In August 2017, there is a new wave of LA rappers bubbling that are finally getting the praise, buzz and support they deserve. There is a real movement flourishing lead by hard working artists who in the past few years have witnessed countless rappers come from out of town only to sell out shows, merchandise, pack-out pop up shops, and receive features on large publications and platforms like VICE, XXL, No Jumper, Complex.
-Monday August 14th, 2017, the tide turned. It was a legendary moment in time for LA hip hop. I’m calling it now. This was a moment. The energy that filled the room was inescapable and leaked out to the packed patio was inexplicable. The cohesiveness of this lineup was unmatched. All the artists on the bill are buzzing, bubbling, improving, gaining notoriety, have hundreds of thousands of plays on streaming sites, and coincidentally all have records together. It was the perfect lineup for this exact moment in time.
After months of spitballing, planning, promoting, coordinating, Jeff Weiss and I were able to make this moment happen. I approached Jeff about creating this show with nearly this same exact line up back in March of this year. At that point, I had never met Jeff, we had a few conversations about LA music. I just respected him and his support of LA artists so much. I felt like this was something LA needed. Fast forward to August, all the pieces fell into place as he was able to obtain a residency with the very talented band Pioneer 11 at The Echo Monday nights in August. He asked me to be a co-presenter. Naturally, I instantly hit up Cypress Moreno to see how we can get our dream line-up done, being that he is LA hip hop right now. Long story short, he and TK were able to help make it happen, they did all the corralling of the artist, speaking to their managers, and pitching the idea of a free all ages show for the love, successfully.
The results were incredible. A packed out, a support-filled show, with great performances, all artists bringing their own flavor, vibes, energy on stage. Many choosing to watch their counterparts rock the stage after their sets and even joining them to vibe out and show the fans in attendance it’s all love.
Cypress Moreno got the night started by spinning a light DJ set to get the crowd warmed up for the upcoming artists. Gusto Leimert was the first artist to rock the stage and he definitely gained some new fans as people who were sitting against the wall slowly began to stand up and sway back and forth to his smooth new-wave west coast crooning, he was in his BAG. Next up we had Watts own Desto Dubb who brought an awful lot of energy to The Echo, he really brought the crowd to the front of the stage to engage in singing and rapping his dope odes to sipping and selling lean with him. Ralfy The Plug and The Stinc Team had a surplus of young kids and fully grown adults in amazement alike, as they were finally able to witness the team perform their fire unconventional raps. They had a party on stage, with Stinc Team members stepping, screaming, jumping, and bringing an infinite amount of energy and getting the crowd to chant “Free Drakeo” (their incarcerated de-facto leader). Right before Ralfy’s set was up, I had to go outside to the packed patio to summon Natia The God as he was surrounded by his crew enjoying some fresh air and Newports. I let him know he was on in 2 minutes, he dropped everything he was doing and followed me to the stage and a sea of people followed him. By the time his performance started, the patio was empty and Natia had the crowd ready to hear the Inglewood spitter rap his ass off. He transformed the stage into the Bronx Zoo for his 20 minute set and proceeded to put on an incredible show that provoked a mosh-pit. The stage was cleared, then Cypress was back up hyping up the crowd with banger after banger of LA and bay hits then brought out So Way Out’s T-Swisher and The Committee’s Correy C. A week ago 03 Greedo was in jail, Monday, he was the most anticipated artist to hit the stage at The Echo at LA’s best rap show of the year. He came out and absolutely rocked the entire crowd and made us all sing along to his bangers including “Breaking News”, “Beat That Thang Down”, “Never Bend” and the affectionate hit “Mafia Business” had everyone swaying back and forth singing “Round here we keep it Mafia!”. The night was closed out by the phenomenal sounds of Pioneer 11 which included a dope cover of “Return of The Mack”.
Aside from that, the crowd we drew was amazing, lots of dope LA artists, producers, DJs, heads of streetwear brand, photographers, videographers, writers, managers, A&R’s of all ages. It nearly doubled as a networking event. I was standing side by side with 16 year old boys and girls, and 50 year old men all loving the music. It could not have turned out better (although one artist did show up and leave before his performance).
Below you can see the coverage including a full performance of 03 Greedo’s “Never Bend” captured by Dukevisions.
