It's a deep breath of clean, refreshing air to attend a hip-hop show featuring an entire crew of artists that take their respective art of rhyming for the beautiful craft that it has all the potential to be. This weekend Atmosphere's "Freshwater Fly Fishermen Tour" stomped through Los Angeles at The Shrine Auditorium featuring the upper echelon of Rhymesayers Entertainment roster. The night scored a huge victory for the artists involved, the music enthusiasts in attendance and The City of Los Angeles in general.
Fledging Rhymesayer deM atlaS opened up the event with the necessary energy to get the crowd warmed up for the rest of the night.
Minneapolis activist / lyricist / LEGEND Brother Ali took the stage next with a thorough set list rocking hits from "Uncle Sam Goddamn" & "Walking Away" to classics "Self Taught" & "Forest Whitiker." Although all captivating tunes, his most poignant moment had to be the a cappella verse dedicated to his son regarding the current dehumanizing events effecting communities around the nation:
"Sometimes they pull a trigger, call that self defense. And on that sad insanity their fear is realer to them than your humanity... You are not defined by anybody else's crimes, you don't need to answer for what happens in their minds..."
We're really looking forward to his upcoming album.
Aesop Rock, Rob Sonic and DJ Zone stepped up next to give the people a taste of Aesop's recent LP "The Impossible Kid". This trio is a live force to be reckoned with that never fails to deliver an electrifying performance.
Dilated Peoples were next on the night's roster with DJ Babu, the backbone of it all, manning the turntables.
The crowd held up their LA's in loyal support as Dilated stepped on the scene.
Dilated Peoples' performance was an special event reserved exclusively for those lucky enough to attend the Los Angeles date of the tour.
Rakaa Iriscience puttin it down for the hometown. Alchemist, Jonwayne & Big Body Bes, the extended Dilated family, all added to the experience with appearances during the set.
A magic moment as Atmosphere entered.
There's novels worth of words that could be said about the influence Sean Daley (Slug) & Anthony Davis (Ant) have had on the music, the culture & enterprise. Co-founding Rhymesayers Entertainment, the label providing the line-up & tour, hosting Soundset Festival, collaborating across genres, their sound and effect continues to span beyond time zones and sound waves.
Their 11th studio album Fishing Blues is officially on the streets.
Ant giving a salute to enraptured fans.
Slug brought Brother Ali back to the stage for the classic "Blah, Blah, Blah," one of our personal favorites.
Be sure to pull up to any up their upcoming dates on the Freshwater Fly Fishermen Tour.
