Reach's Hollapalooza, feat. Reach, Trek Life, Oddisee, Kev Brown. Sunday, March 11 at the Peanut.
Review by Nadia Pflaum
So you know when I wrote that thing about Reach's Hollapalooza? And I barely mentioned the guys he'd be performing with last night at the Peanut? Because I didn't know who the hell they were? Well ... let's just say that now I know. And I'm impressed.
And if what they were saying was true, so were they. But we'll get to that.
The Peanut was packed, but the managers had closed the second floor, forcing the crowd to get cozy downstairs. After Reach's quality set, a skinny black dude named Trek Life took the mic and said something along the lines of, "Wow. I'm not used to performing for folks that look like me. Not judging or anything, but, I'm used to playing for people who have to brush their hair. Not people who might have to pick their hair." (Note: Quotes here are from memory only. A memory obscured by a cocktail or seven.) Trek was from Maryland so he was shouting out the University of Maryland Terrapins before launching into a couple songs that were heavy on the call-and-response, which annoys me sometimes. Can I please just be lazy and watch you, the performer? Did I really pay five bucks to scream unintelligible lyrics into the air?
Anyway, next up was Oddisee, whose real name, according to his MySpace page, is Amir Mohamed. He introduced himself as "high Sudanese" and wore a turquoise LRG shirt and dunks. He performed a song that was titled Gentrification, a word that to many people just means "Here comes a really boring conversation." But he prefaced it by saying, "I'm a reporter. I like to report on the things that I see in my neighborhood. The East Coast isn't that different from the Midwest, I know some of the things happening there are happening here. I'd like to hear about some of the things happening in your neighborhoods, too."
The song killed me. "Mom and Pops store replaced by couture/ A Starbucks here, a Starbucks there/ how much coffee you need? My God it's unfair/ They move away from the 'burbs to escape the monotony/ And bring along with 'em they pilates and pottery/ ...My city don't look the same, what a shame, it's tragic."
Kev Brown came on after that, in a tee that read "Make Music," and was wowed by the enthusiasm in the room. Sidewalk popper J-Wiz was in the front row, along with up-and-coming producers and lyricists like Neth, Dutch Newman and Godson and proven veterans like Approach. Reach knew all the words to Kev's songs. Kev said they'd come from shows in Chicago that were empty and wack, and that Kansas City was showing them love like they hadn't yet seen on tour.
Sounds like the East Coast scene is gonna be hearing about us.
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