Christmas ain’t Christmas if the kids don’t get gifts… or is it? I dunno. But if you want a traditional Merry Christmas for the holidays, there ought be some presents under that tree. That’s our little world of commercial excess and materialism right? Plus it’s good to see children with smiles on their faces and happy instead of massacred on some Sandy Hook shit… smh.
It takes a village to raise the community of the future. And when it comes to the under privileged, you gotta break bread and show love, cuz if you don’t… who will. It’s a cold world y’all, balee dat. So it was good to see people come out not only to support Pac Div and Thurz amongst all of the other talented artists on the bill on Thursday, November 29th, but it was also good to see people come out and participate in the Toy Drive held that night and donate something to kids who need more presents in their lives.
VerBS was hosting the evening in his red beanie a la Steve Zissou. Representing Project Blow’d’s very own Swim Team, VerBS entertained the crowd with his jovial personality and witty anecdotes until it was time to introduce the first act: Gentlemen Alphonse.
I’m a keep it 100… cuz I hadn’t heard of the guy before. He came out in some Bandcamp looking Nick Cannon shit with camouflage fatigue pants and a tuxedo undershirt on. I didn’t know what to expect. He was accompanied by a live dreadlocked drummer and I gotta give him props for that. Later I learned that the drummer’s name was Blaze Hits and that Alphonse is apart of DOPE Couture, who were all in the house popping bottles in VIP. Anyways, Alphonse looked kinda suspect to me at first, but don’t judge a book by its cover. He started things off acapella and then tee’d off into an organ powered ballad that was well rehearsed. He raised a glass and made a toast to celebrate those who hate the most. He calls that “Middle Finger Music”. As Alphonse prepared for his 3rd number, he tied a silk scarf around his head and blindfolded himself. He sung, “A blindman can see that there’s no love for me, but that’s cool, you don’t got to have love for me.” But really I got show him some love, cuz not only was his rapping fresh, but his singing was on point, and his showmanship was remarkable.
The crowd parlayed during the intermission, VerBS kept on hosting. I got some Hennessy. Shawn Chrystopher was up next. Pharrel’s little homie Buddy made a guest appearance towards the end of Shawn’s set, which was all too short, cuz I blinked and it was over. Mos def it was under 15 minutes long, but sometimes less is more. Word, you know I gotta Drop Jewelz sometimes.
SB Hooligans stormed the stage next. I expected the whole rowdy bunch, but was treated to only one of them. He went for doll tho, and kept banging on the system like all real guerillas should. He had some girls trek out many miles to see his live set, so he gets gold stars on his player cards cuz I seen those bitches bouncing during his set. The SB Hooligan closed out the set making a special dedication to the west coast and had the crowd putting their w’s up in the air. Sorry I missed his name, but he represented for the crew very well.
VerBS came back out busting freestyles. This time he brought up Israel’s favorite son, Kosha Dillz, and the two of them went back and forth over Dr. Dre’s “What’s The Difference” instrumental.
After that, Thurz came out with a bottle on some live n!gg@ shit. Dropping bombs, but not dropping the mic, Thurz is prepared to save the game from all of the swine out there. He’s well on his way to becoming the next legend of the avenue. Thurz worked up a sweat on stage, saying that LA is the best place in the world for music right now. He had the crowd all saying “dope” on cue when he pointed to the people in the audience, and everyone turned up when he played “Great Going Good.” He closed out the set letting people know he got some heat produced by DJ Khalil for his next project, “Blood On The Canvas”, and that everyone should be prepared for that to make waves when it drops.
TiRon and Ayomari were up after Thurz. They had an entire live band playing behind them.They dedicated a song to all the people in relationships that shouldn’t be in one together. You know what I’m talking about, that dramatic couple that should just wake the fuck up and break the fuck up… Love. What more can I say? Trinidad Jame$ thinks it’s overrated, I’m a let y’all make up your own minds about that emotion, but as far as TiRon and Ayomari’s performance… lemme tell you. It was pretty fresh. They had the audience clapping and singing along, so if you don’t know what’s up, you better get hip to the game quick.
And finally it was time for The Div… Pac Div that is. The trio of emcees came out to a damn near packed house and let it do what it do. Apparently, the group got magnums cuz they only rock with bad ones. That’s that gold pack lifestyle tho… yadda da mean? They rocked the Scoop Deville produced “Bank”. That cut always makes me brainstorm thoughts of Dog Day Afternoon. Then the audience reached a fever pitch at the turn up hour right before last call as the crew went through their catalogue of hits like “Black Acura”, “Mayor” and “Posted”.
I’m a leave you with a question that Pac Div asked the audience in one of their songs, “What’s cooler than cool? Cool Ranch Doritos? Kool Herc? or Antifreeze?” That’s a riddle for the ages, but if you wanna be cool during the holiday seasons, give more than what’s expected of you, give freely from the heart, and always remember to give back to your community, cuz if you won’t… then who will? There is no justice, just us… so we gotta prevail. And nothing warms the spirit up like the kindness from another person. Be good to each other. It was truly an evening to remember, cuz not only did all of the artists tear up the stage at The Roxy, but the audience came together to make sure some toys got donated to some families who were in desperate need.
You know ya man’s @DropJewelz.
All photos taken by Courtney Lauretano
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