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Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Live Reviews Live review: Coors Light's Search for the Coldest MC, The Fillmore, 6/30/2012
Posted By Emiene Wright on Tue, Jul 3, 2012 at 10:01 AM
Coors Light's Search for the Coldest MC
The Fillmore
June 30, 2012
Coors Light's Search For The Coldest emcee contest rolled into the Fillmore Saturday night with free beers and a trump-tight panel of celebrity judges, but the competition itself, between Eddie Blaze and Felony Fame, never seemed to warm up.
Ice Cube, Bun B., Big K.R.I.T. and DJ Drama started the night with a pre-show talk on what they look for in new lyricists and the state of hip hop in general. Bun B., a guest lecturer at Rice University and the most erudite of the bunch, shared that he doesn't respect dumb rappers. "To be a cold MC, they have to have a strong command of the English language," he said. "Some people assume rappers all speak broken English, but the best MCs are masters of vocabulary."
The celebrities judged the two Charlotte emcees on hometown pride, braggadocio, acapella skills and an original song. Eddie Blaze was first. The more cerebral of the two, Blaze had decent rhymes but couldn't land a blow as the well-spoken emcee had trouble connecting with the crowd. He looked intimidated and at a loss as to how to handle the chilly reception. He seemed to be over-thinking things, asking the crowd, "Where my college kids at?" And on the hook for "Live My Life," he dropped the clunky hook "If you're an individual, get your hands up."
Felony Fame, on the other hand, brought a ton of energy, almost making up for lackluster lines and enunciation so lazy he was nearly unintelligible. Fame kicked lines like "I keep shades like a Crayon, I keep a white girl like Kreayshawn," on his song "Beasty Boy." Given Bun B.'s earlier stance, I thought he was a sunken ship. But both semi-finalists seemed hand-picked for their different outlooks, more so than for any mic skills or crowd control.
Monday, July 2, 2012
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