Before anyone comes at me for the title, MLNY ran a lengthy campaign culminating in this very song:
On September 12th, 2024, MLNY headlined his first ever Montreal show with support from Jonas Brown, Smoking Ink, Shobiz514 & B.Crazy. Located in the heart of downtown Montreal, the event took place at Piranha Bar. As we were at our show, a metal show was performing at the venue downstairs, making the smoking area in front a fun mix of Hip Hop and Metal aesthetics.
I have fond memories of Piranha bar, from backstage moments with a past girlfriend to a giant street brawl at an event I hosted, my early performing career brought me there plenty of times.
It’s always a joy to return all this time later and see how things have changed.
MLNY really out here Breaking Wreckords
I got a lot of respect for MLNY, as I got special love for anybody making moves that took some time to Bridge the Gap with me.
Now I encountered MLNY when his people put together a contest and got a fat number of bored rappers together in a FB group competing for other rapper’s approval. This is not meant as a shot, I was so impressed with what he did I stole the idea and did it myself giving out monthly money for awhile. Through that group I got introduced to how hard MLNY hustles.
While I was struggling to interview people, he was interviewing all kinds of noteworthy people. His music releases have been fairly consistent, with solid craftsmanship and visuals every time. Having captured the attention of a lot of people, he leverages social media like a champion to tease and promote his work.
When I found out he was coming to Montreal, I felt compelled to support.
The musical performances were entertaining
Each of the openers came with a great sample of their work.
B.Crazy started the night off, with his first performance, and delivered his songs with energy and passion. You could feel his excitement.
It’s been a minute since I’ve seen a longer Shobiz514 set and seeing how he’s incorporated deeper storytelling to connect with the audience is a testament to his evolution as an artist.
Now Smoking Ink caught me off guard entirely. It’s also been awhile since I’ve seen their music. I was not expecting to see Hache bust out a guitar and sing while a hidden Rozwel played harmonica (fun fact I annoy Bonnie with my harmonica sometimes). They genre-hopped into a whiskey driven blues feel that truly astounded me.
They mixed that with their regular sound and it was pretty stellar.
Jonas Brown came with a mix of pop punk and Hip Hop. His performance is comfortable and he plays with the crowd well to create an exciting performance.
I’m sure it took a little longer for the openers than anyone wanted, the out of towners discovered you cannot rush a Montreal rapper audience weed break.
MLNY owned the stage like he was performing to 10000 people
MLNY came out dressed in his 2Pac homage costume.
He started the show performing White 2Pac for the first time. It’s always fun to be a part of someone’s first moment as an artist. To share in the intimacy of a moment like that.
I’m only here to write about what I saw and they definitely had some kind of issue after that. MLNY went a cappella to fill the gap as it got sorted. He then proceeded to perform his joints with passion, costume changes and all.
He freestyle, he held it down.
Unfortunately the curse of the underground show headliner kicked in and a lot of the audience had left by that point. I felt this was unfortunate. In theory the whole show is built around MLNY getting his moment, so to dip out before it is sucky.
That being said I understand that being out late on a Thursday is not easy depending on where you live.
I write this because MLNY came like a true professional. I was impressed by his ability to revel in the moment and just share his shine for the world. He was happy to be on that stage and performed with every ounce of his soul.
When you are looking for performers, that kind of energy is the fire you need.
I had a good time and look forward to seeing what MLNY and the LXST CAUZ folk do next.
Live Long and Prosper Everyone
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