AUGUST 1

Tonight’s performance has all the makings of a rapper’s delight. Rightfully dubbed the “Godfathers of Rap,” the Last Poets are the genre’s stylistic predecessors: The band’s Holy Terror reveals a breadth of insight and melody seldom heard on offerings by the music’s younger practitioners. Opening is D.C.’s 3LG, whose delivery gets more refined with each performance. On the basement Atlantis stage, Toni Blackman’s Freestyle Union provides a showcase for the improvisational energies of some of the area’s most inventive poets. At 8:45 p.m. at the 9:30 Club, 930 F St. NW. $9. (202) 393-0930. (Bobby Hill)