Bay Area artists of hip-hop and rap united in a series of performances that allowed them to get their name and music out on the air.
The “Super Chill Showcase” was put on by Sleepwalkin’ Entertainment and commenced last Friday at the Phoenix Theater in Petaluma.
The turnout started off small and sparse, but after an hour and a half in, the venue was packed with people, most of whom were friends coming to support and represent their friends who would be taking the stage that night.
The beats and backing tracks were operated by DJ Soto playing back songs of the different performers laying down a steady flow.
Mind over Matter was a duo that spoke some fast rhymes over upbeat drums finished with warm chimes that acted as bass lines.
Gurdes was a group accompanied by a guitarist and drummer. Though the instruments were not fully mic’d, the speakers still blared that “ambience” through the hall. Gurdes’ rap was a mix of more progressive rock beats that would build up like a dubstep beat.
Legacy9 was another North Bay rap duo consisting of Herman Espuivel and Dax Cargill; also known as H.E. Himself and Sonny D.
They performed to promote their latest mixtape, “No Gimmicks” which was on sale at the table. They were a part of Sleepwalkin’ Entertainment and helped to put the show on.
Sandchild introduced a bigger name to the stage toward the end of the show. Professional beat-boxer Exacto went up with nothing but his voice and started to create sounds of dubstep and trap music.
He established bass lines and percussive hits with his mouth and even offered The Sandchild to “spit a flow” on top of that. It was impressive seeing and hearing Exacto build up a track and speed up more and more, still keeping sounds and voice in the throbbing beat.
The Unit Dance Crew took a circle in the middle of the audience below the stage right after the beat boxing session and did some synchronized dance numbers pumping up the crowd for the last of the showcase to come up next.
Konfadential was a one man show who took a powerful presence on the stage coming right up to the edge and getting the audience fired up. This Santa Rosa native has several music videos on Youtube.
Odd Fella was a group that hailed from Windsor and are planning to move to Los Angeles.
They put on this last show as a sort of “final huzzah” in representing their Bay Area roots.
Sleepwalkin’ Entertainment is a production team consisting of Sandchild and Legacy9 who worked with good and talented friends in the hip-hop scene.
They put on this show to give these aspiring artists a chance to represent their area and their communicative base of people that were supporting them.
Mainey Maine was given his time to shine as he rapped: “Maine street, Madison!” verses about the street he lived at in M section. The song was catchy and some people who knew the guy and his music were singing along to the chorus.
The hip-hop scene in the North Bay Area is starting to grow with a whole new generation of rappers, and Sleepwalkin’ Entertainment is helping these new musicians take a mic on a stage and alliterate their slick rhymes to an audience.
Sleepwalkin’ Entertainment has a Facebook page that keeps updates on upcoming events and new local artists.