Solemn Brigham.
Solemn Brigham: connecting with each individual in the crowd.
Before rap artists topped the charts and could sell out arenas, they were playing shows in any space that would take them — backyard barbecues, cramped basements, rec center cafeterias. Plenty of fans would argue that’s still the best way to hear a new emcee or catch a DJ set. You can hear an emcee’s every word, look performers in the eye, see them sweat. That’s exactly the experience a new performance series called the Black Box Sessions is trying to create: rap shows that are up close and personal. The series, held in the intimate Play Circle Theater at the UW Memorial Union, is named after its simple dark stage.
Last month’s inaugural act was Sa-Roc, an emcee known for her pursuit of social change and empowerment as well as her lyrical prowess and mic skills. The sessions continue through March.
In planning the series, the goal was to mimic “an intimate, club atmosphere,” says Kate Schwartz, artist services manager for the Wisconsin Union Theater. The close-quarters feel of the Play Circle is “definitely about bringing it back to the roots of the genre,” Schwartz says, adding that “underground hip-hop is referred to as underground because it literally was in basements for a long time.”
That term “underground” also speaks to the style and musical content of the artists being brought in for the Black Box Sessions. Schwartz, Elizabeth Snodgrass, director of Wisconsin Union Theater, and an advisory board of undergraduate students picked the rap acts for the series with this in mind.
“These shows are great for the hip-hop-curious and folks who have never been to a rap show before,” Schwartz says. “You can walk in and not feel intimidated. You will be welcomed. It will feel like walking into a living room that’s also like a club.”
To that end, the Black Box Sessions even has its own signature drink. Named the “Mic Check,” it’s a mix of ginger ale with pineapple and lime juice; for those of age and wanting alcohol, vodka can be added.
“We want to present those who are on their way [up] and exhibiting a talent that is on the level of the best,” says Snodgrass. “And we want to make sure that we’re upholding our values of social change, social justice, and supporting the activism that can come through the arts.”
Up next is the Jan. 30 show of North Carolina emcee Solemn Brigham, who will perform tracks from his Marlowe project, a duo with producer L’Orange (who won’t be performing at the Union).
Self-described as “a bricolage blending prohibition and civil rights-era samples with Asian psychedelic rock flourishes,” Brigham is excited to bring the Marlowe sound to Wisconsin for the first time and says the venue syncs up well with his style.
“A lot of rap shows you go to will be big with large crowds where you’re looking at thousands of people — that’s really good for energy,” he says. “But when you’re in a room with a couple hundred people, you can actually connect with each individual a bit more. You can be a little bit more personable and I can show the audience a bit more of me.
“I usually have bits of my show where I try to get the audience involved,” Brigham adds, noting he likes the audience to feel “like they’re part of a party.”
For his upcoming show, Brigham plans to showcase some of Marlowe’s deepest, most retrospective tracks like “Lost Arts,” a fast-rapped journey full of resilience and determination stretched over a guitar loop, and “Future Power Sources,” which delves into self-expression and finding confidence over sample and scratch-heavy production.
He’s going to throw in a few surprises too.
“Unfortunately, L’Orange won’t be there, but we’ll have my DJ and some live instrumentation — some drums — to add onto those beats. The show’s going to incorporate some storytelling and will be high energy. We’re trying to reach people on a deeper level.”
Brigham is working on a new album and is “excited to share one or two of those songs with the audience and get some feedback — the first human beings ever hearing them will be at that venue!”
Old school heads (like me) will be treated to rap veterans Smif-N-Wessun on Feb. 13. The duo from the so-called Golden Era of hip-hop of the early- to mid-1990s is known for hardcore rhymes and gritty, stripped-down beats. Rounding out the series, Ghanaian-American rapper Blackway will bring his Afrobeat-rap fusion and high-energy tracks to the small stage on March 6. Ticket information is at the Wisconsin Union website at union.wisc.edu.
