Big K.R.I.T.: Live from the Underground San Francisco July 20, 2012

Not gonna lie, I wasn't 100% excited about this show for the simple fact that I did not do my homework.
Usually I give myself about 1 week minimum to listen to an artist's work whose show I will attend; I have Big K.R.I.T.'s previous albums in my iPod, but did't have "Live from the Underground" nor did I take the time out to listen to the tracks. Definitely my loss, I wished so badly that I knew the words to all his songs. K.R.I.T. brought it fa sure!

Got in line, wasn't early enough to be first...I was about 10th in line. I was surprised to see the tour bus parked right in front of the venue like nobody's business; artists with the amount hype that K.R.I.T. has like to hide out & stay a good distance away from the fans. I kept seeing Big Sant & Tito Lopez going in & out of the condensation-filled tour bus (lots of water in the inside of the windows lol). Then Big K.R.I.T. came out of the venue, having finished his sound check session. I was too busy talking to my friend, then I hear the guys next to me getting hyped up, and in the calmest manner ever I say, "Oh look, it's Big K.R.I.T." They're next to him taking pix with him, and one kid even got to go inside and chill with the Live from the Underground crew. I wish I would've taken advantage & taken a picture with K.R.I.T., but I didn't want to pester the man.

2 hours of waiting in line, we finally go through security & get in! Front row, lucky me. I swear to you, I was the TINIEST person in that whole room full of people! I mean, this photo says it all, all you see is my little peanut head on the left side (next to dude with the white tee):

(Photo Credit: luxurymindz)

Waiting time wasn't too bad, music was good: a mix of Southern rap & Bay Area hip hop. There was a screen blocking the audience from the view of the stage, but since I'm so little & in the front, I was able to see the stage.

Finally, announcer comes in & Big Sant hits the stage!

And just so EVERYONE knows, it isn't pronounced SAINT or SANT (like Santa), it's pronounced SAWNT...he wanted this to be clear to the audience & encouraged us to spread the word lol. He didn't have a project out, so he did a variety of his versese off of different tracks he was on. He had good energy for sure, confident in his performing skills & had a good, loud, clear voice forcing you to hear what he had to say.

Big Sant was on for a good 30 minutes, not too long. My favorite thing about this show was that the in-between waiting time from act to act was so short, about 10 minutes tops. 

I then see this kid with some bad ass Busta Rhymes in Tribe's "Scenario" video-looking hair; he was the DJ for the next act, which made me happy...closer to K.R.I.T. hitting the stage. Screen goes up, DJ starts playing the track, kid named Mike Hurtt hits the stage (trying to tell his DJ to cut the track for some reason, but goes with it), about to go on beast mode, but then stumbles upon his words & has the DJ start the track over.

That definitely put a damper on his confidence, I could tell he had that on his mind the whole performance & wasn't performing as strong as I knew he could've. What I liked about Mike Hurtt (the Brooklyn based rapper formerly know as Mike Jaggerr) was that he took the time out to teach the audeince the words to his hooks, making it easier to get into his performance. What I didn't like was that he would stop feeling the beat (probably because he felt the audience was into it) & would tell his DJ to cut it & change it to the next track; that was my problem with Shark Sinatra during the Ab-Soul show in Oakland, if you're not feeling what you're doing, no one will. Fortunately for Mike, he was actually good so it wasn't all going down hill.

My advice to Mike: never give up on your performance. If the audience is cold, still act like you hot shit, it makes you & your performance look good. Don't give up on yourself, don't ask your DJ out loud through the mic to change the track; basically, go hard or go home & don't give up on your performance. You have good material & I liked that Biggie glasses/hat combo you had going on.

Next to hit the stage was Tito Lopez, "the black guy with the Spanish name," as he said lol.

He was by far my favorite opening act. His lyrics were on point, & he announced that this was his first time ever in San Francisco. I appreciate him repping San Francisco; I noticed his black & orange Rebel 8 hat (SF based brand) & his Giants-colored Air Forces :-) Left a good impression on me with that, on top of the music being good. My favorite thing about what he was wearing that night was this Abraham Lincoln "Dead Presidents" tee!! My friend noticed it; I want one fa sure.

He is smart on many levels. Good performance, & all the songs he performed were off of his "The Hunger Game" mixtape (which you can cop here: Tito Lopez-The Hunger Game); the reason he is smart is because for people like me who were feeling what he had to say, his vibe, & his good stage presence, he had physical copies of "The Hunger Game" handed out to those who were waiting in line outside, along with a "Tito Lopez" face towel. The smart thing about him handing out those face towels was that people who were digging his performance were holding those up, hyping him up more & resulting him getting more into his performance.

I swear, Tito should've been the last opening act before K.R.I.T. came out to do his thing, but since Casey Veggies had a bit more of a fan base, he was next to hit the stage.

This performance was not my favorite for many reasons: the girl all peacocked out on the side rolling a blunt acting as a stage ornament (she's beautiful, but she's a person, not an object), the constant use of the word "swag", one of his boys handing out flyers to the female audience members ONLY for the after party, & the pushy ass fan boys clocking bitches to touch their favorite rapper's hand. I've came across worst, but it was a nuisance...at least he had good beats, though. He's not bad, he just not my personal cup of tea...I'm not into that whole "Swag" hype. Also, I understand there are girls who let themselves be disrespected, but I fa sure am not one of them. I'm glad the audience was not full of annoying ass pervs like the ones at the Ab-Soul show in San Diego (a dude there grabbed my ass & I was ready to uppercut that focker).

My energy level went down a bit after that performance. Tito had gotten my energy level on full blast, & Casey's put it down 2 notches. But I was ready once I saw them getting the stage ready for K.R.I.T. K.R.I.T.!

The internal drums of our heart beats filled with excitement & adrenalin were rolling, the announcer came out asking if we were ready, we yell "HELL YEAH", K.R.I.T. comes out full of energy!!

The man is such an amazing performer. The whole time, he was jumping, hyping the audience up, body full of sweat...the sign that he was physically & energy-wise giving his ALL. I could tell he really appreciate the love San Francisco/the Bay had for him, and for this, he was giving the performance of his life, as if it were his last. Hit after hit, he was spewing out amazing performances. He did many medlies, which I recorded, but since his music is super bass heavy, the sound filter in my camera wasn't able to handle it. I, fortunately, had ONE decent video; luckily, it was the one where he's all up on my camera during "Moon & Stars" :-) (sound is still shotty, but it's tolerable)

There was one point towards the end where K.R.I.T. got so caught up in the moment (and I felt it in the energy that it was coming) that he stage dove to the guys RIGHT behind me. K.R.I.T. was nice enough not to kick my head lol. Live, LIVE show fa sure.

K.R.I.T. went from stage right to stage left, showing every single audience member in the from row some love. Right when he got to my side (stage left), he gave everyone love, and I look up to him reaching for a hand touch, but instead, unfortunately for me, I got a drop of sweat from Big K.R.I.T.'s chin into my MOUTH!! Lord, I wanted to wash it off baddly, but I was able to whipe it off lol. And K.R.I.T. saw that drop fall into my mouth & I could see the awkard look in his eyes, he just left right after that happened haha. Oh well, that's definitely one for the books.

Great show. If there is a stop in your town, GO! I am definitely going to the next show K.R.I.T. has, he was so so so good!! I appreciate him as an artist, even more as a well mannered person.

Big Sant's Twitter:
https://twitter.com/BIGSANT

Mike Hurtt/Mike Jaggerr's Twitter:
https://twitter.com/MIKEGHURTT

Tito Lopez's Twitter:
https://twitter.com/realtitolopez

Casey Veggie's Twitter:
https://twitter.com/CaseyVeggies

Big K.R.I.T.'s Twitter:
https://twitter.com/BIGKRIT

Ab-Soul @ The New Parish Oakland June 17, 2012

Sunday, June 17^th, 2012. The whole damn day I was geeking out!! I was so excited to see Ab-Soul.
I had seen him do his thang thang at Paid Dues in San Bernardino, but I didn’t have a fulfilled concert expercience…crowd was kind of whack. This was my chance to make up for that.

Got there around 6:30; I was first in line. I’m only 4’11” and if I don’t get to shows early, I won’t have a good view & won’t get my money’s worth. We were standing outside for HELLA long & it was starting to get really cold. The people in line were getting restless and had high hopes that the show would start ASAP. We finally got in around 8:30 (even though the website said it was to start at 7:30). Half hour wait & first act came up!!

First act was a duo + their DJ named the Brothers Amor, straight out of Oakland.

I really dug their mellow, old skools early 90s hip hop feel. First two songs they performed had a Pharcyde feel to them. Being the first act is tough, but the audience responded pretty well. They were well received & had flow for sure. Good lyrics as well.

After the Brother Amor was a rap group that go by the name of Swim Team, who came through from L.A.

When I heard that name, I turned to my sister & said, “OMG! They were at Paid Dues [2011] when we went!!” I wanted to see them, too, cuz from what the FaceBook Paid Dues site posted on them, I really liked. I didn’t get to see them, but fortunately I got to make up for the missed opportunity. They had maaad energy!! They knew know to hype up the crowd with their blue light bulb lamp, their videographer’s Stacy Adams, & yellow Nintendo 64 control LOL!! I loved them. LOVED them. The way that I fell in love with Overdoz when I saw them this year at Paid Dues; the two groups actually have a very similar vibe & musical style, too. They definitely had the audience set for Ab-Soul.

(Rglnd's crew's dope kicks)

With the immense energy that the Swim Team brought, who knew that a little dude by the name of Rglnd (pronounced Ragland) could top them? Well this Oakland rapper did just that. He shitted on all the previous acts like HE was the main act. Every single person in that audience felt what he was bringing. Take a look for yourself:

On top of that, he did a song called “Ashley” with T-Ran& Adrian Per. T-Ran sang his verse to the cute little white girl that all the other rappers were attracted to. Rglnd chose me to rap his verse to, LoL. I didn’t know how to react, I just stood there & was a team player. Adrian rapped to no one. I dug that track, I was feeling the “Half Crazy” sample.
THEEEEN Rglnd brought out Duckworth. MAN! They performed “Hoverboard” and it was just INSANE! Mad, mad energy.

Rglnd. Definitely worth keeping an eye out on. I for sho became a fan that night.

With that said…Shark Sinatra

This guy. I’m sorry, but after Brothers Amor, Swim Team, & Rglnd, Shark Sinatra was just not up to par. Someone made the announcement saying he was from San Jose, & he just kept saying, “I fucks with San Jose, but I ain’t from there. My name is Shark Sinatra cuz I’m Samoan & Italian.”

He put more effort on making his claims than on his performance. He would do a half assed rap & then be like, “ayte, change the beat. Next track.” He wasn’t feeling what he was doing, & in return, neither was the audience. I was trying to get a vibe off of what he was saying, but if he wasn’t feeling it, then I wasn’t either. We the audience gave him the chance because the previous acts brought it & we hoped Shark would too, but after a while, we grew restless & were over his performance. Don’t act too cool for school, it always backfires. Towards the end when he realized he was losing the audience, he did a nice flow, but by then it was too late…everyone was talking over him & unfortunately, not lending their ears.

Waiting, waiting, waiting, we get the announcement that Ab-Soul would be coming through the audience. The word was delivered; he came through the audience & performed Real Thinkers & Soulo Ho3:

Song after song, everyone was just full of energy. But MAN! Once Terrorist Threats hit, place went BANANAS:

he was going so hard, his shoes kept getting untied LoL. Soulo kept asking me to tie his shoes, so I was pretty much the official shoe tier if the night.

I was hoping Soul would do "Book of Soul" to have that emotional moment. At one point, I thought he was. We had a moment of silence for Alori Joh. He performend Illuminate.

Soon after the mood lightened, Soul kept the energy going.

At one point, he lightened the mood at my expense. He was talking about how he has many nick names, the audience yelling out, "BLACK LIP BASTAAAARD!!" He started saying, "You know, these blogs talk a lot of shit, saying I'm ashy & that my lips are crusty. You, you right there...touch my lips." Soul was in my face asking me to touch his lips LOL!! I gentley padded them for 2 seconds. He was like, "No, it's okay, you can touch them a little more. Get a good feel." I press my fingers for a bit longer on his lips, & he asks me, "How do they feel?" I was puzzled & responded softly, "Sss...Soft.""Wait, say it louder, what did you say?" "They feel soft." "There you go, they feel soft. No more shit talking." With that, he broke into "Black Lip Bastard". Let me tell you...Ab-Soul definitely takes care of his lips & gets his Carmex diiid. They felt like soft, fleshy clouds. Safe to say they were softer than mine, & I take good care of mine LoL.

Somewhere in there, Soul performed "Gone Insane," testing to see who had been the long time Soul fans. I knew the words, and at one point  he points at my camear & raps the line, "she's such a doll, does that make me Chucky?" LoL.

it seems as a bit of flirtation was going on, but I didn't fully realize it until the day after. Doesn't matter, I got love & respect for Soul, though.

Out of nowhere, Soul started talking about how he was getting interviewed in New York & how the interviewer got him on some local Bay Area rappers named the Jealous Guys. I yell out, AYINDE & CASAAAA!!" and soon after yelling that, THEY HIT THE FUCKIN' STAGE!!

Me & my sister had our JAWS dropped on the floor. She had been bumpin' "Love & Other Drugs" like crazy, & there they were! They performed "Brainwashed by London" & Soul was hella into it; he was vibing off me & my sis cuz we knew the words & were going crazy with excitement. It was pretty damn amazing.

The night was coming to an end, and Soul ended the night with some"Pineal Gland":

I was a little sad he didn't do Moscato, that is my JAAAAM! Just love that intro line, "She a mean giiirl, I'm a nice guy!" Regardless, I got way more than my money's worth. Usually opening acts are a drag, but everyone was so damn good!! I mean Shark Sinatra needed some help, but he wasn't bad, he just needs to be more open & down with his audience.

With that said, I CANNOT wait to see the whole BlackHippy crew at Rock the Bells in August!! Keep an eye (or three) out for that.

Brothers Amor website:
 http://brothersamor.com/

Swim Team’s MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/swimteamsters

Rglnd Twitter:
https://twitter.com/#!/RGLND

Shark Sinatra Twitter:
https://twitter.com/#!/shark_sinatra

The Jealous Guys Twitter:
https://twitter.com/#!/THEJEALOUSGUYS

Ab-Soul Website:
http://topdawgmusic.com/

Ab-Soul - The Book Of Soul

Ab-Soul. The George Harrison of Black Hippie (which includes Jay Rock, Schoolboy Q, & Kendrick Lamar).
I think this kid is GENIUS! Effortlessly intriguing lyrics. Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks this: the other three members of Black Hippie call him the genius of the group, just like the Wu Tang boys call GZA the genius. Cuz they are.

Recently, he released the album Control System. I have yet to hear the whole album, but off top, from what I've heard, "Book of Soul" is my favorite. The beat is smooth, somber, & beautiful.

To full appreciate the song & its lyrical content, one must know the inspiration behind the song:
On Feb 8th, his girlfriend of 7 years, Loriana Johnson aka Alori Joh (who sang hooks on Kendrick Lamar's "Hiii Power" & Schoolboy Q's "Phenomenon"), jumped off of a radio tower & committed suicide.
You can hear his sadness, his pain, his frustration of unluckiness in his personal life. The yells when he questions God, "WHY ME??" & the parts where you can hear his voice crack break my heart into a million little pieces. All of us who have been unlucky in love can relate. What breaks my heart is that he HAD the love he always wanted, but lost it unexpectedly. That is so painful. Thinking about it makes me tear up.
Listen. Pure real emotion. None of that watered down stuff on the radio could ever compare.

Hi, my name is Ruby, & I am addicted to music.
Real talk...I'm not joking lol. I come from a family where addiction is genetic. I've never done a drug in my life, & sure I've tried alcohol, but I hate the taste...therefor, I have never gotten drunk. Ever.

Music consumes a big majority of my time. I cannot function properly without it.
I go to many shows & have seen so many acts in a short amount of time (thank God for music festivals).

I decided to start this blog simply for the fact that I love to share what I have my ears on. Many of my friends & peers respect my musical taste, & I just want to dedicate a spot on the internet to share all my little musical nuggets. I post a million songs on facebook & I'm sure my FB friends get a bit irritated with all those post.

My goal is to highlight some of my favorite songs, favorite artists, & share my concert experiences, along with photos & footage. Hope my audience grows. Stay tuned, I will continue to share the love of my addiction, from hip hop to indie rock to latin oldies to psychedelic rock.