2005 ACL Fest Home > Reports from the ACL Festival > Archives > 2005 > September > 23 > Entry
Hip-hop and heat
Hip-hop can be a tough sell at noon. A few minutes before Austin hip-hop artist KJAE (pronounced “Kay-jay”) took the stage, you could count the ACL patrons in the crowd on the fingers of one hand. By the time he finished his half-hour set, a good 50 people grooved, sweated and applied sunscreen to his beats and rhymes.
“Y’all real sexy out there,” KJAE said, and the crowd seemed to buy it. “Come on, let’s roll.” The Austin Music Foundation Incubator award winner knew it was an uphill battle, both in terms of time slot and venue. ACL is not known for its hip-hop, but KJAE is the only rapper here this year. “We like the Bee Gees/just tryin’ to stay alive,” he rapped and you bought it.
Hip-hop shows are supposed to be sweaty because a packed crowd in a dark club is getting crunk (as KJAE urged us to get). It’s not supposed to be sweaty because the sun is straight overhead and the outdoor temp is creeping to more than 90 degrees. The Double’s set, coming from the AMD stage, blended in with KJAE’s break beats and gave his songs a bead of vague noise that served them well. At the end of the set, KJAE clearly seemed happy to rock the crowd, so happy he gave out his phone number (832-741-8045) and his e-mail address (kjae04@hotmail.com). If he can rock a crowd before lunch in sweltering heat, no doubt he’s down for your wedding or bar mitzvah.
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