day of Mission Creek. They played at Gabe’s, one of my favorite venues here in Iowa City. The show got started about forty minutes after it was supposed to, so while we were waiting for Phat Kat to come on, two DJs whose names I didn’t catch entertained the crowd in the meantime. They were really fun guys that kept the fairly large crowd at that point from getting too impatient. I automatically liked them because they yelled “F**k Donald Trump” in the middle of one of their songs and the whole crowd went crazy. Another interesting thing that happened was one of the DJs even took the time to ask the girl in front of me for her number because she was freaking out so much over him. It was actually pretty cute.

Finally, Phat Kat, a small time rapper from Detroit came on stage. After a little research on the artists beforehand it did not take me long to realize that they all hail from Detroit, Michigan. I am surprised Phat Kat is not more popular than he is. He has an

old-school rap sound that is almost non-existent in today’s hip-hop community. He had a demanding presence on stage and really knew how to get the crowd going. Everyone was jamming along with him and the atmosphere in the place at this point was fantastic.

Up next was Guilty Simpson. He had a very imposing presence and a hard posture, but his rhymes were smooth and flowed with ease. “Hip hop is in the house” was the first thing he announced when he walked onto the stage, before him and Phat Kat rapped together as he closed out his set. He talked a little about how all of the artists that played last night were from Detroit and how we as the crowd were “part of hip-hop history.” Guilty Simpson made it hard for you not to watch him because his sheer size demanded your

attention. He kept the crowd rolling until the next act.

After Guilty Simpson was Black Milk, whose beats are notorious. He was even discovered by Slum Village and produced a track on their 2002 mixtape “Dirty District.” Black Milk is an excellent artist. I do understand why his beats are so famous because he had the crowd moving around the whole time during his set. I don’t think I saw one person standing still, which was a pretty

big accomplishment because the crowd was almost doubled in size by the time he came on. I couldn’t even get a decent picture of him performing because I kept getting bumped into every time I tried to take one. He kept everyone’s attention, especially mine, and he was pretty cute which helped.

Lastly, Slum Village closed down the party with their old-school, hip-hop funk sound. Pretty much everyone in the crowd was rapping along with them to every song. They definitely brought the biggest crowd. They were constantly moving all around the stage and like all the other acts, brought the party atmosphere in the room to an all-time high. It was pretty late at this point; the show went till about 2 am but I wasn’t 100% sure because my phone died after Black Milk’s set. They still kept the ball rolling and ended it on a high note leaving the crowd satisfied.

Overall this was a fantastic show. I was a little apprehensive at first because I don’t listen to much hip-hop/rap but I thoroughly enjoyed myself and would definitely see any of the artists again if I got the chance.

The post Mission Creek: Kings Court Tour @ Gabes 4/9/16 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

In the midst of all these indie-rock bands, Gabe’s provided Mission Creek one hell of a hip-hop show Thursday night. Black Milk stole the show and put on a refreshing mix to the usual punk or noise performances going on this week.

My only complaint is that there were performers before Black Milk. It started with a forty-five minute set by DJ Rich Rok, a kid my age that played other people’s songs with his beats over them. It got annoying to me, but I think it was because of the venue. Had it been at a dance club, he would have been perfect.

He remained onstage to DJ the next performers, Iowa City rapper Ion with “special guest” John Dope. Ion had okay verses, but very weak choruses. His quick flow would be ruined with the awful repetition of a couple words as a chorus. John Dope added nothing, other than an overgrown man with an overgrown beard and pigtails.

When Ion and Dope finally got off stage, the crowd was welcomed to Dallas’ party-rappers A.Dd+ (pronounced a-d-d), who weren’t actually on the bill but were chosen by Black Milk to be his openers. They were a pleasant surprise and brought life back to Gabe’s by jumping into the crowd and telling great party stories through their rapping.

The duo of A.Dd+, comprised of Paris Pershun and Slim Gravy, had the necessary rapping chemistry that Ion and Dope completely lacked. Rather than shouting over each other, they rapped in such a way that it seemed that they were just talking to each other, but very quickly. They also had good beats that would sometimes stop for very cool a cappella moments. Kind of like a warm-up comedian, Gabe’s was now ready for the experience Black Milk would bless us with.

Black Milk feels “like I’m on top of the world without the fear of falling.” And he has every right to. Hailing from Detroit, the promising producer/rapper has already built himself an impressive resume, collaborating with the likes of Royce Da 5’9’’, Lloyd Banks, Jack White, Busta Rhymes, Pharoahe Monch, Kardinal Offishall, Immortal Technique and more.

When performing live, he has a backing band rather than just a DJ. This added a lot to his songs, as it gave them a rock-remix feel reminiscent to what Travis Barker has done. On top of that, his band could play very well, and Black Milk gave each member time for a solo in his fifteen minute epic encore of his underground smash hit, “Losing Out.”

Black Milk has everything it takes to be the next big rapper, and I hope he’ll become a household name in the rap industry soon.

The post Show Review: Black Milk, A.Dd+, Ion, Rich Rok appeared first on KRUI Radio.