I’m glad I didn’t hear all the comparisons before hand. “She’s the new Lauryn Hill!” “She’s the next Erykah Badu!” “She can sing and rap!” “Did you see her hair? It’s wonderful!” I probably would have walked in to SOB’s as a jaded fan, diametrically opposing the warm vibe in the venue for the third stop on her first U.S. tour. Instead, I settled in up front, between the few videographers and photographers allowed to film the performance; one that will be sure to impress critics entice new fans and empower old ones. Nneka is here.
The show this Friday night at New York’s Irving Plaza will be live. Maybe not live in the sense where real instruments will be played, but live as in on stage and in your face. Performers from all across the country (even Canada) will have their one chance, their one mic, a live DJ spinning all original instrumentals and an amazing crowd to have the opportunity to flatter their favorite rappers. It’s time for the 5th annual Hip Hop Karaoke Championships. The remaining 12 finalists have been chosen and the tracks, which range from Big Daddy Kane (who will be at the event as one of the judges) to Madvillian/MF Doom to Juvenile, are in place for the livest performer to win the grand prize of $1,000 and title of Hip Hop Karaoke Champion.
BNE has seemed to turn a few heads, even that of Tom Brokaw. I guess that is bound to happen when you are a graffiti artist who thinks your biggest competition isn’t someone like REVOK but actually McDonald’s. The Consumerist.com quoted him as saying, “While in Japan, I suddenly realized that other graffiti writers weren’t my competition, it was corporations. Their ability to blanket the streets with advertisements is unparalleled, although it cost them a lot more than my campaign.”
Good Point. Graf artists get thrown in jail while corporate America gets another billboard or neon sign at the expense of our skyline and eye sight. Something to think about over your morning coffee eh? Peep the promo below and make sure if you are in the NYC area this thursday night to hit the gallery up.
So, the story has it that songwriter Shawn Christensen (guitar, vox) became the default lead singer and frontman of Stellastarr* because the band couldn’t fill that role way back when they joined up in 2000. However, it’s a role he seems completely at-home in. At Spaceland on Saturday night, he was poised and emotive, and thrust his whole being into the show. His vibe is unaffected. The band could be playing at an even smaller venue or a huge one, but he would still exude his particular brand of warmth that only a kid raised on post-punk and the likes of Talking Heads and the Pixies.
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