After hearing about how live the NYC release party was for Termanology’s debut album “Politics As Usual” last week, it was sooo necessary for JV to hit up the second official release party in
First up on the stage was the BK's own Torae. The self described "Young Vet" has been in steady grind mode ever since dropping his incredible debut "Daily Conversation" a few months back. Even though the show didn't jump off until well over an hour & a half after the scheduled time, the venue was still relatively empty with only a couple dozen heads near the stage when he hopped on. Regardless though, Tor ripped through his set & kept even those unfamiliar with his music on their toes by spitting some ridiculous freestyles over various classics from 9th Wonder, Pete Rock, Premo and more. It's funny, it wasn't 'til I looked at these snaps when I got home that I noticed dude kept his eyes closed the ENTIRE TIME he was on stage! Damn I guess he was trying to imagine that there were actually more heads in the crowd lol. But when his set was finished he went to hold down the merch table + your boy went right over and chopped it up with him for a few. I gotta say, he was definitely a real dude. Very appreciative and even offered to sign the copy of his album I had bought. He told me he's been hard at work in the studio with Premier, Pete Rock, & some other heads and his next project is turning out crazy as result...he hit us with a preview of a new track with Pete Rock and wait 'til y'all hear it. shit is RETARDED!
Once Torae stepped off, it was time for the local up & coming talent to step up to the stage. First up were the duo Starrs & Murph. I've seen both cats before opening up for Masta Ace a few summers back, and they have definitely stepped up their live show significantly since then. Both dudes can hold their own on the mic, yet to me they just don't have that "IT" factor that could take them to the next level. Regardless, they did their thing, especially when it came time to perform their latest single "Showtime" which coincidently, was produced by Statik Selektah. The song has a Jigga-esque "Encore" vibe to it and is definitely one of the hotter tracks I've heard from the duo.
Next up on the bill were two of R.I's most pro...nah fuck that...New England's most promising up & coming emcees; Jon Hope & Theo. Hope took the stage first as Theo (who was also known by DJ S-Class in a former life) took control of the 1's & 2's. As soon as Hope got on the mic the whole crowd lit up and that hometown love was definitely in full effect. It was the first time I saw Hope spit live, and I was immediately impressed with his crazy stage presence after he opened up spitting his hit single "Rap Life" acapella. I mean as I've been saying for well over a year now...this kid is a FUCKIN' PROBLEM! Oh and forget that hometown bias bullshit. Hope is going places and it looks as though people are finally starting to recognize real. Matter of fact, just a week ago dude opened up for Nas & Green Lantern during 3 of their Jones Experience Tour stops. So he's most definitely moving in the right direction, for all you still sleeping, keep an eye out for his "Some Kind Of Wonderful" EP that's dropping in December.
Right about halfway through Hope's set, Theo stepped up from behind the tables and took over the mic to perform an impromptu mini-set. Although Theo has just recently began his career as an emcee, he has enough experience as a seasoned DJ to know how to work the stage and put on a live show. As he breezed through his performance of "Sweetest Language" (my personal favorite track off his latest project "The Birth") he even showed off his singing skills by belting out the hook as well. Dude can do it all! And judging by the crazy response he's been getting from not only his hometown of Providence, but from every corner of the Internet, Theo is yet another local act about to take it to a national level. In fact, HipHopDX just did a great feature on him that you can check out here. And I know he checks for the Undaground as well...so big ups & congrats my dude! Be on the lookout for an exclusive Undaground interview with Theo coming real soon.
After Theo & Jon Hope finished up their sets, it was time for Statik Selektah to jump on the wheels of steel one final time to warm everyone up for the man of the hour Termanology! Mr. Spell My Name Right ran through the standard set of quintessential East Coast classics from everyone from Mobb Deep to Nas to Wu...Now even though Statik is regarded as one of the best DJs doing it right now, there wasn't too much creativity to his set as he pretty much went through the motions without too much turntablism or scratches besides the basic beat matching and transitional blending. Oh well. It is what it is. As I mentioned a few posts ago, once he finished up I ran into him at the bar and we had a brief convo 'bout hip-hop and his new album. He was real down to earth and was talking about his work on his production skills and hyping up his new album claiming it was even better than his first (which I refuse to believe). We also got around to talking about my blog and traded email addresses, so expect some exclusive D.U. x Statik Selektah material coming soon as well!! If you want more about our convo & info on his new album "Stick 2 The Script" click here.
Finallllly at around 1 am Termanology took the stage alongside his crew S.T. Da Squad. So what was my first impression of Term? How about the fact that dude is about 5'2!?!? Like no word of a lie...the guy is a borderline midget..about a buck 25 soaking wet. I mean, don't get me wrong, I wasn't under the impression dude was big by any means...but I had no clue he was that small! It makes sense now though that every picture I've ever seen of him is an extreme closeup. Shit, even his album cover has him all hunched over on a park bench wit his feet hardly hitting the ground lol! But seriously. As expected, Term did the damn thing on stage. Despite the 6 or so members of S.T. Da Squad crowding the tiny stage, Term's hype set him apart from everyone else. I gotta give dude credit too, despite the crowd's small size, he brought enough raw energy to the show that the crowd was feeding off it and soon enough you couldn't tell if there was 50 or 500 people in that place.
So after Term ran through a string of mixtape cuts and hot tracks from "Politics As Usual" he invited all the other emcees on the bill back on stage to take part in a freestyle cypher to close out the show. Everyone then proceeded to rip the mic to shreds straight acapella style. I took a bunch of video footage of the cypher and hopefully can figure out how to upload it online within the next day or two since YouTube has been fucking up every time I try. Oh well. Once it was all wrapped up, Term closed the show by tearing the roof off with a performance of the joint that put him on the map; "Watch How It Go Down". So by this point in the night things started getting a little fuzzy after your boy took down a few too many Heinekens & shots of SoCo. So thats where the review will end haha.
Sooo all in all, it was a great night of hip-hop from some of the game's most promising talent and even though I missed out on the Kidz In The Hall performing across town, I definitely think that I picked the right show to check out. From the bottom of the bill all the way to the top, everyone really put on one hell of a show. I mean despite how much shit people talk about the state of hip-hop right now, it makes me proud to see a handful of talented, local emcees not only putting out good hip-hop but building and supporting one another at the same time. It's a beautiful thing.
So while we're on the topic, I'm sure there's still a few of you out there who are sleeping on some of the cats who performed at the show. So I'll take this time to hit y'all with a few brand new tracks from all the artists involved that are absolutely necessary to download. Trust me. Don't even think...just start clicking every single one of these links...it's the right thing to do. You know JV never steers you wrong.
Starrs & Murph - Showtime (prod. by Statik Selektah)
Starrs & Murph ft. Termanology - Cold War 2 (prod. by Statik Selektah)
Jon Hope - The Rap Life
Jon Hope - The Rush
Jon Hope - Alright
Theo - Sweetest Language
Theo - Jurassic Harlem
Theo - Grammy Family (Freestyle)
Torae - Da Young Veteran
Torae - Back 2 The Basics
Statik Selektah ft. Little Brother, Joe Scudda & Chaundon - On The Marquee
Termanology - Hold That (prod. by Pete Rock)
Reks ft. Termanology & Skyzoo - Money On The Ave (Remix)
S.T. Da Squad - Swagga Like Us (Freestyle)
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. I got much more from Termanology & Statik Selektah just a few posts down and if you're looking for more from any of the other artists, just run a search at the toolbar at the top of the site to check out everything I've posted from these guys including full mixtapes, albums, and more!!
