Earlier this week I hit up S.O.B’s for Hot 97‘s every-so-often event, Who’s Next, hosted by Shani Kulture and Peter Rosenberg. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t normally go for mainstream events, but the line up featured two of my favorite rappers in the game, Nitty Scott and Vic Mensa. The rest of the line up included KP Yung Hustle and Rugz D. Bewler, also names I’m quite familiar with. The event alone was geared to give underground artists the spotlight to be heard, show their talent and spread the word. Doors opened at 8pm, the show started at 9:30pm, giving guests enough time to have some drinks, or even dinner and enjoy music spun by Dj Juanyto.
Once the show started, it was nothing but fire, magic and dope ass bars. Shani Kulture hit the stage to introduce the first rapper from Miami, KP Yung Hustle, following Rugz D. Bewler who came straight outta Harlem. Both underground rappers had a nice flow, but fairly different in style considering their place of origin. You really got a feel for that southern rap in KP Yung Hustle’s music, and more of that uptown swagger from Rugz D. Bewler. All in all, they still kept the crowd going, spitting their best verses, preparing the crowd for what I saw to be the grand finale. Peter Rosenberg came on stage to introduce Nitty Scott and Vic Mensa, two artists I’m sure he has close relationships with considering the love he shows them on his radio show, Real Late on Hot 97. Truth be told, if it wasn’t for Peter Rosenberg, I wouldn’t have known about any of these artists.
Once Nitty hit the stage, I had to get up off my seat, and I stood on my two feet for the remainder of the show. Showing up in her floral jersey, with a white bucket hat and matching shorts, Nitty had everyone’s attention as she performed songs off her old mixtapes, freestyles and even some off her new album The Art of Chill. Some of the songs included “Auntie Maria’s Crib,” “Flower Child,” and her freestyle to “Bath salt.” Nitty Scott charmed the crowd with her smiles and good vibes, ending on a good note leaving us with one of her new joints “Feng Sui.”
After Nitty Scott, came Vic Mensa starting off with his high energy track “Lovely Day,” that he danced along to, hyping the crowd for what was to follow. Vic Mensa, also known as Yung Save Peso, performed songs off his album Innanet. Songs included “YSNP,” “Time is Money” and “Orange Soda.” To end his set, Vic got to charm his New York City fans as well, dropping a new joint produced by Kaytranada, followed by a little freestyle before he left the stage.
One word can describe my night, DOPE.
For all of you Hip-hop heads, culture fanatics or aspiring artists who wanna get down with “Who’s Next,” check out their website for more info.
