Retrospective | Store Run: A Live Album Preview

Time seem precious, and I know what an hour do. — Styles P

10/13/14

The first show I attended at Santos Party House was a TDE event a couple of seasons before the release of good kid, m.a.a.d city. This was when Kendrick Lamar and the crew would still toss around free shows from time to time. I’ve always known Santos as a notable venue for artists on their come up. It is one of those stops you make to prove yourself in NYC. Being a native New York artist, I wondered when my first opportunity would come to rock their stage.

Rain in the city brings fluidity to the sharp angles of the corners and saturation of lights. It calms your focus, gives a less jarring feel to the tasks you tackle. You can have more flow in your hustle and bustle as a New Yorker. On the night where I would give a live preview of my first full length project of music in three years, along with my first performance at Santos, rain in the city was a timely benefit for my nerves.

I settled into the space, letting the mist on my face from outside dry. While waiting for sound check, I greeted the Santos staff and the folks from Incredible Indelible who put the show together. If you ask any performing artist about the importance of doing a sound check, they’ll probably give you the look that says, “no brainer” or sigh in relief and zeal. It’s been more of the latter for me. Like many artists out there, I have dealt with shady and unprofessional procedures with event hosts and promoters. For better or worse, I harbored some of these experiences as a way of “paying dues.” As you develop your professionalism to operate on better terms, there are times where this is opposed by other parties involved, so things like lateness happen, or not being able to run a sound check at all. I’m happy to say sound check ran smoothly that night, and solidified all my prior preparation. I thanked the sound engineers immediately, and stepped back outside to settle into focus.

The show’s host gave myself and each of the other three acts on the bill an hour set. That is a lot of time. When we were told this in the weeks leading up to the show, I laughed to myself and said, “Well, I ain’t Beyoncé.” Even though an hour is a good chunk of performance time, it is still a limitation to exercise the skill of having a well structured show. My agenda was simple, give a live preview of my upcoming album, Store Run with an intimate vibe. Just the artist, and the crowd. I had nothing on stage but the mic, a stool, water bottle, and a visualization of the album’s imagery behind me. All the energy was placed on presenting this new music.

I opened with a recent release, “Medley for the Stuy”. I play harmonica at the end of the song, which in previous shows over the summer has given some shock value to the audience. I’ve seen the question on their faces turn into affirmations, “All this rap, then some harmonica? Wait, this guy who raps plays the harmonica? Oh wait, he’s really playing the harmonica though.” The reaction from this night was no different, and I appreciate it. I haven’t been playing the harp that long, but I had to take it beyond just practicing in my room.

Then proceeded “Christopher Wallace Way”, the first official release from Store Run. I had put the irony of the day (Columbus Day) to good use, reprising the Jay Z line, “Only Christopher we acknowledge is Wallace” before the verse started. There is definitely artist envy for acts who perform with a full band. That dynamic is a one of a kind privilege. However, when a sound check goes well, and you get the fullness of your music on stage, that carries its own exhilaration. The bass knocks harder, you feel the vibrations in your body as you perform. The experiences and ideas that triggered your lyrics are vivid in your head while moving the crowd. Everything connects. It feels like freedom to me.

I took a seat on the stool to chat with the crowd about the project, and the elements that have inspired it thus far. Being so close to finishing the album has been exciting as it is scary. A lesson from the process I’ve been learning and applying is consistent accountability. Not only to myself, but my contemporaries and supporters as well, sharing the notion to finish what you start. Talking about this with those in attendance made me realize a new underlying story arch in the songs that are making Store Run. I previewed a rough mix of a song called “XX” which begins a disposition about that lesson. I wrote the lyrics two years ago on my twentieth birthday. It brings my growing sense of accountability to the forefront in a mission statement of sorts. At the time, I was sort of projecting the journey of my 20s, throwing out to the universe what I want to do. I look foreword to having you hear it on the album.

The energy got back up soon after with a joint called “Money Ain’t Enough”. It definitely is a song about money, with a twist. This is one you’ll hear soon. In a live setting, the dynamics of the song’s volume and high energy gets the crowd’s hands up, mean mugging and all. It was a good test run to confirm it as the next single release.

I sat back on the stool to chill and chat with the audience some more. This was a moment where the DJ and I gave the women in attendance a shout-out by playing some songs with them in mind. I disguised this as my saving move for lack of not having “one for the ladies”. Not that I need to make one if I don’t want to, but it is one of the two remaining songs on Store Run still in the works (love songs are hard to write sometimes). However, I did play them a rough mix of what will be that song’s prelude. It is an updated remake of a Notorious BIG joint you may know. In other words, it would be my song to compensate for never making a women crush Wednesday post. Just having fun with the idea, I think the crowd found the humor in it.

The set closed with two of my most heartfelt songs to date. One is called “Born” which I released at the beginning of summer. The whole piece was written from a Bob Dylan line, “That he not busy being born is busy dying.” This is another song that tied directly into that lesson on accountability. It’s a high energy track, one that makes you bounce and jump. That night was also my first time performing it live. I got the audience into helping recite the hook; two questions, “Do you have what it takes to weather out the storm?” and “Chea, I’m out here tryna function, is you finna change the form?” They respond to both in a brutally honest chant, “Fuck dying, bruh! I’m busy getting born!” It was wild seeing the place make a ruckus, I know most of them were hearing this song for the first time. It confirmed they were down with the vibe, and more importantly down with the music. Particular to the song’s message, I wanted to give the feeling of being born and get folks involved in the act. It is a metaphor for asserting your purpose, your right to exist, and holding yourself accountable to that, no matter the opposition. I thanked the crowd for being present with that energy, introducing and addressing them as new (but no so new) citizens of Small World.

My last song was the project’s title track, “Store Run”. I’ve performed this all-throughout the summer, and on that rainy night at Santos the same homely feeling I give and get back from playing it sustained. The hook has a smooth swing to it, and I led the crowd in hand waves and soulful two-stepping. It always feels good to close my sets with this one.

Suddenly, an hour was over. According to the audience reception, an hour well spent. I got feedback right after saying it didn’t even feel that long. I think at that point we all subconsciously applied that lesson of accountability I was speaking to in the songs. I was present with the crowd from the start, a core element of showmanship, and presented myself and my work honestly. They became present with me in the same space. From then, we trusted each other to be open to hearing how this new music sounded. An exchange like that is powerful, and it is something to carry with me into the final phase of this making this album. I went back into a misty Monday night in New York more focused, and more proud. A new venue under my belt along with new supporters. It was a night that was right as rain, in every way.

-Ish

Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed the post, its photos, and music, please share. Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Soundcloud via @ish_bk

Store Run will release during the holiday season of 2014.

All photos are credited to Martina Petrova.

Major thanks to Incredible Indelible for providing an opportunity to perform.