THE NIGHT STUFF
Connect 4 about all things hip-hop
By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Entertainment Writer
 |
| Connect 4 at the Velvet Lounge offers live alternative hip-hop, open mike, live freestyle, b-boy/b-girl acrobatics and more. Below, patrons try some flow on the crowd during an open-mike rotation.
Photos by Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser |
 |
 |
| DJ Risup (Bronson Kaleialoha) spins crowd-pleasing sounds, including jazz-infused hip-hop. |
That was the battle cry voiced from behind the turntables and mikes throughout the night at Connect 4. It came from the mouths of emcees, DJs, poets, musicians and anyone else with access to a mike.
And everyone else? Well, they just made sure hip-hop actually got its props.
Connect 4 is a pocket of sublime cool in Honolulu's fertile underground hip-hop scene. A wholly unpretentious weekly celebrating O'ahu hip-hop culture and the myriad art forms and talents within it, Connect 4's mellow and positive vibe welcomes everyone from purists to those with even a passing interest in the culture.
Striving to offer its patrons a bit of everything — live alternative hip-hop, open mike, live freestyle, spoken word, b-boy/b-girl acrobatics, turntablists — Connect 4 amazingly comes off feeling neither overreached nor overstuffed.
Connect 4 was still slowly filling with patrons when I arrived 'round 11 p.m. Inside, a few were scribbling illegibly on a graffiti wall over a jazz-infused hip-hop beat from DJ Risup. Soft red lighting blanketed the first floor, casting a somewhat sinister glow over the otherwise calm proceedings.
With Velvet Lounge's upstairs loft opening up at 11:30, I staked a spot overlooking the increasingly crowded performance area below. B-boys, b-girls and patrons of the art form quickly seized control of the loft and its large wood-panel floor, near oblivious to all activity below except for the beat.
A twentysomething woman, her face lightly dusted with freckles, who had been alternately studying the upstairs moves with her boyfriend and watching me scribble, approached. She was wearing a tight Rocawear tee over jeans and a pair of old Nikes. Auburn pigtails peeked from beneath her skull cap.
"You gonna do some open mike?" she asked, eyes on my note pad.
Um, I was thinking about it, I lied.
"You should do it from here," she said, placing a hand over her heart. "Not there."
After again trying to steal a glance at my notes, she gave up and peered over the ledge at freestyle collective 12 Inch Species setting up below. She smiled goodbye and walked back to her boyfriend.
I felt suddenly guilty for lying.
12 Inch started throwing down some vicious freestyle over smooth jazz and hip-hop beats near midnight. The crowd downstairs gathered closer to the stage. Pockets of dancers grooved within.
The members of 12 Inch wisely gave well-deserved props to current parties (Trip The Lights) and long-gone venues (Hesham's Studio) that have championed Honolulu's underground hip-hop scene. Fifteen minutes of open-mike rotations followed, with patrons — some good, some not so good, all of 'em passionate — quickly stepping up to try some flow on the crowd.
Spoken-word artists from First Thursdays' Hawaii Slam Team — including Kealoha, Selah and Intrepid — next offered intelligent, well-crafted verse that moved the crowd. Post 1 a.m., hip-hop collective Microscopic Syllables matched smooth verbal flow to a live beat until the wee hours.
Give it up for Connect 4.
Reach Derek Paiva at 525-8005 or dpaiva@honoluluadvertiser.com.
• • •
WHAT: Connect 4.
WHERE: Velvet Lounge, 327 Keawe St., 561-4852.
WHEN: 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Thursdays.
OUR ARRIVAL/DEPARTURE: 11 p.m./1:15 p.m.
COVER: $6.
YOUNGER THAN 21 OK?: Yes.
AGE OF CROWD: 20s — 30s.
WHAT TO WEAR: Go casual. Also spotted: polos, hip-hop attire, sports jerseys, hoodies, skull caps, ball caps, jeans, tanks, tees and one plaid jacket.
PEAK CROWD WHILE THERE: 250 to 300.
QUEUE?: No.
THE SOUNDTRACK: DJ'ed underground hip-hop, live freestyle, spoken word, live alternative hip-hop.
BATHROOM ATTENDANT HOLDING PAPER TOWELS HOSTAGE?: No.
WHAT'S IN A NAME?: Connect 4 refers to promoter D43's theory of the four elements of hip-hop (b-boy/b-girl, art, emcees, DJs); not the Milton-Bradley board game.
CONNECT 4 ROTATING DJ COLLECTIVES INCLUDE: Lightsleepers, Direct Descendants, Audiolab.
TRIP THE LIGHTS: Next edition, "Crazy Eights: A Dedication To '80s Hip Hop Era," 10 p.m.-2 a.m. Feb. 20 at Studio 1; $5.
• • •
Night notes ...
Expect some earthy poetic flow when Bay Area underground hip-hop collective Living Legends bring its entire crew to Wave Waikiki on Thursday. Much-respected pioneers of the San Francisco hip-hop scene, the Legends — PSC, Sun Spot Jonz, Eligh, Grouch, Scarub, Murs, Bicasso and Asop — also are one of the city's most defiantly independent.
Choosing to eschew major label representation in favor of taking care of business on its own terms, Living Legends have still managed to build a catalogue of more than 30 collective and solo CDs. Advance tickets are $20-$25; $30 at the door. The show starts at 9 p.m.; more information at 946-7773.
Noted Boston-based producer/DJ/remixer Joe Bermudez gets behind the tables for two shows at Hula's Bar & Lei Stand this weekend. Bermudez has assumed remix duties for Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Pink and Aretha Franklin. His most recent projects include remixes of Kelly Clarkson's "The Trouble With Love" and Hilary Duff's "So Yesterday." At 9 p.m. Saturday; 4 p.m. Sunday. For more information, phone 923-0669. He also spins at Wave Waikiki Saturday night, in an event that includes DJ Gdog and Missing Dave, from 9 p.m. For 21 and older. 941-0424.
