She's So Fresh Showcase II

On Thursday, November 5th, I was fortunate enough to attend the "She's So Fresh Showcase II" at the Karma Lounge in NYC. The event was held to display strictly female hip-hop talent all night and I must say that these emcees tore it down. (I wanna call them "Femcees" 'cause I think it sounds cool, but I don't know if that's OK or not!)

The show was hosted by TastyKeish, who is most notably known for hosting WBAI 99.5 FM's "Rise Up Radio" on Friday nights that airs throughout the New York metropolitan and tri-state area. (For more info on TastyKeish visit her website at http://tastykeish.com/site/ and her Twitter page at www.Twitter.com/TastyKeish.)

Being at the show that night, I couldn't help but feel the amazing vibe of true school hip-hop that was in the air. This small venue was packed with hip-hop heads that were put into the right mood by the smooth cuts and mixes performed by DJ Chela. Prior to this night I had never seen DJ Chela perform live. I was two feet away from her booth all night and watching her chop shit up was off the hook. Chela ripped through classics like Tribe's "Check The Rhyme" and Showbiz & AG's "Soul Clap" which really got the crowd in a perfect mood for some hip-hop. The funny thing about DJ Chela is that I immediately told my peoples that she was ill and wondered what kind of reputation she had. Little did I know that she was nominated for "Best Female Mixtape DJ" in the 2005 Justo's Mixtape Awards. Shiiiiit, Saigon has gone so far as to say that she is "the hottest female DJ in the country." Well, last Thursday night at the "She's So Fresh Showcase," Chela proved to me how sick she really is. (For more info on DJ Chela visit her website at http://www.chelaonline.com/index.html and her Twitter page at www.Twitter.com/DJChela.)

The first act during the showcase was a group named "Misnomer(S)" comprised of two sisters, Knewdles (the MC) and Sos (the violinist). Knewdles is an acronym for "Kickin New Elevation When Daily Life Expects Sobs" and Sos is an acronym for "Sis On Strings," and this girl can kill it live on the violin. As most of my blog followers know, I'm a huge Wu-Tang head. My favorite album of all time is "Wu-Tang Forever" because of the highly string influenced production from the RZA. These ladies put me into a zone with the first song they performed over Wu-Tang Forever's "Bells of War" beat with Sos performing all the strings live on stage. For anyone who is a fan of Miri Ben-Ari's violin contributions to any of Kanye West's beats, then you'll love the shit that Misnomer(S) has created. Sos has contributed to the production of some big name hip-hop artists such as Jay-Z, Kanye West, Alicia Keys, DJ Green Lantern, Immortal Technique, and Hasan Salaam. The combination of Knewdles' aggressive delivery and Sos's sinister melodies, made for an excellent performance that was highlighted by someone accidentally turning the power off of the record spinning, which forced Knewdles to spontaneously slow down her flow to match the dwindling beat in a "Matrix" style exhibit for the crowd. Needless to say, that shit was ILL. (For more info on Misnomer(S) visit their MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/hiphopmisnomers and their Twitter page at www.Twitter.com/Misnomers.)

Peep a clip of Misnomer(S)'s performance at the Karma Lounge below:



Following Misnomer(S) were Nemiss, Eagle Nebula, Bless Roxwell, and RA the MC. All of which tore the Karma Lounge down. Peep some of the footage of their performances below: