#WyclefJean

Hip Hop Hooray! Eric B & Rakim reunite + Fortress Festival w/ RZA & De La Soul & more (May/2018)

Great month for Hip Hop as some of the greatest of all-time where coming through town left & right including one legendary show I thought I’d never see:

U-God of Wu Tang Clan – March 13th – The Rail Club – Fort Worth, TX

On his way to SXSW in Austin, U-God from the legendary Wu-Tang Clan stops in for a rare show mid week at an obscure club out in the sticks of Fort Worth. So it was no surprise that the attendance was less than scarce. About 40 faithful showed up to hear tracks from his new LP Venom set to drop at the end of the month.

He was very appreciative of the audience no matter the size – “I respect what I got & all of you are my hardcores & I appreciate yall being here” – A busy man he also has his long-awaited tell-all book RAW coming out soon & after reading an excerpt from the book this is going to really fill in some much info about the dysfunction of the rap collective. Hopefully we will have U-God on TrickyKid Radio soon to discuss.

Mixmaster Mike – March 17th – Lava Cantina – The Colony, TX 

And speaking of TrickyKid Radio, we had a blast welcoming Mixmaster Mike to our show while he was in town for a super fun St Patrick’s Day celebration!

Earlier that day, we had the pleasure of sitting down with Mike for a great talk that if you click the above link you can check out for yourself, Lot of great info & stories you might not have heard before. That evening, as you can tell by the above photo, he blows the roof of the place with a full on-assault that covered Rock, Hip-Hop, Metal, Punk & everything in between.
He takes on the wheels of steel for Cypress Hill this Summer, look for tour dates & check out our episode with one of the most innovative personalities in the world.

Erik B & Rakim – April 25th – The Bomb Factory – Dallas, TX

Touring for the first time in 25 years, Eric B & Rakim brought a little mic-to-mouth resuscitation, some rhythm with radiation to the masses once again.

Let me illustrate why Eric B. & Rakim remain one of the genre’s greatest acts:
Rakim exploded previous conceptions of what it meant to be a rapper with an arsenal of verbal hand grenades. It’s hard to overstate his influence on the form as one of the greatest MCs and lyricists ever. In terms of sheer delivery, Rakim was a game changer, one of the genre’s first true technicians.

Rakim brought a jazzy presence to hip-hop with his unbounded, free-form approach to the music, deviating from the straightforward rhyme patterns favored previously. Moreover, he just sounded different. Steely yet laid-back on the mic, Rakim rapped deliberately, with poise and command, eschewing the let’s-get-the-party-started energy levels of so many of his fellow MCs — we’d call ’em peers, but really, Rakim had few.

Now on to Eric B. – I personally am a DJ today because of Eric B.he has much impact on what it meant to be a DJ and producer as his partner did on MCing. Like Rakim, Eric B. possessed prodigious technical skills — dig his robo-wristed scratching on any of the three instrumentals on their 1987 debut Paid in Full. But it’s as a producer where Eric B.’s influence is most deeply felt.

For starters, he played a significant role in popularizing sampling in hip-hop. About those samples: Eric B. favored old-school soul sounds, a then-novel approach that would quickly be absorbed by everyone from A Tribe Called Quest to the Wu-Tang Clan.

In both sound and content, Eric B. & Rakim moved the genre forward, influencing a broad swath of descendants, from future indie backpack rappers who marveled at the duo’s musical progressiveness to the next wave of gritty New York City rappers who found stardom the following decade. All these years later, the music remains resonant.

Setlist – 

Don’t Sweat the Technique
Guess Who’s Back
I Know You Got Soul
My Melody
In the Ghetto
I Got It Made (Special Ed cover)
One for the Money (Horace Brown cover)
Hip Hop Junkies (Nice & Smooth cover)
Mahogany
Move the Crowd
As the Rhyme Goes On
Microphone Fiend
The R
Eric B. Is President
I Ain’t No Joke
Paid In Full

Fortress Festival – April 28th-29th – Kimball Art Museum – Fort Worth, TX

Man the lineup for this year’s Fortress Festival was stacked, especially if your a fan of Hip-Hop & R&B.
I was very excited to see some of my all-time faves on the roster for a perfect weekend in the sun. This fest was so chill & easy – think about that – When you think of multi-day festivals your excited to see so many acts but you think about what a complete pain in the ass most festival experiences are. Not here, parking was easy, staff was friendly, there was only two stages to nagivate & they even had a sampler bar area. Good times.

Day 1 brought the noise hard with of 2 the GOAT in Hip-Hop

The RZA (Wu-Tang Clan)

Shabazz Palaces – 745pm

De La Soul – 830pm

Day 2 brought an artist that I have longed to see: Lee Fields & The Expressions –

His eyes shielded with dark sunglasses and decked out in a shimmering, silver shark-skin suit, Fields strolled on stage like a dazzling faith healer. Stocky and energetic, sizzling with charisma and charm, his mini-Afro patted neatly, perfectly, Fields got the room swaying with his smoky social commentary, “My World.” As he sang this preamble, Fields unbuttoned his jacket, peeled his shades, extended his arms and lead us into the groove.

Running through material from their fine albums, My World (2009) and Faithful Man (2012), Fields and his six-piece band revived soul. On songs like “Still Hanging On,” “Fought For Survival,” and “I Still Got It” they delivered the blessed touch through rump-tumbling bass lines, chicken-grease guitar licks, that organ-pumped, on-the-one rhythm and blues, and the trumpet/tenor-sax horn section punctuating Fields’ wailed verses.

Like Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings or Charles Bradley and the Menahan Street Band, Fields and the Expressions can channel multiple classic soul modes — Muscle Shoals, Stax, Philadelphia International. But on numbers like “Money I$ King,” where Fields shrieked James Brown-like over the band’s grits, greens, and pass-the-peas funk, you could hear why early in his career he was sometimes called, “Lil’ JB.”

A Night of Symphonic Hip-Hop w/ Wylclef Jean – May 2nd – Winspear Opera House – Dallas, TX

Full disclosure: My fiance’ was on hand playing violin with the Dallas Pops & that’s what got me in the building to check this out.
Secondly I say that to admit full bias but at the same time, you should know that previous to this event, I wasn’t exactly a fan of Wyclef Jean. Sure I own a copy of the Fugees’ The Score but it’s not my go-to for Hip-Hop, not to mention every interview with Jean I read/see he doesn’t come off very well for my liking. Next, I too actually did a gig with him way back in 2011 when the Super Bowl came to Dallas & I DJ’d a party for Maxim that we headlined. His show sucked & every performance I’ve seen on TV hasn’t faired much better.

Naturally I didn’t tell my girl all this cause I wanted her going into this hoping for the best. She’s not the Hip-Hop afficiando that I am but she does like it when I play it & we have fun dancing when we go out. Let me cut to the chase & say that Jean eased my fears almost immediately & put on one of the most unique, engaging & memorable shows I’ve seen this year.

Jean also brought along his own electric trio and backup singer, introducing conductor Scott O’Neill with a rapper moniker, “Scott O.”
The orchestra did a fine job filling out Jean’s songbook, culled from his time as a founding member of the Fugees, his solo career and role as a producer and songwriter. the raps were fluid and swinging, addressing a broad range of subject matter.
At one point, in spite of this being an opera house, he stormed the aisle leading a faux conga line like it was Spring Break.
Good times.

Photos – 

Roy Turner
Fortress Festival Staff

Super Bowl comes To Dallas (but Prince does not) + Maxim Pre-Party & more (Feb/2011)

An exciting time to be in Dallas. With the start of Super Bowl week the whole city was buzzing and trying to accustomed to being the center of national attention for an extended period. Growing up in Fort Worth, we have the mentality that this sort of thing only happens to “big” cities.
With the big event happening on Sunday, it brought a whole week of high-profile events featuring major stars in intimate/exclusive settings that would make the most jaded person get excited.

I was mercifully “stranded” at the W due to the snowstorm but After five nights, I couldn’t extend the reservation any further because it was now full due to the event. I scrambled and got a respectable little place across town in Addison that proved by proximity out of sheer chance to be just right.

Prince – Superbowl Party (canceled) – Intercontinental Hotel – Addison, TX – February 4th

As a Prince fanatic I flew home early to make sure I made this event that I had been early anticipating and feared would miss due to an unlikely blizzard in Dallas.  Thankfully the hotel I was now staying was literally across the street from where the event was (now) to be held.

 

 

However, I must say that even by Prince’s standards of odd business practices shrouded in mystery, this one might take the cake.
Here’s how it all went down:

The event was for a benefit for the Goss-Michael Foundation, and it was originally set to be held in an actual tent/outdoors at the site of the old Reunion Arena, but had to be hurriedly moved indoors to a hotel ballroom. There was even a quickie website setup just for the event. However in usual Prince fashion, not only had it been moved, it had now been canceled and then put back on, just today. – and that Erykah Badu was gonna be performing with him.

 

First cancellation –

 “It is our understanding that River Alexander Group, the event organizer, was unable to fund and produce the event this evening. The organizer came to The Goss-Michael Foundation, invited us to be the beneficiary and receive some of the proceeds which would have gone to our high school scholarship program.”

Cancellation Rescinded – 

“Circumstances have changed and The Event featuring Prince WILL take place this evening. The previous statement is rescinded. Prince has arrived in Dallas and will perform this evening.”

Hey, all I had to do was walk across the street.

Easier said than done as their were almost two feet of snow on the ground and the worst blizzard in city’s history. I arrive to see some  familiar faces in the lobby – Sinbad, and Marlon and Shawn Wayans.

It was a scene of not chaos but certain confusion, as they had a table setup where we all checked in, and staffers were greeting everyone, but not letting anyone go up stairs to the show to be seated. And there wasn’t alot of people to greet. By my estimate I would say their were less than 50 people standing around waiting for instructions.Final Cancellation –

They came in the form of Chris Arnold (Dallas Mavericks sideline man and longtime radio fixture) who was scheduled to emcee the event. He gathered everyone and made the announcement with a sad frown and a litany of apologies. Arnold stood alone in these efforts. We could find no one representing the foundation, for whom the event was being thrown.

He kept saying “Don’t blame Prince, He really wanted to be here. His band was here. I will take the blame. Blame me for the event not happening.”
So I spoke up and asked him what he should be blamed for, He just smiled sheepishly. He wasn’t sure. Money, he said, was not the issue — despite the press release sent out this afternoon claiming the organizer, River Alexander Group, couldn’t cough up the dough to make this happening happen. (FYI – River Alexander Group, is an entity registered to Arnold, turns out.).

When pressed for more details, Arnold offered none. He said he didn’t know if Prince was in town. He said he didn’t know if Prince had made it out to the venue.

The assumption everyone was making was logically that the weather prevented it from happening, but their was an air of spite toward Prince as, although we will never know what really happened, that anyone willing to travel this far and pay this much to see him has probably dealt with Prince’s unrealistic (and at times insensitive) hastiness before. Doesn’t stop them though (nor does it stop me haha).
But after talking with Arnold, it seemed to me that this was a case of fake-it-till-you-make-it and they nerver had the money, thought they were gonna make it from the insanely inflated ticket sales (VIP tables for seven were going for $20k) and when no one was buying it, they had to pull the plug.

We did get to go up stairs after the excitement died down to at least see what it might would have looked like.

We were in disbelief that we were coming so close to seeing Prince tonight and in this room no less. There was talk that Erykah Badu was insisting on still performing to make up for what was happening, but that too never materialized.

Maxim Magazine Superbowl Party – Fair Park Centennial Hall – Dallas, TX – February 5th

While sitting in my hotel room I saw the news do a piece on tonight’s carnival themed Maxim Magazine Party, I check my email to see that my friend at Maxim has left me invitations to the bash tonight! (I thanked them extra special after learning that tickets were $1850.00 a piece!).
So I arrive in Fair Park and its like Fort Knox, they got this shit on lockdown, finally park, and enter a giant tent for check-in before heading into one of the exhibit halls where the party/red carpet is.
Got checked in and walk the line and once inside its like the State Fair of Maxim inside.

 I honestly underestimated just what a big deal this was. I know its the Super Bowl, but I’ve been to (and DJ’d) a bunch of these industry type, invite-only open-bar affairs, but this was something out of someone’s wildest dreams, and I didn’t realize till later that apparently Maxim is the party to get into (hence the 2k ticket price) during the Super Bowl. We were amazed at the setup – they had casino tables, skee ball, every type of confection and they even had a bumper car track (that we totally took a spin on).
We wandered through the crowd, and everyone is so excited – unlimited booze, stilt walkers, fire-breathers and their is a stage setup with a DJ kicking out alot of fun jams.
We met Melanie Iglesisas – who we learn was the winner of something called the Maxim Hometown Hotties Contestand she was interviewing people as their were coming off the press line.
Other people we saw at the party were Adrian Brody and Cal Ripken:
.
..and also Chris Brown, a Jonas Brother and that dude with the gel-met from The Jersey Shore.They kept making announcements from the stage that their was going to be a “surprise performance” by a name act later in the evening.
By the time we had walked all over, had a few drinks, and took in everything the evening had to offer, we had heard every rumor possible of who it might be. The most consistent one we heard was it would be Kid Rock.
When finally they make the big announcement and out comes….Wyclef Jean…
And ol’ Wyclef wasn’t too bad, though it was a bit mellow, he managed to bring the energy up at the end and had 90% of the girls in the audience onstage with him for the final number.

One of the last people we see is (our now buddy) Adrian Grenier goofing off – and he stops and recognizes me for a second and says
“Hey, its YOU” – (Just 9 days prior Claude and I took part in the Adventures of Power DVD release party with Claude joining Adrian’s band the Honey Brothers for their performance).

We hung out for a bit, but it was hard to talk over the super loud DJ and the night was coming to an end as it was way after 2am.
All in all, a pretty amazing night –  one of the biggest parties of the year of anywhere in the world. And the big game is tomorrow.