Live Review: Emcee Competition #7: French Montana opener
By: Kayley McGrath
Fortune Sound Club welcomed its guests off the gritty streets of Chinatown into its modern upstairs setting. The unique, open set-up of the room allowed the bass to pump the heartbeat of the night throughout the entire space. Competing to win the slot to open up for French Montana, seven acts brought the stage to life.
Neyvone, a crowd-engaging seventeen-year-old started off the night with catchy lyrics and awesome beats. The next act, J Blaq slowed down the night a bit with “This is My Moment.” His nice tone gathered a group of people on the floor to raise their drinks. Ayetown – featuring Aristocratic – performed beats with repetitive choruses which were easy to sing along with: changing lyrics during the chorus would have also been interesting to hear.
It would have been nice to hear more of contestant Mug Shot’s voice, but it got overshadowed by the fact that he was rapping over his own tracks, which proved distracting. Next up was MOZ: each track he began, he rapped a portion of it and then stopped the track, moving onto another one – it was hard to get a good feel for his style because it was so fractured. The final act of the night, Lane, closed his eyes and tilted his head upward often, and left us wishing for more audience interaction to really show his stage presence.
Blue Team Blue, the clear winners of the night, brought interaction to the audience. Hand gestures, height changes, and total body movement led the crowd in a high-energy experience. They seamlessly moved from song to song. Throughout their entire set, big personalities continued to explode, keeping the attention of the audience on every lyrical rhyme. Ending the set with a crowd-pleaser, “I’ll drink to that” took over the audience in a wave of dance moves and raised drinks.
Opportunities like these, which happened here on a Saturday night in a bustling Canadian city, such as Vancouver, can only lead to good things. Tonight every artist gained performance practice, exposure, and one lucky trio, Blue Team Blue, is set to open at the upcoming French Montana show. Thanks to every artist who participated tonight, lets keep hip-hop alive.
Big Shouts to Where It’s At Entertainment & Regime for putting on the event!
