It was a mishmash of styles at the Memorial Union Wednesday night as the elegant, old-fashioned Great Hall hosted an obnoxiously loud rap concert. The California-based Blackalicious brought a soul-infused dose of Bay-area hip-hop to the Midwest in support of their new album, The Craft.

The music seemed incongruous with the well-lit atmosphere at first, but the audience didn't care. The Hall was packed with an excited crowd that responded eagerly to frequent invocations to put their "hands in the air."

Local rapper Rob G started the show off with a brief set of freestyling that touched on everything from football to parking tickets. After a few minutes of unaccompanied rapping, G asked the audience for a topic. The most common suggestions weren't as "deep" as he wanted. "I'm not going to rap about blunts, bitches and hoes," he said before creating a flowing rap about tickets off the top of his head.

G's comment on "deep" topics summarized perfectly what all the music had in common Wednesday night. This isn't your typical 50 Cent-style rap; it's "state-of-the-art hip-hop with an expansive worldview," according to Blackalicious.com.

Opening group Zion I fit this description as well. The Oakland duo of MC Zion and Amp Live performed an hour-long set of tight beats behind lyrics about race, politics and modern hip-hop. MC Zion led the charge on the mic, while Amp Live manned the turntables and drum machine.

Zion I got the crowd pumped up right off the bat, but the balance was off. Besides having to put up with numerous squeals of feedback, the audience was subjected to a loud smashup of sound every time the group got excited.

Anyone not familiar with Zion I would have missed the topics covered in the songs, since many of MC Zion's words were lost in the mix. Amp Live's bass beats were floor-busting, to the point where some concertgoers took to dancing with their fingers in their ears. With the music coming loud and fast, there were few opportunities to hear what Zion I was rapping about.

The group was at their best when they made use of dynamics to let Amp Live's dreamy turntable backgrounds shine through. Songs like "Temperature" started off well with his sampled intros, but had a tendency to degenerate into obnoxious noise due to the poor sound mix.

After taking the stage to a droning intro, Blackalicious also began to suffer from bad mixing, but lead rapper Gift of Gab made sure his rhymes were heard through a little audience participation. After the first song, Gab asked the crowd if they could hear him, then had them chant "turn it up" when the answer was "no."

Even though new listeners still wouldn't be able to understand all the lyrics, Gab's distinctive voice fit the mix well. Once he started spit-firing, Gab's words were flying by too fast to catch anyway.

Gab was joined by a backing band that included a DJ, two backup singers and another rapper, but he immediately took charge of the show. The big man didn't jump around as much as MC Zion, but he commanded the audience's attention expertly. The audience responded by waving their hands in the air, clapping along and generally making a lot noise at Gab's command.

Blackalicious complemented their innovative mix of samples, live harmony vocals and unique rapping style with an ever-present sense of humor.

Gab introduced "Sky Is Falling" off the 2002 album Blazing Arrow with a "public service announcement: When you're driving in your car, wear a seatbelt. Cigarettes kill. Smoking weed is good for you." But the humorous introduction didn't really match the gritty, apocalyptic song about urban violence.

The group rapped over unusual covers like "Putting On The Ritz" and the Alphabet song. The high point of the set was the Blazing Arrow tune "Chemical Calisthenics," a rap about all the stuff you learned in high school chemistry.

After the main set, the audience was eager for more, but the crowd had to raise the roof several times before Blackalicious would come out for an encore.

Once they did come back out, Gab called Zion I back to the stage for a fast-moving jam. The rappers stood in a semicircle and took turns freestyling over the massive beats of both group's DJs.

Even though there was little in the way of concert lighting or a good sound mix, Wednesday's show ended like a stadium concert, with the crowd making more than enough noise for the elegant Great Hall.