“Turn it up, Turn it up, Turn it up” was the anthem of the night, at the Grand Star in good ol’ China Town, hosted by Boombox. Producers, MC’s, Hip-hop heads, promoters, and most of all the fans that came out for this monthly event had an opportunity to witness some dope producers from all over, lay down tunes that made the place pop!
The bill for the night was laced with some of the illest beat makers in the game. Hailing from a place that is 2,532 miles away named Toronto, Canada was Sunclef, who started the night off. As soon as we walking through the doors I just heard smooth R&B influenced beats vibrating from up stairs. I turned to my right and told my buddy “this is baby making music”. Sunclef had just recently released a single called “Pyramid Funk” that is only a snippet of what will come from his forthcoming album Attoseconds. He definitely knew how to get the crowd going with his hip-hop, jazz, and funk influenced beats. Taking control of the sounds waves next was another favorite, Elaquent also repping Toronto, Canada.
Reminding me of the hip-hop I grew up on, Elaquent had those beats that just got inside of you and made you Vibe out. Keeping the R&B influenced vibe going sounded amazing. He quickly changed that with one flick of his wrist, because a fuse blew. That’s when you know your sounds are hitting. After the quick hiccup Elaquent was back at it, with “Yo Yo!” a track from his collaboration album with Mr. Brady called Sayin Somethin. This track is wrapped with the words of Moka Only and Mr. Brady. Have you heard the saying “what did the 5 fingers say to the face….SLAP” if you haven’t well that’s what happened to the crowd when this dropped. Elaquent had a great set with new beats as well as classics. As he started to wind down Devonwho from Portland got his station set up. It was such a fluent transition because on the last note of Elaquents “The Look” (YouKnowWhatLoveIs), Devonwho started with “Sleet” which is from the 12” Strangebrew EP. To be honest I haven’t heard much from Devon before (shame on me) but since that night I can’t stop listening. He was playful with the crowd, twisted those knobs to warp the music he played, and just had the biggest smile on his face.
The place was packed well before this but it had seemed to get even tighter up stairs. There were so many people dancing, chatting and having a drink here and there Boombox was a hit once again. To keep the good vibes going, one of my favorites of the night was second to last, 14KT from Michigan. And to tell you the truth I couldn’t have had him in a better position. You can tell how this kid was influenced by the old school. He had vinyl on the ones and twos and was ready to go in! During his set he was all over the place, dancing just as much as the crowd. You could really feel how live his energy was. The beats were engulfed with psychedelic rock, jazz-fusion, old school hip-hop, and just had the fresh creativity that made us groove. Rhettmatic hopped on the mic to MC a bit and let people know it was time to get real live. He ended up doing a little tribute to our recent lost ones. Playing tracks from Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Biggie, and even had some Amy Winehouse in the mix.
To end the show was the producer we were all there for, MR.Dibia$e, who ferociously played his beats thru the speakers. Just releasing LOONEY GOONS on 10thirty records this was the night that L.A. got to bump it the right way. Calling this a release party was an understatement. It was and felt like nothing but a bunch of homies that came together to listen to some fresh tracks. The music had the crowd yelling, “turn it up!” not because you couldn’t hear it, but because they couldn’t get enough. The record is grimy, influenced by the streets of Watts, has a touch of Dilla, and will hook you like a fish from the first track to the last. He was slanging lime green prints of the vinyl (which I picked up in a heartbeat) and can be copped here. Quelle Chris came out to hype the crowd and spit some bars on a few tracks. This got Dibia$e and us fans even more in the zone. The fun lasted on till the wee hours of the night and definitely was the right way to start the month.
Mad love for Boombox curators, Inka One, Ben Diggin, Deejay Analog for putting a great event together.
-Crusty
All photos by Natalie Aragon
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