“Everyone has to jump up and down,” Absurd said. “Or if you’re disabled, do the Covex dance, which would make you look disabled anyway.”
The band finished with “ATM,” a WPP staple that demonstrates their steady confidence and talent.
“We were happy with the performance,” Dr. ATM said. “To have your name on the outside marquee is just a tremendous rush.”
The show at the Paradise was the last in a string of three shows. Last week, they played at Bowdoin College in Maine and Arlene’s Grocery in New York.
“It was intense,” said ATM. “We’re very happy with our continental U.S. tour.”
Impressed with their work, the manager of the Paradise asked the WPP for another performance in April.
Despite their bold stage presence and seasoned performance, the WPP has yet to release an album.
The band has already recorded an EP at the illustrious Longview Studios in Western Massachusetts, which has housed the Rolling Stones, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Creed. For the project, the band employed the skills of prominent hip-hop sound engineer Steve Hardy, who has worked with Eminem and Jay-Z.
“It never occurred to me it would get as serious as [this],” said The Cuban Revolution.
The WPP has come a long way from their humble beginnings as a two-person act when Covex (Cameron Kirby ’03) and MC Absurd (Jacob Rubin ’03) started the band as Harvard first-years. Over the next two years, they slowly pieced together the rest of the lineup: Dr. ATM (Nicholas Britell ’03-’04), PK-1 (Pete Kennedy ’03), percussionist Cool Hand Luke (Luke White ’03), bassist Lethal D (Berklee College of Music senior Dave Sherman), The Cuban Revolution (Alan Wilkis ’04) and Benny from the ’Burbs (Northeastern University senior Benjamin Peterson).
In the last year, the WPP has transformed itself from a typical underground group into a full-fledged band with a distinctive style.
“Last year [the music] was instrumentally and vocally…just freestyle,” said PK-1.
The WPP’s turning point was opening for Jurassic 5 and Blackalicious at Amherst College last May. The emcees even got a chance to freestyle with the bands.
“I have a [picture] of Chali 2na with his mouth open, just looking at MC Absurd, rapt,” ATM said. “I will keep that picture ’til the day I die.”
And ever since, doors have opened.
As headliners, the band sold out the House of Blues in Cambridge and have played Arlene’s Grocery in New York six times—breaking attendance records set by the Strokes and the Black Crowes.
“It’s something that we’ve always had fun doing.,” the Cuban Revolution said. “Suddenly it’s becoming something we can actually make a career out of, and that’s just blowing my mind.”
“It’s blowing all our minds,” Dr. ATM said.
—Staff writer Sarah L. Solorzano can be reached at solorzan@fas.harvard.edu.