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Musicians carry a fraction of diva within their core. It is one of those unwritten laws that no matter how down to earth (or buried within) they may seem, there resides a chunk of entitlement in their bones that screams “gimme this” or “double wrap that.” As long as we don’t have to endure it constantly (read: be Kanye West’s personal assistant), it’s easy to push on the back burner and let it cook — considering it slightly, but never holding such pretenses against the artist. Busy P broke these rules on Monday evening when he slammed his designer headphones (and then his microphone) at the beginning of his set when something went wrong with the sound, and proceeded to scream in a mixture of French and English at the crowd and also at that poor, unfortunate sound guy (who seemed relatively unaffected by the whole ordeal).

Some of the crowd dissipated, heading back into the rest of the festival grounds, while others stayed to see if Busy P would smile and, you know, play a decent set. Considering Busy P’s past and present — manager of Daft Punk for over twelve years, currently resides of Ed Banger Records, which is home to Justice, DJ Mehdi and fellow Red Bull Music Academy performer Krazy Baldhead — it was no surprise that his temper did, in fact, cool and that his performance struck a highly stylized, electro-boutique chord with the mobs of Movement patrons who, in fact, returned.

What is electro-boutique, you ask? It’s an honest question, so take that guilty look off your face and quit sobbing into your cereal bowl. Electro-boutique is exactly what Busy P brought to the Red Bull Music Academy stage after his brief but brutal outburst of French emotion — a slick chrome variety of sexually charged, minimalist yet fierce beats that sample only the finest, most erotic records you’ve ever rubbed your lustful little fingers on. We’re talking about walking into a warehouse in that oh-so-historic (for the wrong reasons) district of your fine city, and having all those suspended strobe lights and spinning disco balls reflect bright flashes of light off of hundreds of shiny, androgynous black boots into your innocent, sparkling eyes. Like the crowd at Movement ’09, your slightly overwhelmed, but your body just keeps moving to the rhythm and your libido is consistently rising at pulsating rates you’ve never quite felt before. You kind of like this place, don’t you? The crowd straddling the stage sure did, too … especially with the heavy dose of Justice-meets-Daft Punk (appropriate reference, right?) nitty, gritty hunks of heaping bass Busy P threw into the equation for the ultimate money shot effect.

In our humble opinion, Busy P’s set came to a close a little soon (although he technically played over). As soon as we were about to hit climax, our nasty little daydream (and the daydreams of hundreds of others) snapped back into reality and Busy P was heading off with Krazy Baldhead in tow to grab his check and the next flight back to Europe. A bit of a diva? You just can’t argue the facts. An international DJ with the credentials and steamy, sexual live show to match? Like we said, you just can’t argue the facts.

Words by Ryan Patrick Hooper, photos by Joe Gall

 

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