King Louie (Concert Review)

Saturday night, my homegirl and I left the Cabaret Underworld scratching our heads. Let’s just say we were not expecting the turn up to be down so quickly.

The show started around 11:30 even if the place was half filled. As usual, Dj Cream and Dj Blaster played the latest hits to warm up the crowd. May I also add that whoever hired that annoying MC for that night  should be fired. What was the deal with that fake west indie accent? It was a hip hop show, not the reggae fest. Speaking of which, there was no need to dry hump that poor wasted girl on stage.  Again, this was not the reggae fest.

Around midnight, rapper Young Mic was the first to kick off the show. Having never heard him before, I would say that his was a good musical discovery.

 

Fifteen minutes later (yeah, really) after the first act, Young Jungle stepped on stage with his clique. If you’ve read my previous posts, you should know by now that I’m not a big fan of artists bringing their whole fan base on stage. It wasn’t bad,  it was just distracting and too loud.

 

YOUNG JUNGLE

 

 

Also performing was frenglish rap group Grind Musik. The rappers from the East side held their own , especially while they performing their song Beef.

GRIND MUSIK ENTERTAINMENT

 

 

King Louie finally arrived on stage around 1am. I couldn’t help but chuckle a little when I noticed that half of the people in front did not seem to know who he was until it became noticeable. Anyhow, the atmosphere became grimy when the Chiraq resident performed several Youtube favourites like Live and Die in Chicago,Till I Meet Selena and B.O.N.  It was hard to not to jump around when the infectious Tony blasted through the speakers.

 

 

 

 

MULA GRADE: 7/10

 

I’ve seen better shows.I don’t know if King L’s music will past through the test of time but 2014 has been a good year for the Chicago rap scene its countless 808 drum beats. Nonetheless, the sudden rise of  young Chicago rappers is definitely a breath of fresh air in the so-called murder capital. It’s  always better to live than to die in Chicago.

1 on 1- Demarco (Montreal International Reggae Fest)

Pouring rain. Saturday afternoon. I got the chance to meet and greet Jamaican artist Demarco at the city’s reggae festival.Even if you’re not a big fan of dancehall, I’m  pretty sure you know one of his songs. Check out our 1 on 1.

 

Food, Cars and Music : The best ”Formula” for this weekend in Montreal (June 6th-8th 2014)

So… have you bought your tickets for the race car yet? Me neither. Don’t worry though,you won’t have to pay 500$ to see cars racing for hours. You also won’t have to pay 1,500$ to get a semi VIP treatment in some swanky lounge, starving on hors-d’oeuvres.

  The month of June could not have started any better than with the 2nd edition of  the First Fridays 2014 at the Montreal’s Olympic Stadium. Rain or shine, get ready to welcome 40 food trucks, filled with delicious (and simple) cuisine.

Thanks to the Association des Restaurateurs de rue du Québec (food truck owners), you will be able to savour some juicy burgers, homemade donuts, seafood tacos and many other mouth watering dishes.Imported wines will also be on the menu

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Lucky for us, Djs SHAYdakiss, Hatchmatik and Riddim Wise Soundsystem will help us digest from all this junk in our trunk. Admission is FREE. Just bring enough money to try as many food trucks as you can!

Dj SHAYdakiss

Information:

What: First Fridays 2014-  40 Food Trucks, 3 Djs all in one place

When: Friday, June 6th 2014 and every first Friday of the month until October!

Where: Olympic Stadium near the SunLife Financial place (entry on Pie-IX, Sherbrooke and Pierre-de-Coubertin street)

Again, it’s FREE !

The festivities will continue on Saturday and Sunday in downtown Montreal. Wether you’re a car amateur or just curious, you can stroll around the whole afternoon on Crescent Street or Saint-Laurent Boulevard near Sherbrooke.  For the ones who prefer less brouhaha, you can always take a walk in the Old Port and sip a few cocktails in one of its various outdoor terrace. Make sure you bring your sunglasses and wear comfortable shoes!

Crescent street on Grand Prix Weekend, Montreal

Old Port of Montreal Photo Credits: Tourisme Montreal

Late afternoons at the Port

On Saturday night, OVO’s r&b crooner The Weeknd will be  hosting the Grand Prix Party at Times Supper Club. For the ones who are hoping to see Drake as well, I’d suggest you to keep your eyes open during the festivities. Rumors has it that our Champagne Papi will accompany his fellow label mate throughout the weekend. Hey, OVO always needs his XO.

 

    

What: Grand Prix Party, Hosted by The Weeknd

When: Saturday, June 7th 2014, 10pm until 3 am

Where: Times Supper Club, 997 Saint-Jacques Street (arrive early for parkings)

How Much: Around 40$, Call 514-392-9292 to buy tickets

** Guys need to request for a bottle service, only ladies can buy tickets !

Listen to The Weeknd’s Remix to Drunk in Love here:

 

 

 

Have a great weekend ya’ll and stay tune for further events for this summer !

 

 

 

LOX – Money, Power and Longevity (Concert Review)

I was ready for the last concert of this long and busy week.

 

The Arena venue located in downtown Montreal was packed with a much older and different crowd than the two last concerts I attended. The pouring rain didn’t stop these hip hop heads to attend this Rap rendez-vous.

Unlike the Bun B show, the crowd got to enjoy fewer guest performances before the main act arrived. The first group to perform was  E.M.G. a Toronto based rap trio. The group  has already open acts for Pusha-T, M.O.P. and even recorded a song with Spragga Benz, better known as Wayne in 2002’s Shottas. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Toronto group EMG were the first to perform.

The second performer was Peter Jackson, a Canadian rapper who has been grinding for a few years now. Having toured with Waka Flocka, Juicy J and even French Montana, Jackson still finds time to work  on his music, which you can find on http://www.peterjacksonmusic.ca

 

Around one o’clock , the wait was finally over. After seeing Styles with Sheek or Ghostface with Sheek again it was  time for The LOX to be finally reunited. The music selection was obvious (from a fan perspective) but oh was it reminiscent of the good old days. The trio kicked off the show with New York City  but  took us back to the 90’s era with several hits like All About The Benjamins , Money, Power, Respect and Ride or Die Chick. Since all tree had successful solo careers, if was only right for us to  knock our fists on Jada’s Knock Yourself Out or cross our two arms while singing Locked Up from Styles P. Of course, Sheek Louch’s Good Love is always a good song to make ladies dance.

 

LOX performing

 

 

It’s a pretty known fact that Styles P loves Montreal weed. What better way to perform his song  I Get High then to distribute cigarillos, blunts and rolling papers to excited fans ? Another great moment of the night was when Styles P (again) jumped out of stage to ride with his fans. Having done that  a few years ago was still surprising to me because this venue is a lot bigger than the previous one. I guess the mass of vultures did not scare the New Yorker.

Styles P lighting up on stage.

Seeing The LOX together for the first time of Canada was a great hip hop moment for myself and everyone who attended this much anticipated reunion. While some rappers run after money and power, this group proves that respect takes time to built and is the only real proof of success.

 

Rule number 1: Don’t rub Styles P in the wrong way, even if you’re his number 1 fan.

Rule number 2:  Message to all Montreal venues : If you’re gonna have a group signing autograph on 300 t-shirts, make sure you have solid tables. Let’s just say hell broke loose at 3 am.

Rule number 3: no rules…Jadakiss is still cute from his Ruff Ryders day. Muaaa

 

 

 M.U.L.A Grade: 9/10…Can’t wait for these 3 to come back. No beef, just crazy groupies.

 

 

Ghostface Killah/ Beenie Man, April 24th & 25th Concert Reviews

Thursday night at Le Belmont felt like 2013 all over again. A few minutes after Pretty Toney appeared on stage, fans were surprised (or not) to see one third of the rap group The Lox, Sheek Louch. I was overly happy about this surprise guest since I’m a big fan of Wu Block, or just Sheek Louch. However, it would have been nice to see Ghostface not accompanied this time. Nonetheless, Ghost & Sheek definitely brought their usual New York swag to the chilly Thursday night.Both rappers each took their turn to perform their own tracks and a few singles from their Wu Block album. The fans and I got the pleasure to hear Kiss your ass goodbye,New York City and Good Love from Sheek. As for the main guy, well he gave us a bit of  1990’s (C.R.E.A.M) and some early 2000 (Cherchez La Ghost) which is what you would expect for a rapper having this kind of longevity in the game.

Shaolin also gave a warm heart-felt shootout to his good friend, the late Ol Dirty Bastard. What better song then Shimmy Shimmy Ya  to remember the crazy ODB. Right after that, Sheek Louch thanked the late Notorious Big for paving the way for rappers like him. Hypnotize was the chosen song.

To finish up the show, Ghostface gave a few bars on a remix of Tomorrow, a Broadway musical classic. That is some real NY shh..

 

This rap trio was the first to open up the show.

 

 

Dancehall/Reggae songstress Empire Isis would have been a better fit to open the show for Beenie Man.

 

 

I got the chance to get a quick snapshot with Sheek Louch. Nothing with Ghostface. I won’t complain about the signed t-shirt I got though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ain’t nothing but a Wu Thang. Crop top (Viss Brand) Baggy leather pants (Brooklyn, Nyc) Shoes (Jordan Spizike)

 

 

M.U.L.A Grade: 8.5/10 The performance was quite good. It was just a bit weird to see Ghostface complaining again about the same stage lighting problems he had a year ago (he really hates red lights), or him and Sheek asking a member of the audience to cover ODB’s verse on Proteck Ya Neck. Maybe it is just a coincidence.

This doesn’t happen all the time (as you will read below) so I need to say how much the Montreal opening acts were awesome. Rappers like Mac Vybz, 80 Rock , Full Course (alongside DJ Pro V with the funky dancers) and the charismatic Ceasrock  literally gave us a show ”inside a show”.Best of luck to these guys.

 

 

 

Beenie Man

 

Still a bit tired from the previous night, I was ready for a hip hop break. At least 200 reggae fanatics were waiting for the dancehall king. We waited 2h30 am to be exact. Yes, 2h30 am. The waiting was not even that bad  at first, thanks to the Djs who played old and new school reggae.Then came the pre-performers. Roby Nova, who is Beenie’s new protégé gave us a loud and unpleasant cover of Bruno Mars’ Just the Way You Are. Not a good choice of song for a dancehall party. Of course, the singer apologized for his lateness and didn’t waist anytime to hype up the crowd. Performing hits like Who Am I, King of the Dancehall, Romie, Feel it Boy and Gimme Gimme made a few of us forget what we experienced a few minutes before his entrance.

 

 

Friday Night elegance. Head scarf (Hermes Vintage) Dress (Winners) Brown Booties (Miami,Fl) Clutch (Guess) Earrings and bracelets (H&M)

 

You can’t deny it, Beenie always gives a heartfelt performance to his fans.

 

 

M.U.L.A Grade: 7/10  Beenie definitely made the girls ”whine” to his numerous dancehall hits. Although the king still gave us an hour show, he should not make his loyal subjects wait so long.

 

 

If you want to get the Wu Block album:

http://www.amazon.com/Wu-Block/dp/B008DL49BE

 

If you want to get The Best of Beenie Man:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Beenie-Man-Collectors-Edition/dp/B0000508EW

Brooklyn meets Montreal (Event)

Brooklyn reminds me of Montreal. It’s like they have their own pulse. Brooklyn has its painters, actors, musicians,writers and much more hidden or not talent. If it was high school, they would be the two cool kids who always have the newest s*** before everybody else.

I didn’t mention the Brooklyn dancers. I’m not talking about the contemporary dancers from those fancy schmancy New York dance schools. I mean those natural born dancers with no real professional background. Those who dance their life away in Brooklyn’s sometimes sketchy venues. From there emerges well known Dancehall King, Blacka Di Danca. He’s not even 25 yet. While most youngins  his age are saving up for the next pair of Jordans, Blakka has already been in multiple tours all over the world AND appeared in several music videos, like the Twerk it Remix (Busta Rhymes Feat. Nicki Minaj). He even got booked as a back up dancer at the Collie Budz show a few years ago in our city. Pretty impressive.

Then you have Montreal talents. Sure,  dancehall music is more on the low here than in New York’s borough… but it’s there. Take female dancer Sephora aka Phopho The Dancer for example. For a few years now, the ex-member of deceased dance group ”Deadly Alliance” managed to appear in a few  videos of local artists, book a few dancehall parties, teach dance classes and release promo or non-promo dance videos (you can check them out on her Youtube channel or Facebook page). If you’re familiar with the dancehall/reggae scene in Montreal, then you probably heard of her.

Now, both dancers will gladly teach us a couple moves this weekend, in downtown Montreal. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be a top dancer to attend. If you like the art of dance of just a fan of dancehall-reggae-soca music, you will definitely have a good time.  If you’re still hesitating, check out the videos below!

Now meet the best of both cities worlds.

Event Info:

What: Dancehall Workshop with Blacka di Danca (Brooklyn, NY) and PhoPho The Dancer (Montreal, Qc)

When: Sunday, February 9th 2014

FYI: Phopho will dance at 2h30 pm while Blacka will start around 4pm.

Where: at The Shauna Roberts Dancer Center, 372 Sainte-Catherine Street West (in front of Musique Plus) **Shauna’s a great dancer too!

How Much:  20$ for 1 Workshop or 35$ for 2 Workshops. I suggest you to stay for both performances !

You only should attend if: Just come. Who doesn’t like to dance and learn some new moves ?

http://youtu.be/zBAVvSkARDg

 

Rocking for boobies!

If you think I was only into rap music, then you were WRONG. I do own 1 or 2 rock albums (or alternative, rock fans will say).

So…to embrace my inner rock chick, why not head over to the National on Friday night?  It’s a mini-concert so I won’t have to get any hearing aids just yet.

SnakeSkyn Whiskey is a local rock/heavy metal band that not only will they launch their debut album but  raise some cash for breast cancer.

Three other bands will also hit the stage for this great cause. Montreal bands like Group Therapy, Recovery and Alley-Cat Traffic are proof  that Montreal’s rock scene is still very much alive.

” Why the hell are you going there on a Friday night ? ” is what probably what you’re wondering.

Well, it’s a good way to support the cause AND I will give some support to my good friend Dylan, who is Alley-Cat’s drummer man. Previously named Monroe, the skinny quatuor played in numerous venues around the city. Available on iTunes, you can listen their EP album, ”The art of marvelous’‘. If you like Aerosmith’s ballads then you will enjoy this mini album.

Stay tune for this concert review !

What: Breast cancer benefit show

When: Friday, January 31st 2014, around 8pm

Where:  Le National, 1220 Sainte-Catherine East, Montreal (Right outside Beaudry Metro)

How Much: 15$ at the door… 2$ of your paid ticket will be donated to the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation

You should only attend if: you enjoy or just want to discover Montreal’s rock scene and to support the cause, of course !

Listen to ”My Way” from Alley-Cat Traffic here!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdYmj7-jPJA