The opening acts were fair but not great; they provided enough entertainment to keep the crowd from getting antsy. I came in on the first group and didn’t get a chance to catch their names. It was two emcees accompanied by a guest guitarist and a DJ. They had good stage presence but not ear catching music. The next act Joey Fatts was not as good at commanding the crowd but had slightly better music than the first group.
The introduction of Kool G. Rap was done by an emcee named Phenom out of Chicago. He did a verse and a medley to get the crowd hype for G. Rap. The fact that I saw this guy perform before, kind of took the enjoyment out of me watching him again. Immediately after his exit; Kool G. Rap was set to hit the stage.
I was fortunate enough to be right on stage when Kool G. went on. Even though I got kicked off almost immediately; I was still able to feel the electricity of him performing his first song in front of the hype crowd. He kicked off with one of my favorite joints, which was his feature verse on Mobb Deep’s “The Realest” song. You can see some of the footage I got before I got kicked off the stage below.
The rest of Kool G. Rap’s performance gave proof on why he is an underground legend. He went through a lot of joints that I had totally forgotten about. He performed “Ill Street Blues”, “Streets of New York” and the majority of his songs and features that have gotten him recognition. The sweetest part of the night was after the great performance; G. Rap blessed Blacktruth.net with an exclusive interview. You can read the full interview here, and watch all the footage from the show here. Don’t forget to follow Blacktruth.net on Instagram @Blacktruthnews to check out the fly photos.
Shout out to the homie Chris and the staff at the Shrine in Chicago for their time and cooperation