Sorry for the delay in getting this up, I started this post 3 weeks ago and for a variety of reasons (mainly no free time) I’m finally posting it up now. Better late than never, right? I’ll be updating the site a lot more now that I’m back in town though, trust. Anyways, here’s the the second update of my day by day rundown of DJing for Tanya Morgan alongside Hieroglypics, Blue Scholars, Knobody & Musab on the Freshly Dipped tour…
Day 10 – Off Day in New Orleans/Tallahassee: The funny thing about off days on a tour like this is that they aren’t really off days at all. We slept in til like 11 for the first time all tour and spent most of the rest of the day making the drive from NO to Florida.
Day 11 – Orlando: So some days on the tour everything is real cool and kinda nonchalant and then on some days I catch myself buggin’ out (c) ATCQ on some fanboy iddish when Hiero comes on to rock. The show in Orlando was prolly the most I bugged out. Maybe it was the smaller, intimate venue (the best way to see a show from a fan perspective) or maybe it was the extra wide stage where me, Donwill, the homey Gunji & a few other cats from the tour ended up at stage right singing along to “93 til Infinity” at the end of the night on some superfan ish, but that night it really really hit me that we’re on tour with Hiero.
Day 12 – Atlanta: ATL is home sweet home (well, CO is officially home but Georgia is where I’m originally from, word to sweet tea, fried catfish and okra) and it was dope to see it from a tour perspective and grab a drink & dinner with my pops. The venue we played at was kinda crazy (they have two floors, heaven and hell…we played downstairs in hell, where the walls were red) but apparently the promoter dropped the ball on the promo side of things, word to the Horoglyphics pic on the marquee (there was actually a real good turnout to specifically see TM rock, but the overall crowd for the tour was waaaay small for how big ATL is compared to the other dates). I was just happy to be home and see some family (I also caught up with my cousins, one of which can be seen playing guitar in the Lil Wayne/Baby “Leather So Soft” video, what up Gareth) and link up with Jermiside (Lessondary!!! As featured on MIA #2 and the Fixtape, check him out with sometimes Tanya Morgan/Ilwil producer Brickbeats as the Red Giants, here’s their new song, “Never Seen A Thing” with TM, Che Grand & Spec Boogie) for a minute regardless.
CO X Brooklynatti X NC
Day 13 – Carrboro/Chapel Hill: I’d never really hung out in North Carolina until last week, despite being a HUGE fan of the music coming out from down there and getting to see things firsthand and put faces to the names of the many artists I’ve been playing from NC was one of the highlights of the tour. The homey Ill Digitz and Kooley High hooked up a dope little afterparty for me and TM to kick it after the show and we ended up building with them all night. Big up Kooley High, Inflowential, Ill Digitz, Khrysis, Cesar Comanche, M-1 Platoon & Napoleon for coming out to the show/afterparty and kickin it. I’ll definitely be workin on coming back to NC after seeing it firsthand. Last but not least, big up the homey Median who was gonna rock “Golden Ticket” with us at the show but ended up home with food poisoning.
Day 14 – Charleston: SC was kinda crazy. The town is by the beach and super touristy (I know it’s not a word but everyone says it) and that brought a super random crowd. The show went well though, the sound was INSANE and there was all sorts of goofy ish going on backstage (not on some freak shit though). We had fun joking around with the tourists, me and Geo from Blue Scholars told this girl we had just got in from a show in Tokyo. It turned extra funny when I left, Von came in the room and they kept talking. She kept mentioning all this stuff about Japan to Geo, who’s Filipino, and Von started getting offended thinking she was on some ignorant shit. I walked back in and Von was giving the girl the crazy ice grill on Geo’s behalf, HILARIOUS.
Day 15 – Wilmington: We played at a kinda crazy spot called the Soapbox that was half laundromat and half music venue/bar. Nothing beats getting drunk at a show while cleaning your gear. Besides that, the homeys Nicolay & Aimee Flint came out to kick it and see the show since that’s Nic’s new home. It’s always dope to build with them and bug Nic to let me hear more from the new Foreign Exchange album, Leave It All Behind (for the record, he didn’t play me anything from it, although I heard some RIDICULOUS joints from it when him & Kay were out in CO last March). Catch a clip of all of us backstage plus a fresh freestyle from Geo (from Blue Scholars) on the TM Kyte channel.
Don, Von, Kweli & me in VA Beach
Day 16 – Virginia Beach: In VA we played at this venue called Steppin’ Out that we pulled up to with a confused look. The venue looked like it was more of a supper club/restaurant/dinner theater than spot for rap shows. There were mad seats (never good for a show, since people generally walk into a room, see seats and sit down) and a small stage. Those are the ingredients for a weird show and true enough, the show had a weird vibe all night. With that said, the crowd in VA Beach was super appreciative (one cat said it was the best show he’d seen in the last 2 1/2 years there and that was before Hiero even got on stage) of the tour, so we couldn’t be too mad at the weird vibe. Plus, Kweli stopped by the show and wanted to buy TM’s classic debut album (c) Chairman Mao of XXL/Ego Trip, Moonlighting, Donwill CRUSHED the karaoke stage next door like only someone who rocks onstage for a living could and we got to stop by the beach (no filth flarn filth aloud) after the show for a minute so the night actually ended up being really dope.
Von, me & Aeon at Subsoniq at XM Studios in DC
Day 17 – Off Day in DC: Like I said before, our off days aren’t really off days. We spent the day driving up to DC to record an episode of XM’s great hip hop show, Subsoniq, alongside the homey Aeon (check out his beats, they’re AMAZING). I’m not sure when it’s gonna air but it should be soon. Also make sure to check out Aeon’s blog, Aggregate Dope, and stay tuned for some more Aeon & DJ Low Key collabs in the near future (in the mean time check out his joint w/Che Grand & Donwill on the Fixtape and the all but classic TM joint he produced, “Walk My Way”).
Day 18 – Baltimore: Baltimore was dope. We started the day in a great way by grabbing one last delicious spicy chicken biscuit at Bojangles, hitting all the sleeper shoe joints (I didn’t find shit, Don came up on a score though), getting the Scenario Demo Mix that made Von literally scream out loud and finally getting a chance to wash clothes outside of DC. We were all so excited to have a chance to hit the laudromat and get back to a full selection of gear, words can’t explain. The drive was super short to Baltimore and we made it to the show with a good amount time to spare (especially since the venue seemed to be running a little bit behind schedule) before going on late than normal for a PACKED house. The crowd was kinda on some stand and stare ish but must have liked the show because a ton of people kept coming up and giving props (as well as jockin my “Obama:That’s My DJ” shirt courtesy of Sound College, cop your own here so you don’t have to jock mine…lol) for the rest of the night.
Day 19 – Harrisburg, PA: This date was weird to say the least. It can be summed up as Von’s introduction to the magic of Red Lobster’s cheddar biscuits (and Red Lobster in general) + strange openers in place of the tour’s regular openers + what is there to do in Harrisburg anyway? (c) Don.
Day 20 – NYC: New York is the shit. I always have a great time when I’m out there. Mad TM fans came out early to see the show and Von & Don rocked extra hard for the hometown crowd. I got to catch up with a lot of the NYC crew (big up Filthy, Frankie, John, Tyson, Che and the rest of the homeys) and we ended up at some cool little party that like half the tour later rolled into (thanks for the drinks Ope). It’s always dope to get a few slices of pizza, soak up the energy of the city and have a night where you stay at the club til almost 4 drinkin with Hiero. Special shout to Filthy and his awesome lady for letting us stay at their super fly loft (note to the rest of NYC:Step your apartment game up), make sure you check out Donwill’s tribute to J’Davey the next morning over on his blog.
Stay tuned for part 3 coming later this week…
