hip-hop heads, he's managed to open eyes and ears from underground radio to NPR, Rolling Stone and XXL. I'm not saying make room for Sandman next to Nas, 50, Prodigy, MC Shan and Metta World Peace on a hip-hop Mount Rushmore, but Homeboy can spit. That's worth something. Celebrating one year of Knocturnal with DJ Justin Aswell, a b-boy showcase and MC battle. Free. Sept. 16, 10 p.m. Snug Harbor, 1228 Gordon St.