Grieves (photo: Blake Morneau)
Last night, for the second time in as many Thursdays, I ventured out to watch some Rhymesayers live action in Victoria, BC. This time it was Grieves, one of the younger members of the always-solid collective. It’s a magical feeling to have whenever you step into a show associated with a label or collective and just know that you’re going to get top-notch entertainment from top to bottom. Even if the other guys on the bill aren’t on the label, you know they’ve been vetted by people who know what the fuck they’re talking about.
Saskatoon’s DEF3 started the festivities with a really solid set, featuring some big beats and nicely varied flows. The guy is another solid entrant into the rapidly growing Canadian hip-hop scene (his new album even has a song with the mighty Shad). I have to admire DEF3 for his hustlin’ ethics, as he was pushing the videos for his songs hard before a great number of tracks. Shit worked, too. I looked them up when I got home.
Sol was next, with his appropriately sunny disposition and positive vibes. An old homey of Grieves (apparently, Grieves used to sneak a 16-year-old Sol whiskey in clubs after he’d done his opening duties), Sol was right at home, jumping and smiling and pointing at ladies when the appropriate moments in songs presented themselves. His weed anthem, “So Damn High,” was a stellar song, if maybe too energetic for most weed-heads I know. Not the hardest-hitting material, but definitely amiable, chilling-with-your-friends kind of stuff here.
Grieves (photo: Blake Morneau)
By the time Grieves hit the stage, the smallish crowd was amped up, gathered in a tight bunch in front. Grieves came barreling out of the gate like gangbusters, smiling from ear to ear. Flanked by a DJ/percussionist/guitarist and a keyboard player/guitarist on the other side, Grieves had one of the most effective and original stage setups I’ve seen a rapper pull off in awhile. He even brought his own lights!
At one point in his set of new bouncy stuff like “Whoa Is Me” and older, harder-hitting stuff like his revamped version of “Kings,” Grieves stopped to give an impassioned defence of the word “emo.” While it’s true the list of impressive artists he listed (BB King, Syl Johnson, Marvin Gaye, etc.) sang about their emotions and weren’t called “emo,” they also didn’t say things like “sometimes you get trapped under a rain cloud” and didn’t perform in front of a banner with fonts out of a Tim Burton movie.
But, really, it didn’t matter because Grieves was awesome. He was likable, engaging and, most of all, rapped like his life depended on it. Oh yeah, and when he said, “I want everyone to scream like you’re having a baby,” I liked that. That was good.
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