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Hot97’s Who’s Next Ladies Night Edition

By Moe Olivier

So this month, at #Hot 97s Who’s Next showcase they had to give it a special pseudonym for this specific line up: Ladies Night. As always the show was hosted by Shani Kulture, from Hot 97’s Ebro in the Morning with Peter Rosenberg and Laura Styles.  In addition to Shani Kulture there was a special guest appearance by the Legendary #DJEnuff, also of Hot 97. I gotta say legendary because Enuff was born out of that boom bap or classic hip-hop era, especially for his days of touring with the Notorious B.I.G. (rest in peace for ever).

So here’s the lineup and I gotta say-if I’m allowed to add my two cents into the pot- this was probably the dopest of the Who’s Next showcase that I’ve seen. However, I’ve only really seen 4 of these events, so what I’m saying here might not mean much, but whatever I was entertained even when I attempted to prejudge a few of these female emcees. (Please note: Further down in this post I will explain my attempt to adjust my use of the term “female emcee” to just simply emcees.)

Annalise Azadian (@annaliseazadian)

Annalise AzadianThe first artist up was not a featured artist in tonight’s Who Next event. She goes by the name of Annalise Azadian.  I kinda feel like she skipped the line in the grind to be on the Who Next ticket and she wasn’t hip-hop. But I’m not gonna argue that point because she was represented by the Legendary DJ Enuff – so outta respect for the god and his experience in the hip hop game I will remain somewhat silent! Anyway, Annalize from what I understand, is this kinda cute looking white chick from Middletown NY, where ever the fuck that is! Apparently she has now gentrified herself into #Brooklyn. Enuff introduced her on stage as a special treat for the people.  Now if it sounds like I’m throwing shade, I’m really not.  The chic is fucking dope, hands downs. At least from the few songs she performed that night. Not only is she fucking dope, she’s gonna win for several reasons:

  1.     She can sing and got a unique sound
  2.     She play the guitar
  3.     The fucking deal closer over everything else, she’s WHITE!

Look! I could really write this whole blog about Annalise, my opinions about her talent and why I think outta every other female I saw she’s the only one that might really be next and not even cause the other artists weren’t dope enough, but that’s not what I’m here to do. Maybe next time!

Leaf (@itsmeleaf)

LeafThe first featured artist on the bill, who was actually the second that night, was a vocalist named Leaf. And somebody really need to say this to Leaf—I really think she needs to add something to her name cause when I Googled her shit, I was only getting information about a bunch of leaves.  Sadly marketing is everything in this game.  Now as far as what she presents, she wasn’t ready yet.  Now there were a couple of hiccups in the beginning of her set that probably wasn’t her fault, but that’s not even what I’m talking about. First of all Leaf, and I hope you read this blog because you need to know: What was the whole point of having your two dancers on stage with you facing the wall and their backs to the crowd but not even dancing.  It was like they were on punishment for the entire first song.  It just seems foolish and you should change that part of your set. Now don’t get me wrong, I think Leaf can probably sing but stage presence was lacking.  I even surveyed a couple of spectators after her performance just to see if it was me, but nope, they felt the same way. I mean Leaf is cute and I know they say sex sells but I couldn’t help but feeling that this chick is really trying to make me hard the way her ass shakes more than her vocal chords were.  She may have some talent but her track selection and stage presence did not demonstrate much of it this night.

Nitty Scott (@nittyscottmc)

Screenshot_2016-07-30-23-17-19

Next on deck was Nitty Scott. In terms of emceeing, stage presence, looks, content, and musicality of what she presented, she’s my number one chick for this night.  Now I’m not saying that she had the best crowd response though and even though I’m saying that she’s super dope to me, unfortunately, I’m also saying that she’s not who’s next and I’ll tell you why later.  Crowd response as a category would have to go Young MA, the artist after Nitty who I will talk about in a minute!  But here’s what I like about Nitty and also why she’s not next. Yea yea yea! She’s pretty as fuck and yes if I had the chance I’d damn sure take it down!  But, that’s beside the point.  What intrigues me about her is that she’s not dumb and she’s not timid about showing that side of her in her music.  She reps the hip-hop voice in this feminist movement and in #Blacklivesmatter movement.  She asserts that feminine power like a weapon in this masculine dominated world. This was clear when she explained that the only difference between her and male emcees is that she has a vagina.  For this reason, outta respect for these feminine gods, I will try hard to refer to my vagina totting emcees as just emcees. These examples of her proactive consciousness are precisely why I fucks with the Scott.   However, on the same token you have to agree this is also why, sadly, she will probably only maintain an underground presence in this industry, sort of like Jean Grae.  Wow! That would be a dope female power collabo: Jean Grae and Nitty Scott MC. Somebody put that together please!

Young MA  (@hennynhoes)

IMG_20160726_234011

Now let’s talk about the closer, the finisher, who, at the end of her set, should’ve just dropped the mic like President Obama did! Young MA! She did come late to her set and half way through her set she stepped aside and passed the mic to the infamous Cardi B. But, I ain’t gonna say nothing about Cardi B, because let’s just face it, ‘nigga she made it!!!!’ And this here is about Who’s Next. For Young MA, the crowd was definitely fucking with her hard.  Her presence was loud like a beast on stage. I can’t even front if I wanted to, WORD!  She was walking around the stage taking phones from the crowd and recording video or snapping selfies then giving them back.  For anyone watching this performance, if her style wasn’t your cup of tea, you gotta admit that her presentation made you move.  In one of her records she’s very reminiscent of Mr. Cheeks from the Lost Boyz. I don’t know the name of the record but the beat got that Hot Nigga vibe to it also.   My only beef with Young MA’s performance was that she was rapping over her lyrics.  In my view and from my era, this is just a no no! Plus, she’s lyrical and had some dope punch lines that I missed during the show.  I had to go to the Youtube videos to get the full dose of what she was saying.  All and all Young MA could probably be Next.  She will absolutely have to smash through some barriers to get to the upper echelon of the industry.  She’s a young lesbian broad that could very well make history in this hip hop game by changing the face and culture of this movement.  The question is: are we ready for it yet?

Nitty Scott MC

#girlpower "making a living off of telling the truth"

A video posted by Moemazin.com (@moe_olivier) on

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IT LIVES!!!!

By: Moe Oliver
This hip hop shit is deeper than you think! And, I was reminded of that last weekend when I bummed a ride with Hot 97’s Shani Kulture to Staten Island for their art, fashion and hip hop event called The Gallery 2016. But, before I get to the event I gotta talk about the excitement in my head on the way in.  If ya’ll have not figured this out yet, I’mma Brooklyn head, born and raised, so everything you gonna read from me is filtered through that lens.  Also it is important to mention that all original New Yorkers got their own stereotypes about the other boroughs.  With that said, when we got into Shaolin my stereotypes started kicking in. We pull up on Water Street and Canal in Staten Island looking for parking.   As we came out of the car, we saw about 7 or 8 dudes rough housing in and around the Gazebo on the corner.  So, as any original New Yorker from Queens and Brooklyn would do,  we put on the customary screw face and added an extra dip to our already swagged out bop.  You know, that’s the traditional security blanket that every New Yorker was born with, cause you never know when shit might pop off!  In hindsight, I gotta say that these guys were harmless.  They were just playing around as young teens do to exert that extra energy, however, we could not be caught slipping out there in Shaolin!  Plus, in pre-gentrified New York you couldn’t roll out to somebody else’s hood without advance notice.

We get to the event, which was inside the Central Family Life Center building, and immediately I was reminded of the Stop the Violence Movement that was formed by KRS-One. Now if you don’t know who KRS-One is then stop reading this and click HERE NOW.  I’ll save a discussion about him for another blog but I will say this, to know who KRS ONE is and other emcees like him, is to know part of what Hip Hop really is.  One part of it is the music.  The other parts have to do with the arts and social justice for the communities… but i digress.  

 

Malcolm PennAt the event, in front of two table tops decorated in white cloths and handcrafted drawings of Martin Luther King Jr. and President Barack Obama, I was first introduced to Malcolm Penn, who appeared to be the mastermind behind the whole evening.  He wore a black T-shirt with white letters and a red hand in the middle that read “STOP GUN VIOLENCE”; words so true to the essence of our culture. Ya’ll probably don’t remember that song “Self Destruction” which was produced by Boogie Down Productions; a song that was aimed at ending violence in hip hop and in our neighborhoods. But that is what true hip hop does and this event exemplified that, making it so connected to the original calling of the hip hop culture.  The walls on both sides of the event space were laden with artwork signifying the various aspect of the culture.  On one side they had a mural of vintage  Air Nikes– from Bo Jacksons to Air Max and Jordan 3s;  all are classic must-haves for any collection  of hip hop footwear.  There were several paintings that20160409_224917 showcased the infamous police crime scene tape that we’ve seen way too many times on the blocks where we from. However, hip hop takes the everyday struggle and transforms it into art, which at the same time, highlights the social injustices in our communities.  Hip Hop is not dead. It Lives!

The fashion was cool, though not the dopest part of the evening.  For me to get hype over some fashion shit, I gotta see more than T-shirts and hoodies, but I will say I got alotta respect for the brands. They on some deep next level ‘I’m-about-to change-the-world-with-my-clothing-line shit!’  Leading the way on the runway was a brand by the name of  Angry Elephant.  At first I was like what the fuck is an Angry Elephant” with that twisted face look. Then I did a little research and found out that this brand is out to save all the damn elephants.  They wanna place a ban on all ivory. And for all my low level thinkers, Ivory comes from the elephant tusk or horn. That’s pretty noble of them.  The second brand on the strip was Love Child and the name alone said it all, a clothing line all about spreading some love and judging from the Staten logo I’m guessing they rep Shaolin, but I could be wrong.

Screen Shot 2016-04-15 at 9.16.22 PMFollowing the Love Child brand was my favorite brand of the night which goes by the name FreeMe. Imma explain why they were my favorite in a minute, but the prison bars, [slash], bar code logo design kinda subliminally says a lot about the world we live. Last brand, and of course not least was the one called EBT.  The name come from a rap group called Everybody’s Trappin. And, I don’t think the focus is on selling drugs, cause we all out here trappin this money one way or another.  Now after seeing this brand and also being in Staten Island, home of the infamous Wu Tang Clan, I wonder how much influence Ol’ Dirty Bastard, had on the idea  for this brand or the group? I believe I did hear they were a rap group.  I know EBT cards weren’t around during ODB’s era, but EBT is the newer version of the food stamp card which ODB rocked so beautifully.  I mean, Im just trying to make a connection. By the way, I was really diggin the EBT inverse BET logo. It’s like an artist play on words.   

Screen Shot 2016-04-15 at 9.05.50 PMNow here’s why Free Me brand is my favorite– the artistic expression I saw at this event is truly the missing element that could make mainstream rap more real. It could provide real context and purpose behind the lyrics.  For example,the Free Me Brand had a table towards the back of the scene where they displayed a 3d design of a TRAP HOUSE.  Ironically, it was made out of Victor mouse traps, the old fashion types and it was surrounded by less than green looking grass guarded behind a white picket fence.  Genius I say!!!!! The symbolism is too real!!! I mean, one meaning of the trap house is the place where  hunters keep their tools and leathers for hunting season.  Another and more urban definition is a house in the hood where drugs are sold, but this trap house speaks to a systemic problem that ensnares everyone from the poor to the middle class.  When I saw that white picket fence around the mouse traps in the shape of a house, my mind went straight to that age-old concept of the American Dream that encourages people to become homeowners in America.  It’s a trap and I mean by definition!  The word mortgage actually means DEATH PLEDGE, so we are taught to pursue a dream that’s designed to keep us in a trap till the day of our death… TRAP HOUSE!!!!       

The truth is that this event was dope on so many levels and honestly I didn’t really touch everything that happened, like the soul to soul connection I had with Bobby Digi, or even the topless chick walking around with body art, and the deep conversations I overheard from the new and inspired hip hop artists making a name for themselves like Holy Moe and Depharie. Now, here’s the revelation I got, organic hip hop is truly a savior to its people.  This event showed me that with the absence of corporate vultures and marketing magicians, hip hop would save its own people.  Now to bring closure to what I believe, as an authentic voice of Brooklyn, Shaolin’s probably one of the most under represented boroughs in the hiphop game since the days of the Wu Tang Clan but still yall holding true to the mufucking art! Respect!

Please pardon some of my images and videos camera was on her period!!

 

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The Silent Night that Rocked New York City

By Moe Olivier

     Silent night flyerThere’s an old saying that goes, “There is nothing new under the Sun” and while that may be true, there is clearly more to see out here.  So this week I was invited to a silent 90’s party.  That’s right I said, “a silent 90’s party.” Located @SantosPartyHaus, 96 Lafayette St, New York, NY, folks came out in traditional 1990s hip hop gear, from adidas track suits with the headband to match to the classic basketball jersey.  I even saw some ladies who broke out the high waisted old acid wash jeans and midriff tank tops.  Honestly the way fashion trends are now the whole #90s look wasn’t really that nostalgic.  The party was just very reminiscent of gentrified #Brooklyn minus the hipsters, specifically referring to Bushwick and Bed Stuy or should I say East Williamsburg and Stuyvesant Heights. What I’ve learned was that this was called a day-party.  Something new that I’ve heard has been popping up around the NYC area.  The party started at 4pm and lasted until a little past 10pm.  At first I thought, “who the hell wants to start partying at 4 o’clock in the afternoon.  They buggin, ain’t nobody gonna even show up.”  I was even reluctant to go.  However, I’m forced to eat my words.  The party was ram packed with mofos ready to do the cabbage patch and the harlem shake, and I mean the real one.  Not that White boy bullshit that went viral on Youtube.  

Now don’t get it twisted, there was music involved, in what I thought was gonna be a party for mimes!  Apparently, there is a new thing happening on the party scene, some creative folks decided to have a DJ battle using, what had to be, a whole collection of wifi headphones.  The scene inside the party was kinda dope though.  There were two Djs playing at the s20160402_203502ame time, Dj Jynn and DJ Blackout.  All the party goers had on a set of phones with three channels.  One for DJ Jynn which lit up blue when tuned into his set and the other for DJ Blackout which lit up green on his.  The third channel was red.  It did not have a DJ connected to it but I used it anyway from time to time when both DJs were playing shit I couldn’t  fuck with. In other words, I’d rather listen to white noise than hear some of that garbage hip hop circulating the airwaves.  Anyway, the colors created a picturesque atmosphere in Santos while cats were busting the moves on the dance floor.  

The weirdest part of the evening was when I took off the headphones to  take in the musicless space.  It looked like all the crazies who would sing at that the top of their lungs with their ipod on, in the subway had gathered in the same location. It was like I had awaken from hypnosis and became one of those sophisticated type riding the A train for the first time and appalled at the young people 20160402_202504for being obnoxiously lost inside the music playing loudly in their headphones.  Then, when I put my headphones back on, they did not seem that crazy anymore and I became one of them.  However, thinking to myself while enjoying my own style of the milly rock.  “How crazy do I look to folks who have now taken off their headphone?”  

My last commentary about the 90s silent night party has to do with the showcase of the featured artist on the flyer, @HollywoodYSA.  Now, I would not be true to myself if I didn’t have at least one negative thing to say about this event so here it goes. Remember this event started about 4pm and is slated to end at 10.  By 8pm there still was no performance or even any mention of when it was gonna happen.  Instead, at approximately 8:30pm these mofos are singing happy birthday to someone who I’m assuming was the promoter.  Don’t get me wrong, singing happy birthday is cool, however, why does that have to supercede the artist’s showcase? And, they didn’t even informing the people who came to see the artist when this shit is supposed to go down!  That just seem like some narcissistic shit.  I mean let’s be clear.  You got me to come out because of what was promoted on the flyer.  I don’t know why other folks came out but that’s why i did!  The flyer said #90s.  If y’all don’t know yet, I was created by #90s culture.  The flyer also said Live performance by YSA.  I heard the boy spit before and he got bars so I came for that too.  I didn’t come to celebrate some unknowns birthday.  I was ready leave and so was a few other folks who actually left before me.  To be fair, I’m not sure why they left, but imma add them to my bandwagon, fuck it!   

Anyway, by 9:30 YSA is into his set.  I gotta admit,  dope shit!  I wanna even say it was worth the wait but I can’t because I didn’t wait.  I did however catch it later on video and yes I still caught goose bumps off the boy’s flow.  I love the call and response hiphop that evokes the crowds participation.  The performances added another unique element to the entire event.  The artist in the blue headphones.  The crowd in blue and green ones created and electrifying ambiance, while  reciting the lyrics during YSA’s performance.  “Roll that up light that up….SMOKE IT!!!!  Its great to see young emcees recreating what the essence of this music really is. In the end the #90s Silent party was far from quiet but a head on collision with dopeness!

Recap of @lbanksdabossy "90's Silent Party" #PinnacleAndOj never gets old! …#itsBEcomingNOrmal

A video posted by Y.S.A (@hollywoodysa) on

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Who Da F#@k Is Next?

Who Da F#@k Is Next?

Sob Hot97By Moe Olivier

So last night, on a school night, I was scooped up by the homie Shani Kulture and we headed out to Hot 97’s Who’s Up Next show, a monthly event sponsored by Hot 97 to showcase the next up and coming artists in the hip hop game. This was my 3rd or 4th time at one of these events and I thought, “since I’m here let me share my piece of POV!”

 

So on the roster there was, in this respective order, two dudes whose names I can’t remember-”homies get your names on the flyer please”, Sonny Digital, Remy Boy Monty and PNB Rocks.  All in all, I will say the night wasn’t a total dud and it wasn’t super duper dope either.  On a scale of 1-10, it landed a 7 for me.  And, let me say this as a sort of disclaimer for my point-of-view.  Imma 80s -90s baby,  so my perspective is filtered by the boom bap era of hip hop.  All this trap shit is like discussing how great the fried liver when what we really wanted was fried chicken, but it was sold til next season.  However, this hip-hop shit, in whatever form it presents itself is music my people created and recreate generation after generation, so for that I fucks with it!

 

Before I get to the artists, I gotta say the crowd seem pretty different from what I’m used to. In the very beginning, they seem like a typical New York crowd except for the lack of representation of the 5 boroughs.  In fact, it was very unclear where anyone in the crowd was from because they were so damn quiet  during the traditional city-callout that happens at most NYC hiphop events, except for the one lone ranger that  screamed out, “Mt Vernon!”  Any attempt, from  the host to illicit crowd participation was futile and fell on many deaf ears. The cricket gave better cooperation. People, if you didn’t come for the show, what did you come for, the standing room?

 

After notsomuch as a woot woot, from the audience, the first on deck was Chad D and I really can’t remember the other dude’s name. Now I could probably go to Youtube and look them up, but I was kinda annoyed at their performance and here’s why: Never ever do a show with all your lyrics playin on the track .  This is why these new artists need some enlightenment on performance history.  Actually, go research the Milli Vanilli Tragedy to understand why this is an important rule.  Otherwise,they got some #stage presence though. Really one dude more than the other and I won’t say which, cause y’all not gonna blame me for fucking up the dou.  All in all, they had a couple of fun records that  would have gone over better had they performed it without the lyrics on the track.

 

The second artist on deck was Sonny Digital. Now it took me a couple of songs in to realize that he is a producer.  His whole set was confusing.  He came on stage like the folks in NY already knew him, bad mistake homie. He came on by saying he brought some hits.  Then started playing what seemed like random records.  Now grant it, he did produce the Kanye Racks on Rack on Rack and I need a big booty hoe, but  how the fuck was the audience supposed to know that shit.  It seemed like he was playing other people’s records,  which is why i tweeted, “sonny digital the new doug e fresh… turn the party up with other people’s record  but he produce them.. just got more than one record tho.”   I heard someone ask,’’Is he a DJ or Nah?”  He never actually performed any songs and at the end of his set he just stop playing music and walked off stage, while the audience just watched without applausing until DJ Juanito was like, “make some noise for Sonny Digital.”  Folks need a teleprompter to show love these days.  I feel like he got upset cause the crowd wasn’t really fucking with him.  Now they were vibing to the songs he produced as one would rock out to any club banger a DJ throws on. There was no chemistry between Sonny Digital and the audience.  The chemistry was definitely between the audience and the songs he played though!

Monty_SobsNext up on deck was one of the Headliners, and I say this because the name, The Remy Boy Monty, was one of two bolder names on the Who’s Next banner.  Plus on the way in, Shani Kulture shared with me that Monty was a part Fetty Wap’s team so I’m expecting to see something beyond mediocre.  Sadly, what I did see was not impressive.  The songs were good and could have been great with a better performance.  Again, stop rapping alone with your own lyric. From my vantage point, I could see the body language of 4 people who actually look like they were enjoying the performance, but it was a tough crowd. The performance game is very different from years ago.  These dudes just leave the stage without saying shit… the crowd don’t even applaud. again!

The last and most interesting performance of the night was by PNB Rock.  I actually have never heard of him before tonight and I almost couldn’t point him out in the beginning through the army of 10 billion men on stage with him.  And that was some strange shit to see all these motherfuckers on stage with their phones out looking like they watching Netflix while waiting for the bus.  That was some weird shit or I’m just old. But cPNB Rock_sobs
ome on PNB, you gotta billion dudes on stage taking selfies while you going in.   On the other hand, I gotta say, though, people showed up for him.  Dudes and chicks, right, left and center were reciting his lyrics as he rocked. The fucking crowd thawed out.  I guess they were loyal fans and knew who they came to see.   And yea, I was vibing too, especially because  PNB Rock mixed it up with some boom bap shit #realhiphop. The best part was and I got mad respect for the fact  that PnB Rock was the only artist that ain’t perform with the lyric on the damn show track.  Step your game up.  Somebody gotta let these new artists know.

 

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