While many Grahamstonians were tucked under their blankets on Friday night, about 70 hip hop lovers defied the chilly weather and attended a gig at the Old Gaol.
While many Grahamstonians were tucked under their blankets on Friday night, about 70 hip hop lovers defied the chilly weather and attended a gig at the Old Gaol.
Organised by The Yard, the gig saw over a dozen rappers taking turns to dazzle the crowd with impressive verses. Performers included Rym Ryt, Optic, Sons of Law, Tsepiso and House of Acapella.
Rapping duo San the Instrumonumentalist kicked off proceedings with a performance that set the tone for what was to be a night of delight for local rappers and fans alike.
Declaring their undying love for hip hop music, the two, who are also Rhodes Univeristy students, reflected on the local hip hop scene which they believe is vibrant and promising.
Optic from Supremacy sent the crowd into hysterics with an improvisation when the sound operator experienced difficulties playing the CD for the background music.
Impressed by his skill, the crowd chanted ‘wow’ to almost every line Optic delivered. He wrapped up his performance with Two-way Communication, a song about how he wooed his girlfriend. For those who missed the gig, look out for Supremacy’s upcoming CD.
Interacting with the audience and feeding off their energy, MC Noise of Def Boyz fame reflected on the atmosphere and blew away the audience with his freestyling skills.
Freestyle rap is a form of improvisational rap made popular in the early ’90s by groups such as Freestyle Fellowship.
Sons of Law from Motherwell came to town to spread the love and the gospel of conscious rapping. The group is of Hebrew faith and rapped about adhering to a strict moral code, warning the audience about the dangers of money, sex, drugs and power.
The House of Acappela started performing together a few months ago at a Rhodes event. They do poetry and beatbox, a form of vocal percussion which involves the art of producing drum beats, rhythm, and musical sounds using one’s mouth, lips, tongue and voice.
“We decided to produce our music without using soundtracks or musical instruments,” explained Junior, the group’s leader. “We do everything orally, we are like instruments.”
Although they started slow, House of Acappela gained momentum and by the end of their performance, they had the audience asking for more, more, more.
