KON + Raw Nature Album Release Party at Public Assembly – Photos, Recap

Album release events for independent artists can be paradoxical.

On one hand, attendees are usually relatively small in numbers, depending on the breadth of the headliners following, and that of any opening acts who attempt to entertain while assisting the artist by building up the audience anticipation to a crescendo.

Normally, one can assume, compensation received from admissions (minus guest lists), and CD sales (minus promotional giveaways), is, in the grand scheme of things, largely irrelevant, which has re-birthed a trend that has been prominent lately, the co-branded album release party. A fine idea to gather two complimentary followings for one common goal. In any event, these parties are largely just that, parties. A group of friends, and friends of friends, many musically inclined, gathering in someone’s proverbial living room, to drink, listen to music, and jam.

And let’s face it, there are rarely industry scouts at these smaller events, rarely any medium- to large-scale respectable media outlets. And if you are deemed fringe, or progressive, or eclectic, or any other acronym attached to the type of artists in the New York City hip hop scene who exist on a plane above the mainstream drivel permeating the airwaves, the attention will be even less, at least until the music business figures out a way to make money from the “weirdos.” (You know, the rappers who would dare rock with live bands, or the ones who have college degrees, or the ones who spit intellectually challenging, substantive-filled rhymes. Hmph. What “oddballs”.)

On the other hand, for those small numbers in attendance, those hardcore supporters, the night can end up being something close to magical, or at the very least, something a hell of a lot more than just that living room party. After all, there is a subtle, but substantiative difference between a friend of an underground artist, and a fan of an underground artist. When an independent artist, in a room full of friends, also has a room full of fans, one should take notice, as converting friends into sincere fans is a harder task than it might appear.

Such seemed the case on a late Friday night at Public Assembly, when KON (Knowledge Over Nonsense), joined forces with Raw Nature to celebrate the releases of their EP and album, Above The Clouds and The Direction, respectively. On the surface, a typical release party. Hosts Baron (Red Clay) and North (Division X) were capable ringleaders, mixing crowd participation and humor to keep the audience entertained after DJ Ari Why spun a spectacular warm-up set which he and DJ Dyllemma continued through the night, maintaining a party-like atmosphere all night long.

Click to see pictures from the KON/Raw Nature joint album release party, held at Public Assembly, 9/17/10

Opener Broadway started things off, donning rimless, black, KON-like spectacles as a sign of solidarity with the co-headliner, followed by Daphya, who, after a nearly year-long performance hiatus, represented well for the ladies.

Soloist Maintain emerged next, bringing back Broadway into his set with the call-and-response heavy “I’m So Fresh,” followed by Undeniable, a two-man group that upped the head-nodding ratio considerably, riding smoothly over well-crafted beats.

M.D.-E. followed with an acapella reworking of Slick Rick’s “Mona Lisa” for the chronically-inclined crowd, ending his set with perhaps the most entertaining use of “shit”, “damn” and “motherfucker” I’ve heard since Richard Pryor.

After a short break, the music was reignited by St. Joe Louis, a three-man group we have covered only briefly in the past, though not for lack of worthiness. Energetic and engaging, these three personified verbal cooperation as each one emphasized the words of the others with Navy Blue Angel precision. Silent Knight followed (one of those intellectual and wordy “wierdos” I mentioned earlier),venturing out into the crowd to add an up-close-and-personal touch to his performance.

Then a quick segue, as the crowd was reminded that artwork created by Rep DaVinci, who had been working the canvas on a corner of the stage throughout the night, was to be raffled off at night’s end, demonstrating another example of cross-element collaboration in the New York hip hop scene that is so often overlooked, in order to perpetuate the perception of the region’s total lack of unity.

And unity is exactly what followed, in the form of the co-headlining group Raw Nature, who took to the stage exhibiting an energetic intergroup camaraderie from the moment they began until the last drip of collective sweat hit the floor at the end of their spirited performance. Raw Nature, comprised of P.A., Benny Buku, Fury, Propher, Fizix, C4 and Big Dee, is forged from a DNA mix of Leaders of the New School theatrics and Wu-Tang Clan-styled lyricism, and watching them perform is watching a controlled chaos that left their bussed-in-from-Jersey supporters nearly as breathless with rowdy excitement as the artists themselves.

Closing out the evening, which was now very much “the morning,” climbing the stage steps to the crowd emphatically chanting the acronym which is his moniker, KON, backed by A Band Called FUSE, embarked on the musical journey through his Above The Clouds release. With a mix of sparse and complex music, on-stage support from Broadway, Daphya, Japoet, Joaquin and Silent Knight, and a thoughtful, calculated set, KON basked in a calm assurance, exhibiting a cool confidence as he paraded through songs that were for the most part, musically sharp and verbally rich. Band and MC meshed fairly well, and the supporting cast of characters did their job backing up their comrade.

And then a moment occurred when the night became something more than a typical cramped hip hop show in a square room stuffed away in the back of a Williamsburg nightclub. The moment when KON sat at the edge of the stage, eye-level with the crowd, and while an entranced audience stood in an enlarged semicircle emanating from that epicenter, performed a touching homage to his mother, to his mother, who stood in front of him, holding his hand, beaming with unmistakable pride and perhaps a touch of relief spreading through her soul after spending nights wondering, like even the most supportive and optimistic mothers do, whether her son’s musical efforts would ever truly be appreciated.

You can relax mom. They are.

And perhaps partially due to that moment, the night produced a rare occasion in underground, independent music. An occasion when, due to the delivery of the hosts, musicians and performers, the excitement of a supportive, albeit biased, crowd and a well planned and executed show, a musical euphoria can envelop a small, energized crowd, and, for a short time at least, produce an atmosphere where there is really no difference between the stage in the back room of Public Assembly and the stage at Madison Square Garden.

An atmosphere that feels like you are above the clouds.

Click to see pictures from the KON/Raw Nature joint album release party, held at Public Assembly, 9/17/10

Click to purchase Raw Nature’s The Direction.

Click to download KON’s Above The Clouds.