Photos by Geoff Henao via flickr.
This past Thursday Alex Wiley held down a release party for his Closed Sessions‘ album, #ClubWiley, at Lincoln Hall where more than 400 people attended to support the young up-and-comer and his first solo project. Chance The Rapper, ShowYouSuck, Supreme Regime, Jean Deaux, Taylor Bennet & St. Millie all performed before Wiley came out and finished the show with a short but rambunctious set. The Ruby Hornet team was there to witness everything that went down and today we bring you a quick recap with photos and thoughts on the event.
Openers
First of all, I want to shoutout that one kid in the front who was tripping off acid and turning up throughout the whole show. He rarely took a breather, got Jean Deaux to dedicate him a song, spit a freestyle during Supreme’s set and even hopped on stage towards the end. Huge props to that little dude.
St. Millie was the first artist to hit the stage around 7: 00pm and he got things started with very few fans inside the venue, which is a shame because he’s a great performer and a lot of people missed out on a really good set backed up by his DJ and a drummer(!).
Taylor Bennet‘s fast-tempo flow is incredible and even more so live, someone so young shouldn’t be able to spit that fast. He also shares the same ability as his older brother to rock a crowd with his personality, uncanny energy and various dance moves. Taylor gave out a handful of CDs previewing his up-coming project, I was able to snatch one of them and I can’t wait until I get a chance to check it out.
This was the second time I’ve had the chance to watch Jean Deaux perform live and the thing that has stuck out to me the most is the amount of loyal supporters that come through and support her at every show this early into her career. By the time Soular System drops, she’ll be able to do headlining shows in Chicago and sell them out with ease. Also, shouts to Calez for coming out and rapping his verse on “Black Planet”.
I already tweeted this out, but it’s worth mentioning again. Supreme Regime really won me over as a fan with their set. It was fun, filled with positive energy and spontaneous. They knew how to read the mood of the crowd and acted accordingly, plus people were extra turnt with Mojek on the boards.
Kembe X also had a solid as he performed fan-favorites such as “Village Over Everything” & “Dollar Please”, and to be honest the last one had me wishing a new collab project between The Village would come out soon. That EP had some jams on there!
ShowYouSuck & Chance The Rapper
On “Watching Walking Dead” ShowYouSuck raps “Best show in Chicago, I put my Momma on it” and after last night (and his OMPP3 show) I’ll put that statement on my moms too; Show and Auggie The 9th‘s synergy got the crowd jumping, singing along and moshing immediately. The LOD team know how to make a record that’s meant to played live, but what really puts them on top is the amount of practice and coordination that goes behind the scenes.
After Show’s crazy set was over, DJ Oreo went on the 1s & 2s and filmed another episode of his #1DayAtATime series while he throwing a stack of money in the air and bringing out Chance The Rapper to perform “Smoke Again”. Oreo is hands-down my favorite DJ right now, dude is animated, funny and knows how to interact with the fans, that’s the reason why he works with Calez, Wiley and Chance.
Speaking of Chance, we all know the amount of buzz he’s carrying right now (he has a headlining show in New York next weekend), but it’s still amazing to see how his presence on stage can change the whole aura of the venue. People were rushing to the front, requests for songs were chanted and the whole place went essentially bonkers.
Alex Wiley
Once it was time for the man of the hour to hit the stage and perform, Wiley came out with a calm but confident attitude while grasping the moment before lighting up a joint and showcasing a few cuts from the album alongside a trumpet-player, guitar-player and his own personal choir. The Village representative only did four songs, but he brought the house down by closing with “Spaceships II” and the local hit-record “Mo Purp” with Chano. It was definitely a dope event to be at and a positive reinforcement of what’s to come for both Wiley and Closed Sessions. Check out more pics below.
