At Malkin Bowl on Saturday, July 2

K-OS is on a mission. His aim is to rescue his beloved hip-hop from those who would use it mainly as a vehicle to fatten already-swollen wallets. At least that's the impression the Toronto MC born Kevin Brereton gives on record: it's a recurring theme on his impressive sophomore CD, Joyful Rebellion. The lyrical asides that peppered the first of his two Stanley Park shows confirmed K-OS's status as a self-appointed cultural watchdog. He threw a pointed dis of Black Eyed Peas into "EMCEE Murdah" and, to the tune of the Beatles' "Yesterday", later lamented, "Suddenly hip-hop's not the way it used to be/Everybody does it for money/I believe in yesterday".

Rapping guardian he might be, but K-OS takes a broad-minded approach to his chosen form of expression. Joyful Rebellion finds the multitalented writer and performer kicking out infectious reggae- flavoured pop ("Crucial"), crooning an acoustic guitar-driven ballad ("Hallelujah"), and quoting Cat Power on a duet with hirsute rocker Sam Roberts ("Dirty Water"). Not surprisingly, Saturday night's Malkin Bowl concert was more an exercise in stylistic diversity than a clinic in unadulterated hip-hop.

The all-over-the-map set owed much to the talents of K-OS's five-piece backing band. Guitarist Russell Klyne blasted his way through some fast and flashy-if not exactly tasteful-flamenco-tinged shredding on "Commandante", DJ Lil Jaz proved as adept on keyboards as he was on the decks, and drummer Ray Garraway and percussionist Santosh Naidu each took powerhouse solos. The only one who didn't get time in the spotlight was bassist Toby Peter, but he played his role skillfully, particularly when he laid down a mesmerizingly rock-steady groove on the dubby jam that ended "Heaven Only Knows".

That was the number on which K-OS busted out the "Yesterday" verse, not to mention snippets of the Police's "Message in a Bottle", several Bob Marley songs, and the chorus from 50 Cent's "21 Questions". The sampling didn't end there. "Man I Used to Be" started with K-OS leading those game enough to sing along in a chorus of "Another Brick in the Wall". Later, he teased the crowd by having the band launch into the jazzy walking bass riff of "Crabbuckit" and then singing "Hit the Road Jack" over it instead.

Not that the evening was without its moments of straight-up hip-hop. K-OS kicked it old-school with an encore set that featured an unlikely pairing of covers: A Tribe Called Quest's "Buggin' Out" (with a surprise guest appearance from Swollen Members' Prevail) and Snoop Dogg's "Tha Shiznit". By the end of the night, however, the restlessly eclectic T.O. rapper had strapped on an electric guitar and was wrestling an ungodly distorted racket from it.

K-OS is nothing if not a populist, and his something-for-everyone approach makes for a consistently compelling show. Given his saviour-of-the-game stance, it's ironic that said approach seems almost calculated to alienate hip-hop purists. But purists, in general, are obnoxious killjoys who wouldn't recognize a good time if it was doing a headspin right in front of them.

Which, in this case, it was. Three acrobatic b-boys provided eye candy for the easily distracted. K-OS himself isn't much of a dancer, but he did climb off the stage for a crowd-surfing session at the end of "Papercutz". As for those in the audience, well, maybe they were still exhausted from Canada Day debauchery, or perhaps the combination of mild weather and B.C. bud had mellowed them out. Whatever the case, K-OS wondered aloud whether everyone was in need of some Red Bull. He also left the stage with the admonishment, "Vancouver, you need to stop smoking so much pot."

He didn't seem too perturbed, though. After all, he's a man on a mission, and he had a whole new group of converts to win over the following night.