Rogue Squadron presents The Bomb Shelter @ Cloth & Clef
Local hip hop has struggled to be heard on city floors as of late, but with nights like KL Undercover and Think You Got Skillz? out there, it was time to recognize that there’s a revival – this monster is ALIVE. It’s just a lack of resources and support from the masses that’s ailing the scene. You know the drill…
In January, The Rogue Squadron served up their inaugural hip hop event The Bomb Shelter at Cloth & Clef. JUICE entered the joint and got hit square by the sounds of DJ Jocular from turntable collective Headshell Heroes; he was all over some wicked hip hop tunes and not your usual over-played commercial T-Pain/Black Eyed Peas sh!t either.
The place was full house when host WordsManifest came over the mic to welcome everyone and introduce the first act. Man, did that bring us back to the days of early hip hop gigs, when peeps came to support the local music scene like they were all part of one big ‘hood. Good times….
It was another good sign for the scene then that we saw none of the old faces. Nah, we don’t mean it like that – full respect to the vets – just that the infusion of young blood and a growing presence of a whole new generation of MCs is surely a sign of a scene that ain’t stagnant. Fresh is what we’re looking for!
JUICE 2008 Cool Listers Dose Two and Jin Hackman, as well as SSK, Trickytongue, Swagsta and Schizzow rocked it out for an energetic crowd that, had there been space, would have been jumpin’. With Jinius At Work, Jin’s upcoming release set to drop any minute, Jin made damn sure we all got a sampler of what’s to come.
Despite the crush at the door and the bar, the flipside is that if it’s a packed house, it’s gonna attract the right attention and that bodes well for a repeat performance. Give it up for the Rogue Squadron for adding another flavour to our local hip hop scene. Prrrabbbt!
The inaugural Rogue Squadron presents The Bomb Shelter was held at Cloth & Clef on January 14. JUICE believes and supports TBS. Holleration! Check out the Rogue Squadron at www.myspace.com/roguesquad.