Mavado – Gansta and Gully

Mavado has been on my concert bucket list for a while now. Ever since the Jamaican born singer appeared on the 2004 Anger Management riddim, Mr. Brooks has been on a roll to success.

After Beenie Man, Elephant Man or Vybz Kartel ,  Mavado has now become one of the most successful international faces of Jamaica. In 2011, the artist was  approached by Miami king DJ Khaled and announced he was signed to his record label, We Are The Best Music Group.

Since then, Mavado has collaborated with several artists such as Drake, Akon, Ace Hood, Snoop Dogg, G Unit and Nicki Minaj.

You don’t want to miss Mavado’s first ever performance in Montreal. I heard he will be performing with a live band!

What: Mavado (Dancehall artist) first time in Montreal

When: Saturday, November 28th (doors open at midnight)

Where: Olympia Theatre, 1004 St-Catherine E Street

How Much: 50$ (Regular) 60$ (VIP) 100$ Meet and Greet

Click HERE to buy your ticket

 

 

Survival of the Fittest- Mobb Deep (Concert Review)

Did anyone feel that the opening acts  were being slightly rushed into performing their songs ? Not that it’s a big deal but I was surprised to see Magnum and Scrwg Scrilla for only 10 or 15 minutes. Canada’s beloved rapper Peter Jackson only performed a few songs and was done around midnight.

 

 

Magnum 357

 

Peter Jackson and his crew

 

 

The hundreds guests then bobbled their heads for at least half an hour, while DJ Keith Dean spun a classic old school tracks. We love our New York music.

 

 The infamous duo haven’t change (at least physically) since they first got the hip hop world shook. The rappers started off with Survival of the fittest which was a great way to hype up the male-dominant atmosphere. It’s only  throughout Mobb Deep’s performance that I remembered how much hits the group had under their belts. It was hard not to reminisce about the good old clubbing days when hearing Get it Twisted, Burn or the G-Unit assisted Out of Control. The crowd was also ecstatic to hear Trife Life or Eye for an Eye from the  Queens rappers. The crowd sang the songs word for word. I’m sure a lot of you ladies were saddened to not hear Prodigy sing Hey Luv. At least they didn’t forget Get Away which was much appreciated by the crowd. Oh, and of course, the rappers had to thank their diehard fans with the forever classic Shook Ones Part II. Not one, two.

 

 

 

 

Montreal has been lucky to receive all  these rap/r&b legends this year. Nowadays, only a few rappers can easily fill out a big concert venue AND celebrate their two-decades-in-the-game anniversary at the same danm time. I guess MD was right when they told us that only the strong survive.

 

On this note, happy  20th anniversary to you Mobb Deep. Montreal will gladly celebrate with you again… 10 years from now.

Return of the Mobb (Upcoming Concert)

I was not really listening to hardcore rap in the mid 90s. I was still jamming to that Backstreet Boys tape my mom gave me for Christmas. It’s only a year after that she brought me and my sis a few records from Bad Boy records and everything that was from New York. That’s when I heard the sound of New York.

Far from the shiny suits and the flashy coogie sweaters from Brooklynite Biggie Small, there was a darker sound crawling in the streets of Queens. In 1995, a young duo called Mobb Deep released the famous Shook Ones Part 2. Prodigy and Havoc depicted an obscure and violent tale of the Queensbridge neighbourhoods. All thanks to young producer Havoc, playing around with a Quincy Jones sample. Guns, robbery and murder were the main themes. The rest is history.

 

The Infamous Mobb Deep was the second album from the NY duo. Released in April 1995, the album went gold by selling more than half a million copies. The Rolling Stones magazine even placed Shook Ones Part 2 as one of the Greatest Hip Hop song of all time.

 

 

Quick Info:

Who: Mobb Deep Live in Concert (Opening acts: Peter Jackson x Magnum 357 x Scrwg Scrilla)

When: Thursday November 13th, show starts around 9pm

Where: Le Petit Olympia (1282 Amherst street, Montreal)

How Much: Reg. 40$ x VIP 55$ x Meet & Greet 75$

You should attend if: You’re a 90s baby and/or grew up with NY sound. This is the closest you’ll get to hardcore rap. At least until the end of the year.

Weekend Calendar (Upcoming Concerts) October 25th

In this 2nd week of  October Mtl Music Fest , your weekend should be anything but boring. Here’s your Weekend Calendar in Montreal:

Who: R&b/Hip Hop singer Ty Dolla $ign Live in Concert

When: Saturday October 25th, doors open at 9pm

Where: Le Petit Olympia, 1282 Amherst, Montreal

How Much: Tickets are 30$ to 42$  Click Here to buy to tickets

If you Like: Mike Will Made It/Dj Mustard  type of songs, you will also like Bibby if you follow the Chiraq movement (i.e. Lil Durk, Chief Keef)

Who: Indiana rapper Freddie Gibbs, Live in Concert

When: Saturday October 25th, doors open at 9pm

Where: Cabaret Underworld, 1403 Sainte-Elisabeth, Montreal

How Much: 30$ at the Door

If you like: Some people compared him to Tupac. I wouldn’t go to that extreme. But you might like his style if you want to hear something a little deeper than Ty Dolla $ign….

Enjoy !

Ab-Soul Concert (Video)

Here are some highlights of the Ab-Soul concert on October 10th. Make sure you read the full review of the show in the Music Station! 

AB-Soul – The Man on The Moon (Concert Review)

If you were a faithful member of the ”Bring Ab-Soul to Montreal” Facebook page, you  were probably at the Petit Olympia last Friday night. It finally happened, TDE’s secret weapon would finally perform in our city.

The show started early with various hip hop performers. I’ve never heard of rappers Jimmy B  or Slick Sterling until that night. Soulful rapper Jimmy B may be the next promising rapper from the DOT and  is already getting love from the hip hop community. You should check out his Youtube channel.

Slick Sterling

 

 

 

Jimmy B

 

 

 

 J.O The Corrupted was also a nice surprise . After asking the crowd if we all knew who Rob”the crook” Ford was (duh), the MTL rapper spit a few bars which felt were like a testimony of his criminal past. Money, crime and Arm & Harmer: his shit ain’t for the kids.

The last time I heard a Montreal femcee rap this good was when I first heard J. Kyll from Muzion more than a decade ago. Generale Q has a pretty commendable flow (good punchlines too) and it will probably remind you of some old Gangsta Boo. No Iggy. No Nicky.Refreshing indeed.

Hope to hear more of her .

Generale Q

 

 

Queens rapper BAS (who is signed to J. Cole’s Dreamville Records) gave the concertgoers a great surprise performance. The big beard rapper performed tracks like Be Alert, Love Souvenir and My Ni**a Just Made Bail. He even gave us a little freestyle before leaving the stage.

BAS

The wait was finally over, Ab-Soul took the stage around eleven o’clock. The messy hair rapper kicked off his set with Dub Sac, Terrorist Threats, TWACT,  and Hunnid Stax. Soulo even showed support to his fellow TDE partner Schoolboy Q while playing Man of the Year and Druggy’s With Hoes Again.

AB-Soul

 

 Le Petit Olympia is probably the best  ventilated venue  and weed smoker friendly. The ambiance switched a little as backwoods were getting rolled, puffed and passed around the room.. It was the perfect time for Gone Insane and the trippy World Runners.It was also  nice to see the rapper sharing weed with fans. Like a real black hippy.

 

  

M.U.L.A. Grade: 9/10.  We will be waiting for the Bring Ab-Soul BACK to Montreal  page.

October Fest – Big K.R.I.T. & Ab-Soul (Upcoming Concerts)

You might want to wait a little before you finish paying off all your school fees for this semester. There will be shows galore in Montreal in the upcoming months.

This week for starters, the Southern rapper Big K.R.I.T. will be back in the city. Having enjoyed his performance two years ago at the Club Soda, I would recommend this show to anyone who loves real underground music. The sound of the South is often commercially portrayed as strip club music but K.R.I.T. is definetly an exception. The Mississippi rapper has released numerous mixtapes for the last decade like  4eva N A Day or Return of 4eva.  His heartfelt rhymes has now made him join some of the greats from the South, like UGK and even Scarface. His sound might also remind you of another great legend, the late Pimp C. He just might crown the new underground  king  of the South.

K.R.I.T.’s first debut album, Live from the Underground was well received by the critics. The album featured Bun B, 8Ball & MJG and Ludacris. No wonder he was part of the XXL’s freshmen class with Kdot.

 

Who: Big K.R.I.T. Live in concert in Montreal

When: Thursday, October 9th 2014  around 9pm

Where: Cabaret Underworld (1403 Sainte-Elisabeth St, near St-Catherine)

How Much: Admission is 35$

You should  only attend if you: enjoy gansta rap à la dirty south, listen to Cory Mo and  UGK

You might also like country rap tunes

Listen to his new single called Pay Attention featuring Rico Love. His new album, Cadillactica should be in stores soon.

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It has been common nowadays for artists from the same crew to perform separately in a short period of time. Remember when Sheek Louch performed with Ghostface a few weeks before the  L.O.X. reunion ? Well, now it is TDE’s turn. If you missed Schoolboy Q’s (or simply haven’t have enough of TDE) then here’s your chance. Ab-Soul has already  released three albums under Top Dawg Entertainment and has collaborated with many newcomers like Danny Brown and Jhené Aiko. Aside from telling us that ”people treat us nicer when we wear 50$ drawers on” , this guy has actual bars. He’s worth the stop.

If you’ve wondered why Ab is always wearing shades is because he suffers from the rare Stevens-Johnson syndrome which makes his eyes sensitive to light. Due to that, he stopped playing basketball and discovered a new passion, rapping.

 

Who: Ab-Soul, Live in concert in Montreal

When: Friday, October 10th 2014 around 9 pm

Where: Le Petit Olympia (1282 Amherst St, Montreal)

How Much: Admission is 35$

You should only attend if you like: Black Hippy, Pro Era, A$AP Rocky

Stay tune for the concert reviews !

Enjoy.

Man of the Year (Upcoming Concert)

I was trying to understand what all the hype was about several months ago, when I heard Man of The Year from Germany-born rapper Schoolboy Q. So when I asked a friend why this guy was so popular, he suggested me to listen to his previous work before branding him as another annoying-rapper-for-hipsters category. So I listened to his 2009 storytelling mixtape, Gangsta & Soul. Then I listened to Oxymoron. And then I understood.

 

The critically acclaimed Oxymoron LP, was released under Top Dawg Ent. and Dr. Dre’s Interscope records. The album featured big names like Raekwon, Tyler The Creator and Kendrick Lamar. Released in 2013, the album sold less 200K album on it’s first week. Q later admitted he would have preferred staying independent.

 

Schoolboy is a 27 years old ex California Crip gang member who only emerged on the North American music scene a few years ago. Last year, the rapper  graced the cover of the XXL magazine for their annual Freshmen edition.

Schoolboy Q’s laid back L.A. flow and  sometimes sexual wordplay might persuade you to stop at The Olympia this Saturday. Who knows, you will probably change your mind about the kid like I did.

 

Schoolboy Q and other members of Black Hippy. Left to Right: Ab-Soul, Schoolboy, Kendrick Lamar and Jay Rock

 

 

Who: Schoolboy Q, L.A. rapper & one quarter of the Black Hippy rap group, Live in Concert

Where: Theatre L’Olympia, 1004 Sainte-Catherine E, Montreal

When: Saturday September 20th 2014, Show starts at 9pm

How Much: 57$ (student) up to 100$ for VIP treatment

You should only attend if: The new L.A. leaders (Kendrick,YG,Tyler,Earl Sweatshirt)

Visit www.olympiamontreal.com for more info

 

To Download Gangsta & Soul and his other mixtapes:

http://hnhh.co/mbf

August Alsina (Concert Review)

Gentlemen, Monday night was probably the best time to pick up a chick.  A few hundred female guests attended this r&b night at Le Petit Olympia in downtown Montreal.

I was not expecting to see wedding and radio host ”Goofy Welldone” as the event presenter. However, the  sarcastic host managed to crack a few funny jokes and even had a few concertgoers sing a few songs from Alsina. Handing out free drinks and concert tickets kinda helped him out too.

 

 

Funny man Goofy was the host of the night.

Another pleasant surprise were the r&b opening acts. If you have read my previous reviews, you know by now that I have a hate/love relationship with some local artists. However I must say that singers Js Finess and Young Soul were a great choice of early performers. The crowd seemed to  enjoy their covers of Future’s I Won (Trophy) and what even sounded like Don’t save her  from Three 6 Mafia. These two are definitely the ones to watch.I strongly recommend you do a few Youtube research on these them.

 

Name two things you find at an R&B show: A screaming lady with the singer who made her scream.

 

One of the R&B talents of the city.

 

 

Name another thing you find in a R&B concert: hungry ladies getting on stage and dropping it low.

 

After hearing several club bangers from Dj Exclusive, August Alsina ran (and almost fell) on stage about thirty minutes before midnight.The New Orleans native did not seem to realize how big was his fan base in Montreal. The crowd did not miss a word from his songs  Let me Hit it, Get Ya Money, Ghetto and Make It Home. It would be a lie saying that the singer’s voice sounded nasally at times, especially when his hit song I Luv This S****  came on. Thankfully, his vocal cords sounded better when he performed Kissin’ On My Tattoos a cappella.  That boy can sing.

 

Alsina arriving on stage and saluting his fans. Thank God he removed all these layers of clothes.

 

The singer took a few minutes to thank the independent ladies in the audience and sang a few notes acapella.

 

 

M.U.L.A. GRADE: 8/10 . Alsina’s road to success hasn’t really stopped for the last few years. Chris Brown and Trey Songz better watch out. He’s far from being done.

 

Check out the video review above . You will notice how the singer’s layer of clothes are shedding after each songs.

 

Tyler The Creator/ Future (Concert Reviews)

Oh, the joy to see an artist perform on time! I must tip my hat to Tyler. About 30 minutes before Tyler took the stage, his energetic friend/DJ named Taco did a nice job as far as hyping the crowd.

Tyler arrived on stage without any formal presentation which was different than your usual DJ announcement. The young crowd went nuts.

A few minutes after making his entrance, the rapper thanked the fans (which he called assholes) for coming. Jasper, another Odd Future member was not saved either, as Tyler kept making fat jokes towards him. Typical Tyler.

 

Dj Taco. Also member of the Odd Future gang.

 

 

Tyler performed one of his song, while sitting above the stage. Reminds us why we also call him Goblin.

 

 

Tyler bringing down the house.

 

 

During his hour and a half set, the rapper performed some of his best songs like Goblins, B**** Suck D***, Bimmer and Yonkers.

He also got kind of sentimental and even once asked the audience to feel sad once She or IFHY (I f****** hate you) came on.

 

It was also nice to see him perform the melancholic Answer, an opened letter to his estranged father.

 

I would have given a perfect score for the show if it wasn’t from the presence of  talking gaps (sometimes awkward) between each songs. Although watching Tyler looking for a belt or throwing bottles at the audience was quite entertaining, I think his fans would have preferred a longer performance.

 

Future performing for his all age crowd.

 

A week later, it was Future’s turn to hit the stage, this time at the Olympia venue.

The rapper gave a somewhat good performance, since it only lasted a quick hour and a half. If you’ve been a fan of Future since his Pluto days, let’s just say he sticked to his pop music repertoire.

Frime Hustle with one of the candy girls.

Dressed in white and rocking his new blonde hairdo, Future delivered a few of his verses from his best songs/collabos to date, like Day 1, Shit or my favorite Karate Chop.

For the ladies in the audience, he also sang Loveeeee Song (Feat. Rihanna) and Turn On The Lights (Feat. Lil Wayne).  

Check out both of their performance below: