Luckyiam, Mouse Powell and Creed Chameleon Yucca Tap Room Thursday, July 26
See also: Mouse Powell's "Holding Home" Music Video Features Local Landmarks and a Slew of Wet Girls
The Valley's revered no-charge hip-hop night, The Blunt Club at Yucca Tap Room, stayed true to its reputation for rocking the roof with DJs on the ones and twos, and live performances by local rappers Creed Chameleon and Mouse Powell, as well as a special performance by Luckyiam of Living Legends lore.
With a more than eager crowd, the club was poppin' long before Luckyiam hit the stage.
Tricky T, LES735, and FACT135 dropped dope beats while Dumperfoo and Queenloopy provided the visuals via live art paintings.
Hawaiian rapper Creed Chameleon channeled a '90s flow to start off the live performances of the night. The Surprise resident worked up the crowd and got a good bob and weave going before new Blunt Club host Mouse Powell took the stage for a quick 30-minute set.
Powell hyped up the crowd with tracks off of his awesome debut record, Where It's Cloudy, while his mom helped him slang his merch from the back of the club. The crowd got into the set, singing hooks for "Extra Extra" and waving their hands along to the Arizona anthem, "Holding Home."
As if a free show wasn't enough, the hip-hop heads and hipsters that crammed the floor were also showered in free swag throughout the night. T-shirts, CDs, DVDs, and pre-wrapped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches all flew from the stage and into skyward hands.
Powell didn't have to do much else after that to build up the crowd for Luckyiam. The Los Angeles-native is well known in the hip-hop circuit for his work in Oakland's underground scene during the '90s as a part of the renowned rap collective, Living Legends.
Highlights from the set included "Night Prowler," as fans sang along to the hook and threw their hands in the air to the staccato cadence. Lucky used the time as his own therapy session, thanking the crowd for listening, and sharing intimate details about his life. Segueing into a familiar beat, he talked about an ex-girlfriend that cheated on him with Too Short before going into a fun cover of Bel Biv Devoe's "Poison."
As always, a bumping night at The Blunt.
Critic's Notebook: The Crowd: Backward-cap-wearing hip-hop fans and hipsters. Random Notebook: It doesn't get any more random than flying PB&J Sandwiches.