Of the many music festivals in the Triangle, Hopscotch is in the lead when it comes to supporting local hip-hop artists, and they do so with intention and consistency. Two of the area’s favorite MCs, Pat Junior and JooseLord Magnus, closed the set at Neptune’s Parlour last night.
Before 11:30 p.m., a mixed audience of curious festival-goers and full-on fans eagerly awaited Pat Junior’s performance, which started twenty minutes late because of equipment issues at the club (the sound engineer had to switch out Pat’s mic twice during the set). Thankfully, Pat Junior’s producer/DJ Tony G and drummer Will Jackson saw the setback as an opportunity to keep the crowd engaged.
In this worst-case-scenario situation, many artists would have folded, but not Pat. Despite the continued auditory issues in the beginning of his set, the Raleigh artist maintained a positive attitude and kept his energy level up, offering the patient crowd all he had. His five-piece band, BeAbsxlute, held him all the way down. When Pat Junior’s mic was too low and his lyrics were inaudible, the crowd was able to vibe out to the complementing sounds of his producer, drummer, keyboardist, and background singers.
The set hit a high peak with the soulful, uplifting anthem “Better Days.” Pat Junior was able to maintain the crowd’s high energy as he wrapped up with “S.O.T.B. (Stepping Out the Batcave),” another crowd favorite. This led to a perfect ending—unison hip-hop head knocks and extended applause.
As the set change took place, JooseLord Magnus’s DJ, Iron Mic, immediately plugged in and capitalized on the crowd’s energy. His warm-up was quick and sufficient. After collectively reciting the lyrics to Meek Mill’s classic “Dreams and Nightmares,” the voice of JooseLord demanded for all the lights to be turned off—what a great call! Immediately, the mood shifted, and although we did not physically change venues, for the duration of JooseLord’s performance, it sure felt like it.
Known for his creativity and costumes, JooseLord and members of the Krawbonez collective appeared on stage in ski masks. Understanding the importance of standing out, the aesthetic of JooseLord’s hairstyle, which consisted of fresh cornrows accented with silver hair clips at the ends, shows his commitment to being a fearless trendsetter.
Having mastered the ‘90s aggression of the likes of Onyx, DMX, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, and the more contemporary Danny Brown, JooseLord is paving a lane that is unfulfilled in hip-hop right now. Performing both new and old material, his new material showed that he has the ability to not only pick the right beats to fit his aggressive niche, but also craft high-energy songs that offer valuable content.
The set wasn’t free of errors. There were some sound issues, some off-synch rhyming, and, at some point, a small percentage of the crowd seemed disengaged. Being the vocal artist he is, JooseLord stopped to say, “I just feel like y’all not turned up enough.” Whether or not the audience lived up to JooseLord’s standards, overall, they rocked out with him for more than thirty minutes, jumping up and down, reciting his classic material, and quickly learning his new music.
By the end of his performance, JooseLord earned a number of new fans, including a national festival talent buyer I spoke with who said he sent a live recording to his business partners—not only did they approve, they compared JooseLord and the Krawbonez collective to Chicago’s drill music.
And to think: Just three years ago, he couldn’t get into Hopscotch. Joose told a story about his journey from not being able to get into his friend’s show in 2017 to performing on a bill in 2018 to headlining one in 2019. “Thank you for being here,” he said. “Thank you for making my dream come true.”
music@indyweek.com
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This is great. But why the shade on Jooselord in the printed Hopscotch issue?