Monday, May 28, 2007

Dog fight Trips Lee

This was a holy hip hop (HHH) heavy weekend in Houston.

Friday night had Trip Lee (of the 116 Clique) doing a free show at a youth lock-in, Cy/dogfight!/and S.O.C.O.M. doing sets at The Embassy night club in Porter, and Saturday night had the Bound for Glory CD release party.

I was able to hit 2 outta 3 (sorry B4G, had to help the wifey pack up her 2nd grade classroom) so here’s the rundown.

Trip Lee

I got conflicting info on the start time so I opted to go with the 6:30 pm slot and be safe. Unfortunately, the music didn’t actually get started until about three hours later. :(

I understand the church had planned to have the show outside but Houston’s recent rains forced them to have to break down the stage, lights, and sound system and bring it inside the gym.

While I was waiting around I got to chat with NuLife (whose home church was hosting the event) and met a new cat named Rayne and another named Ron who are just getting into HHH. Ron and I started talking when his boy stepped over and asked if I was Official, the DJ for the Cross Movement.

I mean, I was probably the only white dude in the building, and I did have on a backpack, but I don’t think we look that similar….


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This is an old school photo (circa 1999) with me, s/ave, and Badluck (from ONEMIND Magazine) with Ambassador, Tonic, and Official of the Cross Movement. I’m the white boy in the Texans gear on the left and Official is dead center. Resemblance? Maybe….

It’s all good though. What’s funny is that I made a similar mistake just 15 minutes before when I asked some light-skinned high school guy if he was Trip. Guess we should all do a little homework. :)

Also during the wait I was able to stop by the merch table and pick up the new 116 Clique 13 Letters disc. It was obviously a hot item as the staff had to frequently restock the offerings.

This is a different project in that each track goes through one of the 13 Pauline Epistles (a fancy way of saying a letter Paul wrote in the New Testament part of the Bible) in much detail. I haven’t had a chance to digest it all, but I’m very interested.

There’s also supposed to be a full study package available on their site. You can order your copy at http://www.3hmp3.com/ (digital download) or http://www.merchline.com/reach/productdisplay.5009.p.htm (hard copy.)

After a few opening acts, Trip finally took to the stage and ripped through a few numbers.


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But the gym swallowed the sound and the highs in the speaker were very hot. To top it off, I left my ear plugs at home so I couldn’t really make out any lyrics or words from the front or side of the stage or even when I was at the back of the building.

Knowing there was another show with another out-of-town cat (S.O.C.O.M.) on my way home, I decided to bounce around 10 pm.

dogfight! / Cy / S.O.C.O.M.


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I hit this triple bill around 10:45 pm and was told I just missed S.O.C.O.M.’s set. He drove three hours to be a part of this so I was a little disappointed. I was also sad to hear Cy had to leave early to be with his expectant wife. Please keep them in prayer as they await their newborn.

But anyway, it was cool to hang out with dogfight! and S.O.C.O.M. I got the idea S.O.C.O.M. wrecked his set and impressed the rock bands that went on after or before him. One group wants to book him for a gig in June and another got his contact info for a future collab - so look out for some possible krunk rock coming from this soldier later this year.

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dogfight! goes bug-eyed, S.O.C.O.M. hugs, and I chunk the duece



Toward the end of the night dogfight! took the stage and pumped the crowd up with his brand of alt-hip hop with an island flare.


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As you can see, he’s a happy dude (possibly smiling more than DJ D-Lite or me… naw!) and a back packer - which automatically makes him an oddity to those who only know hip hop from MTV and BET.


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The night ended around midnight and we all dispersed to our home lands (S.O.C.O.M. to San Antonio, dogfight! to Missouri City, and me to Cut-N-Shoot.)

It’s cool that we can all get together under a unified banner of Christ and hip hop though ain’t it?

1 comment:

chipgillespie said...

sounds like a fun night. hey, let us know when the HHHHAAs are this year. we def wanna roll. (we didn't miss them, did we?)

peace

chip