After the concert finished, I was downstairs at Belmont, then Jeru the Damaja showed up unexpectantly. This let me get my pic with Jeru, having plumb forgot to get one with Paul Wall. Sometimes those moments happen fast.
DJ Sensei and this next lady were there before he arrived, we were just chatting. Then there he was. It was real cool, just having that moment sitting next to Jeru.
Then I got a call that my bag was upstairs, and I went up to get it. The security then saw me and kicked me out of Belmont as the show was done. Still working my way up to being able to be cool enough to get past security. Shoutout the security guards, they and I done seen each other a whole lot this year.
I got into an Uber and headed home. That wasn’t the first Uber I took that day.
Sometimes people honk at you for good reasons
I was standing on Sherbrooke near Cavendish with Travis Bryant waiting on an Uber. I needed to pickup my D.R.U.G. Prophets ticket for their show on March 24th. I managed time all wrong and Chris Chrome ended up getting the ticket for me, bringing us to Travis and I on the sidewalk.
We heard excessive honking. We chose to think nothing of it. Typically honking has nothing to do with you, person on the sidewalk.
People honk mostly to avoid emergencies. It’s also a way to use foul language via your car. This is clearly me adding purpose to the horn as an infrequent driver, speculating is a vibe.
Horns aren’t used the same everywhere. Nor are they used the same by everyone. In this case the horn was none other than DJ Blaster. He was offering us a ride. We only found out later.
You live, you learn.
Soundcheck needs the sound man
We arrive at Belmont and see a few folks are already there. I got told to be there for 7:00 PM and it was 7:15 or so when we walked in. Blaster and Jake (sound guy at Belmont) were setting up.
Then Blaster sees us and starts laughing, filling us in. I think I’ll be paying more attention to people honking moving forward.
I had to prime Blaster and event host Will E. Skandalz on what I had in store. Chris was going to start my set then we cut his song at one point, etc. Today I wasn’t trying to waste time talking.
As the beats played, sound check started. Here’s a good tip so you don’t look silly at sound check. If the sound guy is not where the boards are, then no adjustments can be made.
In Belmont, it means the person has to be up the ladder in that roost. At one point someone was “sound checking” but Jake was behind Blaster on stage setting up. That ended up just being practice. No levels were adjusted and person was like well this mic ain’t it.
Jake made it all sound nice. And he’ll do it in real time. He adjusted one of the mics before the opening 2 bars were done for one performer once the concert was underway.
Moving forward, cop the tickets in advance
Selling tickets to events with promoters booking bigger acts is new to me. I never wanted to “pay to play” when I was younger. While selling tickets has a time cost, no one asked me to put my own bread up for these shows. I’m okay with time as a price.
When someone takes a chance on me, I will do what I can to put some money in their hands. If I can’t sell, I’ll try to make sure the people around me can. The team is only getting stronger.
Before the doors open, we were asked to return the tickets we had not sold. Once doors were open, people were to pay door price. If people want the in advance price, next time they can get those tickets off us in advance.
This created a couple of moments where we had told people they could get them at the price point we had. Turns out that was no longer factual. Now I know this is the game, I’ll move correct with it.
I think it’s worth checking with the promoter how they want to move. Some people will be like get that bread by any means. Others will be like, doors open prices is not before doors open prices.
I don’t know the rules to how everything works. No one seems to have these tips written anywhere. As I make faux pas and learn, I will share them with you.
The show starts on time
Shoutout Good Friday Ent. for starting this on time. Doors opened at 8:00 PM and the event was underway by 9:00.
I know that it sucks to be an opener, knowing most of the crowd has not arrived yet. However, that is the job of an opener. To give the people who come earlier in the night something to do, so they stay and drink more.
I’ve been to a lot of shows where the doors open is 8:00 PM and nothing happens until like 10:30 PM. Those shows always feel like me, as an audience member, is disrespected by the people throwing the event. A lot of the time the organizers are “waiting for the crowd”.
That mentality literally punishes the people who respected your event enough to come on time, to pander to the people who did not do that.
That pandering makes no sense. If you want a show that starts late, put the doors open at 10:00 PM. Start it late. But why are you going to make the people who were passionate enough to be on time, not want to come back.
Consumer centrism is the way to trust in corporate America. You can trust a Good Friday Ent. show will start on time. And that if you want those tickets at the better price, hit up the openers before the show.
It’s on us to make this a bigger scene.
The key to more greatness
This section is not teaching you keys to greatness. Keymoe the Key to More Greatness, Montreal’s least flyer friendly name, started the show. He performed a versatile set that hopped across different subgenres.
I’ve watched Keymoe perform at different events since 2020. Somehow, he got me booked mid pandemic, twice. A lot of people talk about how valuable they are, etc. Very few people have boosted my career with actions in the way Keymoe did in 2020.
A lot of people have done a lot of things for me. A lot of that happened after my interview show took off and all of a sudden it was cool to be my friend. Keymoe met me on some random petty Facebook group stuff.
He posted some post like “I bet not one rapper in Montreal will like and subscribe”. I’m like oh say word, and pettily posted a screenshot of me liking and subscribing. Yes, I get petty and do nice things for you with all the salt and shade.
Keymoe showed me love more than once, in multiple ways over the years. I taught him about ad-libs and doubles when recording.
Seeing Keymoe perform was cool. He’s come a long way. I genuinely believe Keymoe will be in this scene in 10 years.
The Shobiz goes on
Shobiz514 followed Keymoe and brought his patented #belowthetracks swagger to the stage. You know that slightly hunched forward, walk thing he does.
As I write this, shoutout Shobiz514 for having a unique walk on stage. You can just tell it’s him by literally how he moves.
He did not perform Roadman Freestyle, which always makes me sad. Now that that is out of the way he did a really great set.
He brought Massive and 7:30 from Regulators on with him. They have great coordination, if they practiced ahead of time I would not be surprised.
Shobiz and his peoples really ran that set. What’s fun about watching Sho, for us at least, is that we know his music and like it. Before his set I heard Blaster singing 2 Fast to himself. When that song came on, Jesse and I were in the crowd bombing out. These things feel proper.
I wasn’t sure where else to include this, but I finally met THE Vanessa MTL lady. Her Facebook energy is lit, and it was cool to meet her IRL. The best part of going out is meeting the people.
Travis Bryant is back in Montreal
You ever promise things like people can perform on your set? Then you forget and realize your 15 minutes just got a lot smaller?
That happened to me. I had told Chris he could do the whole ADHD dong and told Travis we could do Might Miss and I forgot I said all of that. Still, we made it work.
Chris started it off like it was his set. Walked on stage, started doing the ADHD joint. Then after the first chorus I walk on and take back my set. We pivot into When The Night Dies because I love the verse I wrote to that song.
You are going to see a LOT of When The Night Dies this year. Then Chris gets off stage (he could have stayed on) and I move into my pickle plug.
I also tried to give away another 20$. No one wants the money. Travis, took it. I’ll keep giving away money no one wants.
Then after taking my 20, Travis gets on stage with me to do Might Miss. Which was fun. The first Travis Bryant Montreal performance in years and it was my shit. Then I turn up with Travis as he performs All Money In for the first time live.
You never know who will pull up on our sets. In my opinion we did our thing.
After getting off stage…
I immediately head over to the side of the stage again. Following our set was JS #NOREGARD & KDIITimes. The first song on that was performed was none other than Put It On My Back. This song is one I just spent a week prepping to hype JS up on for the Paul Wall show.
I’m a little drunk at this point. Someone started pouring shots down my throat out the bottle. I nearly gagged. The group chat told me I put my lips on the bottle and was not doing it right. Chris laughed at me as he saw me almost puking apparently.
Then I see JS is on stage. My tummy settles and I bust back on making it in time for the “PUT IT ON MY BACK” to start. The rest of the night is a lot hazier from this point.
Aside from a one-two mess up when I tried to say bars, I think I did my job for JS. Got off stage as the booze really kicked in and KD replaced me to finish that set up.
While I was in the crowd I heard several people share their love of Three 6 Mafia as JS & KD performed their tribute joint, Tear The Club Up. You can feel their love for Memphis on this song and it made the whole crowd react.
Glad to see my people shine.
Ritzo & Smoking Ink crushed it
Ritzo is a wonderful performer. He incorporates dance into his routine like a pop star. I try and mosh around like a rock star because I can’t do what Ritzo does. His voice is spectacular, and he just brings so much charm to the stage.
Shoutout the Drug Prophets for pulling up and being a part of this show. It’s always a pleasure to see them around. They do dope stuff for real.
Ritzo was followed by a break. I don’t know how long the break was, we hit the part of drunkenness where time was passing and I was not aware of it.
Low key, it’s way too easy to get drunk at these. I need to space that out.
Smoking Ink came on and as always performed with absolute finesse. Jesse is the most talented vocalist I share a stage with. Rozwel is a great vocalist too, balancing out Jesse’s airy voice with some rough edges. The vibe they have works so well, and on stage it shines.
Plus, Rozel’s beats are next level. Y’all should go give him money for some.
I took this little video while turning up on stage with them.
Smoking Ink deserves the right before Jeru slot. They stars.
Jeru the Damaja has swagger
I was told ahead of time Jeru the Damaja would be one of the nicest performance I’ll see. Jeru delivered on that promise.
He walked across the stage like he owned it. He interacted with people in the crowd. Someone gave him some weed, and he worked all that into the set.
His rapping proficiency is next level. His music is great vibes. He’s rapping rapping at you, but you still want to dance. A lot of people can learn from that.
He knows how to utilize hooks to engage. It was really watching a masterclass in how to perform. Jeru has done this a bajillion times and it shows.
Jeru gave a good, meaty, long set. The people in the crowd liked it. He seemed to be having a great time. If you have never gone to a Jeru the Damaja show, I recommend hitting one up.
Even if you “Don’t like rap” you’ll have fun. He’s one of those guys.
Take your bag with you when you want to hang with rappers
The real takeaway from this blog is don’t leave your bag, unattended, next to the Belmont stage and disappear. Shoutout Julia for caring enough to holla. While it did end my moment downstairs with Jeru, it was probably for the best.
Sober me can appreciate how drunk me may not be the most classy fellow. It took many years to get to where I am with socializing. Last thing I want to do is embarrass myself and fuck shit up.
This Jeru the Damaja show was my 19th performance of 2023. The third time we opened for someone from the States this year. I’m really proud of us and the moves we’re making.
I now need to find my way to Kanasatake so I can check out this Meet & Greet Jeru moment at the Green Room.
Maybe we get two Jeru centric blogs in a row.
Live Long and Prosper Everyone
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