22 Nov 11 - Part 1

Hey, blogspot readers, SouthSide has officially lost an "On The Town" V-card! Her recent adventure on Tuesday night took this roving reviewer inside Chicago's hip hop/rap scene for the first time at Reggie's Rock Club. There, she attended an all-ages show presented by Wolf Ho Inc featuring up-n-coming hip hop/rap artists like Blackout Cliq and Kosha Dillz (and friends) with Kid Ink (CA) headlining.

However, SouthSide soon discovered something was terribly wrong with this particular Reggie's show upon her arrival. And mostly it was the audience, blogspot readers, as she observed them being nonresponsive especially during Blackout Cliq's performance. This reviewer doesn't think it was the music per se (mostly classic R&B/soul and DJing turntables) that caused this "dead" silent atmosphere amongst the all-ages crowd. Though noting there was energy and momentum felt from the MCs' lyrical verses, it wasn't enough to spark an instant cheer or anything when the song was over. They were simply overworking themselves into exhaustion trying to get this crowd hyped. Even being billed as "the only Jewish rapper in Korea town" didn't score any winning points for Kosha Dillz and his guest rap artists either. This listless atmosphere continued at the beginning of his (Kosha's) performance until he had to literally instruct the crowd on how to "behave" while attending a hip hop/rap show. Despite that slow start, this artist did finally win them over when performing a song about garage sales and then demonstrating his lyrical freestyle skills about ordinary objects such as a folder and mobile phone. SouthSide did like Kosha's Hebrew-Spanish-English mixed song but honestly felt it merely confused the crowd (since they had to respond by saying "Yes Yes" to his Hebrew-Spanish lyrics) more than entertained before rockin' out the set with a humorous tune about sweatpants.

Suddenly that - the listless atmosphere and the crowd's mood - seemed to change once headliner Kid Ink took control of the stage. POW! The mood and atmosphere immediately jumped to spontaneous life as this charismatic hip hop/rap artist burst into his opening song. It was the first time SouthSide had seen this crowd come to life without any prompted instructions. Kid Ink worked his magic by spinning fast lyrical verses amidst lively rhythms and fresh beats/music to which everyone from the front of the stage to the back began partying and rockin' to the music. You could literally feel the excitement being generated in the air, blogspot readers, by this artist ...he definitely had a commanding stage presence while keeping everyone hyped song after song. At times, you could also hear the some rapping along with him especially during the songs Blackout and Hannah Montana (not your Disney-friendly song about Mylie Cyrus). Kid Ink had this energizing as well as intense persona about him that couldn't be stopped. That's what this reviewer liked most about this artist besides his lyrical verse abilities and etc. He kept his performance moving continuously which in turn had the momentum flowing while he worked every inch of the Reggie's stage ...charming the ladies (plenty of eye candy when having his shirt off) and shaking hands with eager fans. For example, during one particular song, he had the crowd soaring high through the hip hop skies as they were on top of the world with him. Though unable to stay til the very end of Kid Ink's performance, SouthSide enjoy the exciting, highly intense Kid Ink performance, blogspot readers, and suggests hip hop/rap fans checking out this up-n-coming artist at his next show. For more information about Kid Ink, visit http://www.kidinkmusic.com.


Until next time, support your local scene,
SouthSide