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Dälek performs "Ever Somber" from his album "Absence"

Fans of experimental, raw hip-hop need look no further than Newark-based duo Dälek. With an edgy production style, sound lyrical content, and a strong hip-hop presence, Dälek’s sound stems from a long tradition of rough-and-tumble hip-hop – a trademark of the “Brick City.” MC Dälek, whose real name is Will Brooks, uses his rawness to define his work, and, as a result, has eschewed the gaudy norms of commercial hip-hop and traditional turntablism. A self-described “bastard child of Reaganomics posed in a b-boy stance,” Dälek uses his poetic words stratified on dark gritty beats to rhyme about what he feels has gone wrong in the world and in his personal life—an approach that has drawn the delight of some and provoked others to become, well, just plain mad. Love them or hate them, Dälek’s worth seeing live, if only to witness the audience response. On Sunday, Dälek shares the stage with Displaced and opens for Meat Beat Manifesto at The Icon.

Sunday, February 26 at 7pm. The Buffalo Icon, 391 Ellicott St.

(842-0167). $7-$10.