JAYFORCE

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A Curious Tale of Trials & Persons tour made it’s stop in Atlanta, GA March 21st at Vinyl (Center Stage).  A curious tale is the debut album from rapper Little Simz who hails from London, England making her Atlanta debut.  I have been a fan of her music ever since I heard the track “Mandarin Oranges” which features Grand Rapids emcee Waldo.  Mandarin Oranges immediately pulled me into her music and had me seeking to find out more about her.  I have had the pleasure of interviewing Waldo and he expressed how talented Simz is and happy to see her gaining much success. So I was very excited to see that she would be making a stop in ATL to perform live!

I arrived at Vinyl then looked up at the show marquee and it read Pusha T & Little Simz both with shows scheduled for the 21st.  Then I remembered Pusha was playing Center Stage same time Simz is playing Vinyl.  I have seen Pusha T perform before at Center Stage to be exact so I knew he would draw a large crowd.  With this being Little Simz first time in Atlanta I didn’t know what kind of effect it would have on her show.

After I checked in to the Media List I walked in while Go Dreamer a local Atlanta Artist/Producer was performing. The crowd was a little sparse but plenty of good energy was in the building.  Durrty Martinez was backing up Go Dreamer on the turntables  and had the crowd rocking when he dropped the track “Win Ur Weerd” a very catchy tune I enjoyed.

Next up was Chuck 20 a member of Simz Space Age Label/Crew he turned the energy up a notch.  Encouraged the crowd to embrace him for his Atlanta debut.  Quick wordplay and introspective lyrics describes Chuck 20 style.  He did a short set but definitely won over some new fans after his performance. Before Chuck exited the stage he asked the crowd if they were ready for Little Simz?  The crowd responded but he asked the crowd to get louder once again saying are you ready for Little Simz the crowd responded with a loud Yes!

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Now it’s time for the lady of the hour Little Simz.  First on the stage is DJ OTG telling the crowd before Simz enters the stage he wants to make sure they are ready.  He then proceeds to play some jams one in particular a favorite of mine the Untitled #2 track from the latest Kendrick Lamar album.  The crowd is now bubbling waiting for Simz and OTG introduces her and she walks out with a red polo cap, black shirt, black jeans a guitar on the side of the stage a microphone stand that’s it.  First she thanks the crowd for coming out on a Monday night she also makes mention that a big show is going on next door but that she came to give us a show.  The energy she provided you might have thought she was in front of a sold out crowd in Phillips Arena and the modest crowd had no choice but to get excited from her enthusiasm.

Simz went into tracks from her latest project also providing some insight about each track before performing it.  She went into the “Heart Said” track produced by Tiffany Gouche.  Next she told the crowd a story about how she would be in her apartment making music up late nights blasting her speakers.  She then explained that her neighbor Mary would be quite annoyed with her late night antics.  So rather than just being an adult about it and having a conversation with her she decided to make a song about it and put it on her album.  This was the intro to the song “God Bless Mary” with each track she increased the energy of the crowd.

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The guitar that was to the side of the stage was not just for decoration Simz picked it up to play some for a track she wrote for Bibi lourey.  Her energy never wavering she kept telling the crowd she enjoyed it being an intimate setting.  At one point she jumps off the stage and rocks right in the crowd.  Rather than pull my cell phone out and record I enjoyed her connecting with the crowd and she was literally standing next to me.  Her manager Versetti well he quickly prompted his artist to get back on the stage but she had accomplished her goal the crowd was completely in.

I forgot that it was a Monday night and the large overflow crowd that would be leaving Pusha T show.  No I was completely captivated by this lady on stage small in stature but large in energy and performance. She encouraged the crowd to turn all the way up as she went into the Savage freestyle track produced by Wondagurl.  Instructing her DJ OTG to cut the beat so she could make sure the crowd hears what she has to say with the first lines

Indecisive all year around, my Plans change without knowing shit. Dropped 10 albums all independent, dont talk to me about culture shift. They will try to do what I have done but dont think that I havent been noticing.

She walked off that stage with a roar from the crowd and she officially made sure her Atlanta debut was a success.  I spoke with her after the show where she literally took photos and spoke with nearly everyone at the venue.  Versetti her manager thanked me for coming out and the media support.  Keep your eyes open because this lady has a strong team, great work ethic, and she is only getting started!

–ArtByOdell Twitter/SoundCloud

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