Recap by I.S. Jones @isjonespoetry

If you go on The Soundkillers website, in the 'About Us' section it says: “Our mission is to work for the music industry by offering the best standards in music production.” While The Soundkillers have been at this game since 2006, this past Wednesday (Oct. 21), was the collective’s / record label’s first showcase at The Kymberle Project.

The event started late because of it’s New York mind set, which wasn’t so much because of TSK but the mindset of the attendees; no one ever expects a hip-hop event to be punctual and I find that to be quite a shame. The crowd turnout was humble—approximately 30 or more people in attendance.

The element of surprise was TSK’s most powerful weapon throughout the showcase—from beginning to end, even when I was exhausted, I was never bored. This showcase was particularly interesting as TSK has producers, rappers, visual artists, DJ’s, etc, all of which who touched the stage that night. We begin with producer Phoenix Says who worked behind the turntables while various guest performers came on stage to rap over the beat. Rappers T BOA,  Nello Luchi, and Lil Friday were some of the memorable rappers; Nello Luchi (@nelloluchi) commanded her stage with fierce and monstrous bars. She allowed her words to present her and this technique was so effective because she glowed with confidence thus gaining the respect of the audience. Lil Friday was a curious one, to say the least. Between hopping into audience to doing awkward rolls back onto the stage, the rapper was most likely inebriated during his performance. Often slurring his raps and sloppily removing his jacket, he seemed to still command the audience. Overall, I was impressed by the fluid mixing talent of Phoenix Says.

Of all the acts, Love Parade (@lovetheparade) had a set with the most hiccups. The duo was frequently disharmonious while awkward feedback cut into their performance; it was a bit of a shame as this couple was one of The Soundkiller’s official acts. When their set ran into technical problems such as feedback from the speakers, instead of PC using that time to recover as a more seasoned stage vet would have, he seemed to be trying to explain to the audience what was going on. Whether it is the venue’s fault for the sound issue or duo’s less graceful recovery, an artist (whether singular or duo) should be able to circumvent any issue and deliver the very best performance that the audience and fans came for. Despite some less noteworthy moments, as a duo, they complimented each other instead of vying for the spotlight. The audience in the front seemed somewhat moved; however, no connection was made to the back because the duo didn’t created a warm environment for the audience in the back to come into. They didn’t invite the crowd to the party. Instead of performing to them, they were performing at them. Their last song made up for the mishap: powerful booming drums PC finally rapped and complimented the singing. Even towards the end when their set picked up quite a bit and Lo’s stunning voice held my attention, overall their performance was messy and quite forgettable. Something else to mention is at one point the music was cut for a moment and there was a noise complaint, which is unheard of at what was marketed as a showcase.

Shamtrax’s performance, while it did have hiccups and a speaker issue, he kept his audience engaged throughout and delivered one knockout of an ending. It helped that a lot of the audience members were already fans of his work so the energy he gave to us was reciprocated ten-fold. People in the back who were quiet and overly engaged in their phones were shouting his lyrics back at him. It was a beautiful moment. I noticed it really depended on the song whether or not people engaged. He kept, at least, my attention between songs by telling us a little bit about himself and the history of his work. It was refreshing getting to know a bit of who he is (the man and the music) but the throngs of people were not as engaged as they should have been. I loved that Sham kept it moving despite. By the second song, the crowd warmed up to him. He leaped off stage and broke the cord on the speaker, but kept it going with his set. While he came back from that moment, Sham did such a wonderful thing by giving a shout-out to his homie REO during the middle of his set and it displayed the integrity of The Soundkillers. Cords were replaced and Shamtrax got into his song "Perfect". It was such a successful song that a young woman to my right was biting her lip like she wanted a piece of Shamtrax. To finish off such a set, he hit the audience with an unreleased track called "I Want Sex," which was slated for release the day after the showcase. The final song was a nice touch because the way Sham methodically played his song—tracks from his most recent project to his new stuff—we got to witness his progression, range, and abilities.

Up until this point REO was to the side displaying visuals he designed for all the TSK artists, so when it was his time to perform while he did still DJ’ing behind the booth, he presented the audience with sharp, detailed images on a projection screen to compliment the music. Because REO had the most low-maintenance set that it eliminated the hiccups the other artists before him had. Audience members that weren't engaged for the majority of the showcase suddenly came alive during his set which shows TSK dedication to producing music which reaches as far as possible. At one point he remixed "One in a Million" by Aaliyah, "Oops" by Tweet, and brought us back to some D&B. Many of the crowd members began to filter out during the set. Of all the TSK members he had the longest set and, if I could guess, because his sound deviated so far from a trap, turn-up-in-the-club sound that a lot of people weren't feeling it. Which is no indication in the slightest of the artist talent because REO is a visual artist and a mixing genius. In a different setting, the crowd would have gone up for him.

When REO finishes, a band was setting up for the final performance of the night. To rev up for the remainder of the crowd, the final act TruthCity hid in the lounge section of the venue while he hyped the crowd up. He surprised the audience by coming from behind and he glows, he truly does. More than the flashing lights and fluorescent bulbs, TruthCity lives on the stages he touches. Mind you, it was 11:46 by this point in the night and I was exhausted. My back was hurting but I forgot how tired I was when TruthCity hit the stage. During his performance, he said something that stayed with me for the rest of the night: "I'm going to make the soundtrack to your struggle". Accompanied by a full band, it brought Truth's entire ensemble into being. Aside from the fact that he is an ensemble himself, between tracks he made a point to live into his stage name by speaking his shit. He gets so lost being in love with his work, he turns strangers into believers.  The crowd went up for Truth throughout every song; people were really engaged with him. He did basically everything right: dramatic eye contact, his voice carried effortlessly, the band complimented his song, and even the placement of the songs so brilliant. The song listings were as followed: "The prologue", "Gooood Night" "Summertime" "Bad Girls" "Ain't thinking about u" "Ghetto House Party" "Do It For The Gram" "I Don't Wanna Sell Weed No More".

I left actually gaining some of my energy back by the last performance. Perhaps the show went on for too long and next time The Soundkillers can shorten it down to just their main performers. I respect everything TSK does and the veracity they hold to their work and to each of their artists. For them, it isn’t just work, it’s their life-blood. And dear reader is there no greater joy in life than doing what you want with it...? We weren't put on this earth to pay bills and die but to live as ferociously as possible. In summation, each of TSK’s performers still have lyrics to go and I’m grateful to be on this journey with them. Until their next showcase…

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