O.D.O.T. had their “record release party” at the Grog Shop this past Saturday, July 15th. If you don’t know about hip-hop shows, then the first thing you should realize is that they do NOT start on time. This show was slated to start at 9PM on (Ticketmaster) and 10PM (Grogshop), so add at least an hour to the scheduled time. So, showing up at 11PM did not cause any missed performance. Upon arrival, there was an assault by the beats DJ Besto and the hype of Garbs, who were in the midst of hosting a ‘mini-battle’ to get the crowd a bit hyped before the main performers. Out of the four cats that decided to spit, a dude named Resinate took the crown. Props to him, even if only a few cats got up there.
DJ Besto broke it down with no remorse after that. He spun some Wu-Tang and did some doubles on the ODB tip (shimmy shimmy ya). He pulled the semi-standard behind-the-back-beat-juggling set, in combination with scratching with the elbow. Hot!
The opening acts was the 220 Records Crew/The Rulership and Thought Set. I’m not exactly sure who was who but the Rulership/220 Records seemed hella generic; I told my bro to get me a copy, but I don’t think that he did. Ah well. The key to this act was a little, non-rapping guy who did a dance to “Laffy Taffy” before their set started. He seemed to be the hype man for the crew. Cat was hella funny in a “Money Mike” from Friday kind of way. They had about 1 cat who seemed to be ok, but again, I know that live shows are not always the best way to hear/understand/enjoy hip-hop, so props to Rulership as well regardless of their showing.
The Thought Set were the Cleveland cats who kept it tight for the main cats. I’ll have to get back to you with some more infoz about these performers. Apparently, they are dudes with Copywrite and down with O.D.O.T.
Copywrite and O.D.O.T. took the stage around 1:00 or so. I can’t give a full set list (I don’t know all the names), but here’s the list that I can think of, in no particular order:
- I’m Back (Just for a Second)
- That’s a Wrap
- 7 Light Years Before the Dark Ages
- F^@K Soundcheck
- Happy Hour (P.Y.P)
There was more, but I don’t remember them all.
Finally, the whole point of this show was to promote the new mixtape, E-V Money: The Takeover. The mixtape (available directly from KingDom’s myspace) features many beats by one of the Northwest’s premier producers: JakeOne. He’s the man who allows Seattle’s Boom Bap Project to boast, “Who’s the crew that you can count on for guaranteed heat? Boom Bap Project, ya know what I mean?” JakeOne is also the former host of University of Washington’s KEXP rap show, currently known as “Street Sounds”. His beats definitely give Copywrite and company a great soundscape to takeover to. Anyway, go cop the cd, check a show if you can and support OH-10 hip-hop.