“Every word I say should be a Hip-Hop quotable.”
Posdnous

So I stepped out last night to hit up Organic Soul for the first time in a while. I actually went a few weeks ago, but since I wasn’t prepared and kicked on of the worst freestyle of my life it doesn’t cout. For those who don’t do it when you freestyle there’s a place you can fall into. It’s like you no longer have control of yourself or your astrally projecting and your hearing yourself just shredding the microphone and you have a hard time believing how nice you really are. Well this wasn’t one of those times. So I came back with something set to go and smashed out. However I did have some common emcee issues.

Cuffing: There is a general tendency to cuff the mic. If you know anything about sound you know that things should be set differently for different types of acts. If you just turn on the mic and let singers, emcees, poets and so forth proceed some of them are going to sound bad. Especially when there is a band an emcee needs his mic turned up. With the band right behind you along with the speakers you tend to have a hard time hearing yourself and the natural reaction is to cuff the mic like so….

I don’t know why this is the method that people resort to, but at one point or another I’ve seen most emcees do it. EMCEES, DO NOT CUFF THE MIC!!!! A cat that never needed to cuff the mic is Ogun, son’s voice is loud and carries well…to the point where I remember explaining to several people that he’s not yelling at them in ciphers.

Participate: This is something I don’t have beef with cause it’s a classic staple of not only Hip-Hop, but performing. Besides it sounds better when people say something than when they sing along with a band since most crowds don’t have the skills of a choir. I however have gotten tired of dead crowds so now I don’t ask people to repeat or join in. I invite folks to participate. Feel free. No pressure. No strings attached. Besides I’d rather have the people who want to join in than the lame-o’s who feel obligated.

Good Mics: For some reason it seems like if a spot has more than one mic only one of them is any good. This facilitates the need to switch off. The worst thing is when you have a group and the person with the good mic doesn’t recognize that they need to give it to the next person. Dude is adlibing in the best mic on stage. C’mon man! you’re a group, act like it. On a positive note the best mic switch I ever saw (and for real I would jack this move in a sec) is by Ab-Rock and Goldy…no contest.

Respect the Band: I have seen to many cats throw a negative remark at the House Band and I have to say…VERY BAD KARMA!! The House Band rocks…at least where I’m at and these gents should never be dissed in any way, shape or form. Every person I’ve ever seen dis the band performed poorly. Worse than that these cats will never play for you…ever. I mean c’mon I with my limited knowledge of music can describe something and end up with a beat that is amazing. For real if I could have a recording of every performance I ever did with them I would have a tight album. Don’t disrespect the band.