Marcel P. Black #RapRecap #17 (5/11/19 in Atlanta, Georgia)

A-TOWN STOMP...

For once, I have a show with no drama. I can come rap, make new fans, sell merch, get paid and go home. Mark was with me, and as always, he made the trip much easier. We left Baton Rouge the day before the show, crashing at his friends house in Lithonia. Wake up the day of the show and I have a long ass conversation with my manager, before we finally decide to get food. We go to a TGI Fridays, and though the service was kinda wack, the food was good af. After we pay our tab, we head back to the crib, change clothes, and head to the venue.

Pull Up

The venue was Gallery 992, a Black owned coffe shop/cafe that doubles as DIY space for artists to throw events. The event is called "Music & A Meal" and it's put on my big homie Quanstar, with the assistance of Evaready Raw & Mighty Mo Betta. All of these brothers are transplants from Compton, The Bronx, and Cleveland respectively, who moved to ATL for school and better occupational opportunities. They all are men in their 40's who still travel both domestic and abroad doing Hip-Hop music, still performing high energy sets like their are 20 years their junior. The event is catered to adults who still love Hip-Hop. People in their 40's & up who are married with kids, got full time careers and responsibilities, but never go to any of the Hip-Hop shows in ATL because it's a bunch of young punks in their 20's wildin' for respeck. Quan had an idea of making a night for those people who still love the music, but never really go out to shows because they've aged out the community. 

 LET THE SPIRIT MOVE YOU

Quan is also a chef & an all around jack of all trades, he so came up with the idea to have vegan pastries infused with alcohol. You can come see a dope Hip-Hop concert for grown folks and have all you can eat vegan pastries full of that yeah? Yes indeed. I'm sober and a diabetic, so I asked for the healthy cookies, and Quan obliged me by making me a full container of vegan/gluten free oatmeal raisin cookies. And mane where them MF's were delicious!!!

 TOO GROWN?

So I'm looking at this crowd, and most of them are early 40's and up, and there were alot of Black women who looked like they could be my mom's friends or my aunties. Like grown ass Black women. Me being a country boy, I feel unsure if they will respond to my "Fuck Donald Trump" chants, and quite frankly, I felt uncomfortable cursing in front of women I would naturally say yes and no ma'm too and hold doors for when we are entering or exiting establishments.

Because I was raised right.

I ask Quanstar will they respond, and he says, "Yeah, they gonna fuck with you fam."

DO WORK.

Once Quan reassures me I'll do fine, I remember that he knows exactly what I do, and that's why he brought me here. After Moe's set, DJ Coach K spins a few records, and Evaready introduces me. I go into my intro, and I get a lil' house on the "never pledged Kappa" line. When that happens I know the crowd will fwm, so it's lit. I start off with " Principles & Standards," and out the corner of my eye I see this brother taller and wider than me with his hands up goin' ham. The crowd is really rocking with me off rip, and it only intensifies when I hit em with "Henry Clay." A boom bap record that samples KRS One, and has chants from KRS and NWA really worked in front of this crowd that were prolly teenagners when these guys were poppin'. 

Next is "Hallelujah," the song I was uncomfortable with performing due to the "Fuck Donald Trump," chant, but when I prefaced the song and asked them could I do it, I got a resounding "YES!!!" One sister who looked like she could be the head of HR at a successful Black owned company even said, "Yeah, fuck that nigga."

Indeed.

So I go into "Hallelujah," and the very women who I thought I w boulde offended by my profane language had their middle fingers up saying fuck you to ya'll's POTUS. I start preaching at the end talking about the kids who are being raped, molested, and murdered after they've "detained" a.k.a. put in concentration camps, separated form their parents because they are trying to get asylum at the border. Because they were intelligent grown ups, they gave me Amens, and it felt great lol.

Now it's time for "#FreeBLKPPL," and once again, when that beat drops, all the brothers start noding and putting their hands in the air. The whole night the crowd has been receptive to all my call & responses and requests to put their hands up. After "#FreeBLKPPL," I kick my "quest to find religion" acapella, and ask the crowd to make prayer hands and bow their heads, and they oblige. I launch into "Stare & Whisper" and this DIY space filled with 40+ somethings full of alcoholic desserts turns into a church service. The song ends and I head to my merch table to slang something. I get to my table, and the first customer, a 40+ y/o Black woman, comes up and asks, "Where's the CD with that fuck Donald Trump on it?" I slang "Seven" to her. 

GOOD TIMES

Overall it was avery good show, with good people who do good business. I have no complaints, outside of that got damn Atlanta traffic. Shit. 

RATINGS:

Venue: 4/5. Dope. No real complaints.

Crowd: 4/5. They were older so I don't expect them to stand in front the stage all night, but come on mane. The did give me house on call & response and have their hands in the air everytime I asked tho.

Sound: 4.5/5. No complaints.

Merch: 3.5/5. Mane, my ppl in ATL ain't shop with me like talkin' bout.

Next show: 5/24/19 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma