On Friday, Rapsody brought her A Black Woman Created This tour to Detroit and it was an amazing show.
The duo, Better in Black, kicked off the festivities with a short set that captured the audience’s attention. Nappi Devi is seen above on the right and Junii is on the left. It was nice to see a local opener on the bill and I was impressed with their short set.
When the DJ for the next set came out, I was surprised to see that it was Krysis. He’s a great producer and you have heard his work countless times on Word is Bond Rap Radio. He’s from North Carolina and part of the The Justus League collective. He was spinning for R&B songstress, Heather Victoria. I didn’t get any good photos of her, unfortunately.
Next up, was Sa-Roc. She was backed up by Sol Messiah on the wheels of steel.
Her stage presence was incredible. The crowd was definitely feeling her. She is set to have a stellar year with a new full-length project coming out on the Rhymesayers label this spring. I cannot wait for that.
I don’t like to take video when I go to a concert. I would rather just enjoy the vibe, but I had to shoot just a little bit of her amazing set.
I had the chance to interview her as well. Stay tuned for my tenth annual Women in Hip-Hop special in March to hear it.
Rapsody commanded the stage with an energetic live show. Backed up by DJ Face, she brought the house down.
Here is a video that I reposted on my Instagram from @nikibobalina so you can catch a bit of the vibe.
And here’s another one from @313yogi
It’s nice to browse social media via hashtag and location after a show to see what other people posted about it. I’m glad these two accounts let me repost their videos here.
The venue was decked out with very cool lights. They were at the back of the stage and all across the ceiling. I’m not sure how they managed to trick my eyes either. The lights at the back of the stage somehow crawled Rapsody’s name and it looked like the spaces between the light bars filled in as if it were a full screen television.
My only complaint about the concert was that there were three DJs on stage and not one of them spun between sets. It would have been nice to see a DJ open up the show and spin between the acts. The turntables were up there the whole time. Yet, each DJ, brought their own needles and slipmats, and quickly set up to spin for their portion of the show. DJ Face warmed up the crowd a bit before Rapsody came on, but he only spun part of a few songs.
One of the DJs could have spun between the sets, or they could have taken turns. It would have made the show even tighter. That is what I like to see at a hip-hop concert.
That being said, it was an absolutely incredible show. Rapsody was adorable on stage. At one point, she asked if there were any single guys in the audience and invited one of them up on stage. She then sang a series of songs that showed the different aspects of a relationship. It was a great story telling sequence for Valentine’s Day and I know that it made the guy’s day who got serenaded by her.
I would go back to a show at Magic Stick in a heartbeat. It was a great night with great sound and atmosphere. And it made me a even bigger fan of Sa-Roc and Rapsody. If this tour is coming your way, make sure you go, you won’t be disappointed.