PREVIEW: Empire Underground To be a Home For Hip-Hop with J-Live and Edo.G
07/31 @ Empire Underground, Albany
Hip-hop legends and emerging local stars take the stage for a night of soul-influenced beats and lyrical raps.
Empire Underground has been good to local hip-hop – and local hip-hop has been good to it. On July 31st, they open the doors for touring circuit acts J-Live and Edo.G alongside a laundry list of local performers.
J-Live comes to Albany by way of Atlanta and NYC. A long lasting figure in hip-hop, J-Live is renowned for his old-school, allusory boom-bap sounds. He kicked off the Kushy & Dreams tour alongside Edo.G just a few weeks ago, although the two are frequent collaborators. You’ll find J-Live on the mic and boards.
A hip-hop legend, Edo. G arrives in Albany after more than 30 years in the hip-hop scene. Edo will be performing old hits alongside cuts from Audio EDibles and We Do Good, his more recent offerings. AWAR also comes in from out of town; a frequent collaborator of hip-hop heavies like Jadakiss and CyHi the Prince, AWAR brings an intense energy to the venue.
The two will be joined by a litany of locals, a pair of them legends in their own right. Dezmatic is a longstanding corner of the local hip-hop scene. Half of the group Giant Gorilla Dog Thing and a founder of Pig Food Records, Dez continues to perform hard-hitting and technically masterful rap verses. In fact, he’s renowned as one of the best solvers of word puzzles the area has seen. JB!!, who has been very active lately, is continuing to approach the stage in new ways: “I’m excited to bring the world the new album and perform it at this venue,” he states. JB!! has previously collaborated with Empire Underground as well as with J-Live on their track “Overstand.” On this night, he will be debuting his upcoming project, Punctuation!!.
As if the lineup needed even more intrigue, he will be joined by nephews Mundy and Shiloh the Messenger, whose poetic and sprawling lyrical style evolves the traditional hip-hop sound. Mundy and Shiloh explain that they are preparing for the show by orienting their mindsets to an openness towards fun and letting the performance fall as it may.
To round out this outstanding group, we are graced by Bezzolay and 97otis. Bezzolay, a prolific local rapper with a growing profile, features a similar, soul-influenced sound. Meanwhile, 97otis, or ORLONDO, is a well-loved and Eddies-nominated local rapper who has recently begun a campaign for Mayor of Schenectady. Ask him for buttons.
It’s pretty crystal clear that, on July 31st, a night of hard beats and soul samples lay ahead. With this incredible night on the forefront, Empire Underground stands as a home for boom-bap going forward.
