Coverage of the WALE+UCB show I went to on 1/29/09 @ the KEY CLUB in HOLLYWOOD

If you’re looking for a real deal holyfield MC keepin’ it fresh in HIPHOP for 2009 and beyond, look out for this dude WALE coming straight out of DC, Washington that is. Not only did he have a live gogo band, UCB, at his side to keep the party hype, this dude actually brought IT with his wordplay, stage presence, timing, and charisma to actually get through to the crowd. When I say gogo, it is not a reference to “gogo dancers”, so don’t imagine a band of half naked women…WALE breaks down the history in his own way in this video.The show was the most fun I’ve had at a HIPHOP show in such a long time. None of that boring “what the hell did that dude say type moments” like you normally hear at many HIPHOP shows nowadays. And, no I’m not stupid to all you backpackers reading this. I don’t want to hear the square root of some mathematical equation type shit when I’m out to have a good time, I’ll listen to that shit at home. This was an actual party, people were groovin’ to UCB’s music and Wale’s rappin’. Wale mentioned being signed to Interscope and performed two new songs, “Chillin” & “Pretty Girls“, off his upcoming album. He poked fun at his label when he pretended he was writing a letter out loud, “Dear Interscope records, you are the best record company in the world. I really think gogo music can work. Sincerely, Wale.”

The night started off with the group U-N-I from Inglewood, CA. U-N-I were really pumped up during their performance showing off a lot of energy, and you can download their latest mixtape here if you want hear their stuff. C-San also got on stage to rock them, the mc from one of my previous posts, “i’m three One oh with mine”. Their highlight for me was when they performed their song “Beautiful Day” and brought out special guest Evidence. They also brought out Inglewood resident Damani to do a song, and some dude that did some beatboxin’. Blu & Exile were up next. Blu had that cool and calm swag through out the set, and you could tell that many people came to see his group perform, especially the ladies. Blu asked his crowd, “where are all my ladies at tonight?” Let me just say there were many in the crowd because there were a lot of female roars . Blu was even surprised as he said he normally had to ask that question twice. Exile on the MPC was fun to watch. Exile even did a rendition of “A Milli” at the end of their set… I didn’t get it on video but it went a little something like this. Then came the long wait for Wale.

The crowd was getting antsy as the house system played various crap ass songs, and a few dope ones too. The final straw was when the House System started to play the beginning of T.I. and Rihanna’s “Live Your Life”. The room sounded like they threw up the “BOOOOOOOOOs” and “AHHHHH HELL NAHs”. The person handling the music quickly switched to another song to apologize to the crowd. That shit was funny to me haha. But, the new music did not please the crowd. It was almost an hour after Blu & Exile left the stage, and they wanted and chanted WALE!!! The band finally came out to check their equipment. There was a little snag on the keyboards, but it was finally fixed. The only thing that I regret about this show was that I wished I charged my battery before I left my house. I only have footage of his entrance, and a small clip of when he brought out “Core”son’s Bishop Lamont and Long Beach’s G-Funk pioneer, Warren G to perform regulate. Wale brought other MCs that he had perform on stage with him such as this cat from Sweden, Adam Tensta, and another young mc by the name of Fashawn. Wale even brought out Xzibit during his encore performance of “Nike Boots“. The DC native showed respect to his Westcoast Fans by having his band play “California Love” upon his entrance as you can check the video right here.

WALE @ the KEY CLUB 1/29/09 from JOE.U.KNO on Vimeo.