If Notar was a company, he’d be called Amalgamated American. If he was a country, his primary export would be charisma.
This guy weaves rap, rock, hip-hop, soul, funk and metal into an effortless tapestry unmatched by anyone around today. He spits his rhymes like a meth addict out for blood on a Red Bull bender.
He’s a human machine gun in a live fire combat zone and he is lit up like a torch on the fourth of July.
With his socially conscious lyrics and an attitude that is part baller, part brawler, part joker and part kid down the block from the old neighborhood with a slice of pizza in his hand, he commands the stage in a supreme manner befitting a prince set to claim his rightful throne. Supported by a band that includes a lead guitarist who expertly works his axe like a Hells Angel works a tire iron on the head of an arch rival…they shred, they contract, they expand and they explode on command following Notar’s every move, inflection and intonation…no matter how subtle or extreme.
Performing to a crowd so diverse, it puts the United Colors of Benetton to shame, Notar’s masterful fusion of hip-hop and everything else under the sun demands inclusion. There is something in his Mulligan’s stew of a repertoire for everyone. About the only demographic I did not see represented at a recent high-energy NYC gig were Hasidic dwarves…but I’m sure it’s just because the word about Notar hasn’t gotten to their village in Middle Earth yet… but it will.
Rolling with the likes of Adam Duritz, who owns the label that Notar is signed to, this latter-day street poet covers topics from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to what its like being the resident bad ass of where ever he goes…and everything in between. His manner is such that you are hanging on every word he speaks. He is both super serious and a clown at the same time while on stage. He is the ringmaster of his own circus and he emits an energy that is positive, skilled, likable and most importantly, believable. He pulls off what very few can. Even at his bragadocio best… you observe that he is really just telling it like it is… and he’s right.
Stand out tracks on his “Devils Playground” album include the infectiously hooky “Matador” and “Stranger”…. which also features a cameo appearance from the aforementioned Mr. Duritz.
Words on a page cannot possibly do justice to describing Notar’s live show…so I’ll try and put it in terms that you might better understand.
Imagine you are hanging on a street corner slangin crack and all of a sudden a big U-Haul truck pulls up and stops short. The driver gets out, goes to the back of the truck and slides up the door.
You look in to see a mobile brothel filled with a dozen of the hottest Playboy centerfolds on the planet. You pause for a minute.. take a hit of crack, guzzle an energy drink, crush the can on the ground with your foot, than climb in and close the door behind you as the truck peels off down the highway towards a horizon of eternal destiny at warp speed. The last words you scream at the top of your lungs as the nitrous oxide kicks in and daylight disappears is “Go White Boy, Go White Boy, Go ! This…my friends… is Notar!
