HHV Recap: Women of the Underground

Words By: Francesca Cammarata ( @owly_123 )
Photos By: Alan Bailward

On Friday night, Where It’s At Entertainment & Cariboo Brewing presented the Women of the Underground showcase at LED Bar. The lineup featured eleven local female rappers. There was a colourful array of audience members- women walked in wearing sundresses and others wearing thigh high boots and crop tops. Men walked into the club in collared shirts and others with snapbacks. Fans of all types were there to support the ladies.

DJ Denise started out the night spinning nostalgic throwback girl power anthems- Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani, Promiscuous Girl by Nelly Furtado, and Family Affair by Mary J. Blige to name a few. The ladies were represented on the dance floor: at the front of the stage, there were four women bumping and grinding during DJ Denise’s set. The stage, so small it resembled a table, was a place for them to put their drinks.

After DJ Denise’s set, the show started with some freestyle. Host Rasta Mike summoned the ladies to the stage for the cypher. They took turns freestyling solo and in pairs. Rapping about the theme that Rasta Mike threw out: Life. “Rap about life, just life”, he said. The club was extremely loud, and the sound was very hot, with the mic on the verge of feedback making it very difficult to hear the lyrics.

After the cypher, Mamarudegyal kicked off the lineup. She had the crowd bopping to her multifaceted set- she sang some songs and rapped others. Bona Fyde, looking cute with her square framed glasses, went second, with a drink in hand and the mic in the other. She was all smiles up there on stage, doing her signature move of lifting the end of the mic up in the air while she did her thing. The crowd started to move a bit more during her set, their first drinks kicking in.

Myztic Sister went third. She was fierce with her loud raps, and she got a loud applause at the end of her set. Cass, combining a skirt with a snapback, was more confident during her set than during the freestyle at the beginning of the show. Baby C went on at 11. She started by telling the crowd to get closer and if they wanted a free CD, to touch her legs. True to her word, she handed albums to the girls at the front who touched her legs. She had an incredibly confident stage presence and awesome beats. She had total command of the crowd as she got the audience to raise their glasses, jump up and down, put their hands up, and even chant her name at various moments in her set. The audience sang along with her for several choruses. It was the first time all night where the lyrics were audible- credit can be given to Baby C for being loud and clear.

Skulastic went next, looking very casual in a blue sweater and jeans. It was her first performance since December. “The vibes in here tonight are incredible”, she said to the crowd. She got the audience dancing, and waving their hands from side to side. Whitelight spit out some incredibly fast raps during her set, rocking thigh high boots and a snapback. Benzosa’s set was a highlight of the night. Her raps were aggressive and loud. The audience was dancing like crazy. Two ladies were wearing over-sized Benzosa T-Shirts right at the front of the stage, doing silly dance moves like the sprinkler.

At midnight, Shalina came on and said “I’ve been waiting for years to do this with an all female lineup”, which was followed by cheering from the crowd. She seemed to have some hardcore fans in the audience, as a few people sang along to every word of her set. Missy D’s set was an impressive combination of singing and rapping. By this time in the night, the crowd was thinning, but she deserved a much larger audience. Partway through her set the music got even louder, and Rasta Mike joined her on stage for a song. Lozen was the last act of the night. A committed few people stayed until the very end. In the middle of her first song she shouted into the mic, “music is my therapy, alright?” She leaned against the low wall behind the stage between songs, half performing and half talking to the audience throughout her set. “Life is good”, she reminded the crowd.

It was an intimate night of raw music and talent. The eleven fantastic femcees showcased on Friday night really brought their A game to the table .