Last night, at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn, NY, Respective Collective hosted their first-ever concert event, and Talk of The Town was invited out to see it! If you weren’t there, then where were you? Respective assembled an all-star lineup for their “Hometown Heroes” event, staying true to the name by having so many great local artists perform as well. From Brooklyn to Harlem, artists from all over the city and Jersey popped out and gave the crowd a night to remember!
As soon as the door opened at 6:30, we were treated to a DJ set by Woah Ty, who’s produced tracks for Lil Tecca, Sleepy Hallow, and Young Nudy to name a few. Ty would provide the vibes and sounds between sets for the rest of the night as well, always keeping the crowd lit and ready. The first performer of the night was Ser Kokayi, an NYC artist who got the night started with a couple of tracks. Including his most recent single, “TAKE V.” Ser’s Atlanta inspired-production had the room moving, with an eclectic light show from the stage lights to match his energy. The second act to grace the stage was Ben Different and his crew, 48 Gods. They hail from Harlem and lit up the stage with a three-song set compromised of two trap-influenced songs and a drill track as well. With the bass booming throughout the showroom, the energy Ben and his crew brought were unmatched until Spider-Cuz pulled up and gave a hell of a show too. With his Spider-Girl by his side, not only did he spit some bars over some drill beats, he made sure to have the crowd participate in telling Batman to suck it. His last song of the night was a Batman diss-track called, “Batman K,” but not before he went off telling the new Batman (Robert Pattinson) to “respectfully, stay in the Twilight Zone,” giving the whole crowd a great laugh.
The following performance of the night belonged to Fleego, a rapper from Flatbush, and his crew Gangtivity, giving us a 4-song set. When it comes to performance and energy, Gangtivity certainly had the crowd UP. With the whole crew and their friends onstage, with Fleego, Bam Vito, and other Gnagtiity members taking their turns trading bars over high-energy rage beats, they gave me a vibe reminiscent of alternative hip-hop acts like BROCKHAMPTON and JPEGMAFIA. If they went any longer, there might’ve been a moshpit starting up and I definitely would have joined in. After Gangtivity left the stage on fire, the act to follow was New Jersey’s own SkinnyFromThe9, who also had the crowd bumping to a 3-song set. The front row was feeling Skinny heavy, as he brought a couple of them up to get lit on stage with him. That kind of fan interaction is great, especially in more intimate venues like these, and always makes for a great performance. After Skinny got off stage, the next act to pull up was Lil Agz, who you probably know as the kid from Twitter who would say “we outsiiiiiiiiide,” which he also had the whole crowd say before performing. Agz performed a couple of songs and hyped the crowd up before the last few performances of the night.
The next performance was from a Staten Island legend, The Craccen himself, Squidnice! Squid came onstage with his crew and fellow performers 917Rackz and Kenzo Hound. Squid himself performed three tracks, including his hits, “Everywhere I Go,” and “Trap By My Lonely,” both of which the crowd was very familiar with. The energy from Squid’s performance transferred right over to 917Rackz, as he began to go off with tracks like “Some Days,” which samples “Heartbreak Anniversary.” He also performed “Respectfully,” and another track before Kenzo Hound got the mic and performed as well. When Squid, 917, Kenzo, and the crew got off the stage, you felt it too. But before the final performance of the night, we were treated to a poetry reading by Fanta Bello, a Harlem Poet. We didn’t get the title of the poem, but its subject matter was strikingly relevant, talking about local rappers who are trying to find ways out the streets, escaping the school-to-prison pipeline and trying to succeed, but ultimately get locked up before it can become fully realized. The crowd loved it, with hoots ad hollers coming from all over the room in support of them. After raucous applause, Slayter and ABG Neal came on stage for the final performance of the night. Slayter was a surprise guest that wasn’t on the lineup, but a welcome surprise nonetheless! The two performed their track, “Royce,” as well, the viral hit that samples Prince Royce, a well-known Latin Bachata artist. ABG Neal and Slayter only gave us a couple of songs to close out the night, but the crowd was still hype for it as they bounced around to each beat and word that came out of their mouths.
All in all, if you weren’t at the Hometown Heroes event last night, WHAT WERE YOU DOING? You missed out on an all-star lineup that repped NYC and NJ from head to toe, displaying some of the best of the best local artists and rising stars. The vibes and energy were immaculate, and not the kind you can replicate off the rip. Whatever Respective Collective decides to do next, I know that we’re gonna be in there, but what about you?