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RA The Rugged Man & Potluck

The Rugged & Raw Tour

The Green Elephant in Dallas, Texas

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November 2nd at the Green Elephant in Dallas is when it all went down. This is the second time I’ve been to this venue, both times Potluck was headlining. It only makes sense, being that the Elephant is known for being green friendly and I don’t mean energy efficient. I didn’t check their light bulbs though so don’t quote me on it. The stage is knee high and somebody who’s never been to dive might call it just that, except that it’s got all the good things you would want out of dive bar sans the acrid perfume of puke, and wet hobo. The staff is great, the club is clean, the venue is small but well lit, they have a big outdoor patio with picnic tables, presumably so that you can recover from the spins in a short enough amount of time to be back inside for the next act. Combine that with a crowd full of underground hip hop lovers and it becomes the exact spot I would wanna be in on any weekend.

I arrived shortly after the first opener started of which there were quite a few. Among them were acts like WGK, Supersayin, Slicc G & Double J, Hodge Boys, Tackalb, and Joka Child. Most of which was a blur to me since I was two doubles in by the time I knew I was doing this review but I will note a few things. Just in case they read this. To the MC in the wheelchair, keep flowin. You can ride a beat well if but it’s a good idea not to bring attention to the chair. Obviously not for shame but to avoid being obvious. Grimm has been holdin on to that one since 1994 and you’re good enough to do it on your own merits. Just remember that what you’re doing is an art form and there’s no such thing as knowing enough about it. Just like there’s never too much to know about making your white ranger mask stage-ready.

Our top local act is no stranger to the Dallas underground hip hop scene or FLH, Claas and Ronnie Blaze. Neither disappoint but the problem with this particular night is the sheer size of the card. 11 acts in total leaving these guys only 20 minutes to do their thing. Regardless it was powerful 20 minutes of hip hop, Ronnie Blaze stepped up especially, helping to set the pace for Black Pegasus who admittedly I knew nothing about going into this show.

On my first account watching Black P he used the entire stage, never fucked up a line, got plenty of crowd participation in and cemented an impression of a solid MC on this Dallas crowd, the only thing I wish is that it was bigger for him. The subject matter in his rapping I find hard to relate to, it’s just not a unique perspective. That being said his perspective can still be just as valid to people who aren’t me. Which I hear is a lot of people. Also if you pick up his latest “YMP”, watch the documentary “American Pimp” first.

Some of you might recognize the name Whitney Peyton, a pretty excitable rap queen from Philly. Initially I hadn’t recognized her from her video for Crazy, which is good because had I remembered her I might have been less open-minded going into it. It needs to be noted that this girl has a lot of energy about her. She was just as all over the stage as Black P was if you put P on fast forward. At one point she jumped into the crowd which was interesting, just hearing her tiny though commanding voice coming seemingly from nowhere since she was lost to me among a crowd of people all at least a half a foot taller than her. It’s gotta be at least a little daunting a task to be a short white girl MC, since each one of those attributes presents challenges individually still today. Still she rises to meet those challenges, even standing on the hands of the crowd, and climbing into the rafters to do it. The pictures don’t lie. The thing that bothers me about her is her image, it doesn’t seem to be that focused. The banner she brought out looked like it was designed for a Disney starlet but her clothes say New England’s version of 8 mile. Makes things hard trying to decipher who you are as an artist.

Moving on to Potluck who have never disappointed a Dallas crowd, this night being no exception, playing a lot of what I can now comfortably call classics amongst the rest in their catalog. 1Ton is about a quarter ton now, which as a fellow fat kid I congratulate him on. UnderRated ran through his 3 Minute Miracle under the silhouette of their token giant inflatable Crown Royal bottle, I just wish he had gotten a chance to jump on the decks. Not to say the DJ didn’t do a good job, but watching artists use as much of their talents as they can possibly employ in their show is the essence of greatness. Speaking of greatness they mentioned as I will now their mixtape they threw on hip-hop landmark site, Datpiff.com. I don’t care if you’re in a full body cast, if you have one unbroken finger move the mouse over this link and Jam on.

By this point I’m recovering from a night of poor but enjoyable spending decisions, they were pretty generous on the wells so I stagger back to the front so I make sure I get every last bit of fun out of this night. Stepping up to the stage, the centerpiece of the line-up all the way from NYC, RA the Rugged Man jumps up to the stage in a big brown overcoat, somethin reminiscent of Uncle Buck, and once locked into his signature flow the coat shot off to reveal a bright red suit & tie and he promptly killed it from there on out. When this man raps and his head starts to shake it makes you think that when he’s spitting the magnitude at which he raps is almost too much. Like his mind is a nuclear reactor constantly running to the brink of meltdown. He tossed some old and some newer tracks at us, many from his most recent “Legends Never Die”. I’m a sucker for the sampling on “Definition of a Rap Flow” live assisted by Whitney Peyton. I was glad to be there at his first trip to Dallas and I count myself lucky to have been able to see not just someone regarded as a living legend but to be in as intimate a setting as that smaller venue with artists who are all nothing short of authentic. The pairing of RA and Potluck, reaching from each coast across the nation, is well worth every dollar you spend on the ticket, the merch, the drinks, the tips, and that fiver you had no idea dropped out of your pocket while you were rummaging through your pocket for your one-hitter.

Get your tickets early and cheap: Right here!

Here’s some more links, go nuts.

RA The Rugged Man
Potluck
Whitney Peyton
Black Pegasus
Claas

Location:

  • The Green Elephant
  • Texas
  • United States

Guests:

  • Whitney Peyton, Black Pegasus

Reviewer:

Review Date:

  • 11/02/2013

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