Rodney-O & Joe Cooley

On June 4 Rodney-O & Joe Cooley performed for the hundreds of Gen X-ers at the Qualcomm Practice Field .

The Compton based duo opened up their set with their 1988 hit “Let’s Have Some Fun.”

Their act was true to the old-school with one disc jockey, Joe, and one master of the ceremony, Rodney.  But unlike some of the early 1980s rap groups where the DJ was in the forefront, and the MC was in the background — the spotlight here was equally shared.

“Ya’ll know that’s a real DJ back here right,” Rodney-O yelled in the mic.

Almost 30 years later, Joe is still a dope turntable virtuoso. His right hand moves the fader (on the mixer) and his left hand jabs the record, in synchronicity worthy of a grandmaster’s title.

“Nobody Disses Me”, “Your Chance to Rock” and “This is for the Homies” then followed.

Rodney-O’s smooth vocals rhymed to the heavy bass derived from the Roland TR-808 drum machine — still sounds tough, unlike many of the silly songs from the pre-gangster rap era.

“Everlasting Bass” was the finale of the night.  The bass-bumping cut was popular for the mini-truckers of the 1980s because it rattled the shit out of the cars in front of them.  This night was no different, though, the bass set off some car-alarms out in the parking lot.

DJ Quik, Warren G, N2Deep and Lighter Shade of Brown also performed at the Throwback Festival promoted by Imagine Media Group.