The rap master whooped that trick for the crowd Saturday afternoon at the Budweiser Stage. And afterward he dutifully thanked the Good Lord for keeping the light on him. Amen to that.

Stopped by the Al Kapone show and he’s no Harry Belafonte. The weather’s pretty cold so crowds are down all around. But a small appreciative crowd howled when he began. Many knew the words and more danced. If connecting and communicating are part of the art, Al is the real deal.

Wearing a Memphicentric black-and-white cap adorned with such phrases as “Mempho,” “The Mound” and “Cronic [sic] City,” Memphis rapper Al Kapone joined “aristocrunk” hip-hop conceptualists Lord T. & Eloise on the Cellular South Stage early Friday evening in a warm-up for his full-length show at 2:20 p.m. Saturday on the Budweiser Stage.

Backstage, Kapone was jovial as always. “Rain, sleet or snow, the Memphis in May crowd is always on the go,” he rhymed (with more good humor than inventiveness). He promised a killer show for Saturday: He’ll be backed by a live band (guitar, bass, drums and deejay); and he’ll be joined by proteges Young AJ (his son) and Sir Vince. An MC named Latty will open the show.

Kapone said that rapping to live as opposed to taped accompaniment delivers a message that’s as M-Town-focused as his hat. “The message is, this is the Memphis past presented in the present form. Stax, Sun, the blues, Beale Street, B.B. King, W.C. Handy — I’m reintroducing it for the present and the future.” In other words, old school Memphis musicianship + new school hip-hop flow = Al Kapone.