June 16th - Apache Cafe Hip Hop Jam Session III

...continued from II.

As is probably customary around these here Eastern and Southern parts, a big dude from the Caribbean took the stage. Please do not ask me what he was saying or why he was saying it. I do not know. I just kept thinking he was going to say something about his "champion sound" or "skiddly whoa -oh-oh." I believe he was more than a little drunk and/or high.

This next cat's name was either S.O.S or Secret Agent Orange. I wasn't quite clear on that. I'm also not sure why he was wearing a backpack, nor did I know what the backpack contained. I'm hoping that he was peddling CDs but who knows. These rap guys are an odd lot. Crazy, cool, artistic, tortured. What I was clear on was the fact that the guy had flows. Few and far between can just freestyle like that.

At the end, all of the various performers were invited back on stage to bust another on-the-spot flow. It was cool to compare and contrast all of the different styles. I couldn't help but think that this is where Hip-Hop really lives. Not on the radio with thoughtless rhymes and beats formulated to appeal to a mass audience, but instead in the minds and hearts of youth who are just trying so painstakingly to be heard. It's their way to say something beautiful or profound or funny or real. It's their way to reach out to an otherwise cold and unfriendly world and say "I'm here." I wish like hell that I could rap. I guess I do in a way.... except my rap comes in the form of electronic paragraphs bouncing across broadbands, flashing on screens and hopefully being read by you.

Go back to Apache Cafe Hip Hop Jam Session I here.

Go back to Apache Cafe Hip Hop Jam Session II here.