Writers, Brand / Business Owners, Singers, Rappers, Poets, Teachers, Instrumentalists, Stylists, Fashion Models, Painters, Church Kids, Lovers, Stoners, and your Average Joes and Janes. This is the expected audience in attendance of an Emmit James tour, particularly a show like the one we saw this past weekend. Starting at the beginning of February when the flyer for the “Too Cold 2 Tour” Milwaukee date and lineup was dropped with those lovely words “Ms. Mocha presents: ...” and we read the names that followed, this show had been well anticipated. LA, where he had been living for several years now since his move from The Mil’, was hit first.
Immediately after, James took it to the Midwest where most of his touring will take place. At the midpoint of his tour run, we were eased with the drop of his cozy “Yarnigan” sweaters and a media parody, “EMJAY NEWS” mid-tour recap on instagram. On the night of the 19th in Milwaukee, Company Brewing had so many revered artists in the room who were ready to see this show, it was amazing. Truth be told, although people did come to see Emmit James, his superstar lineup is what we've been waiting to see in action altogether.
Even the Artists themselves like Nile, who said that there was a standard of professionalism that inspired him to keep on his toes that night, could not help but to acknowledge the weight of the other names on the bill. He is without a doubt one with many eyes on him in the Hip~Hop scene here and after he, following the classic spins of DJ Freakish Nerd, ignited the stage with singles from his latest drop Free Lunch, he gave us some insight on what's to come next.
N: I'm preparing for the Free Lunch Deluxe… ‘free lunch’ means so many different things to a kid from Milwaukee from the MPS lunches to someone with dreams and ambitions and goals. I just want to continue pushing the idea of ‘food for thought…’ That's what I want you to take away; your own experience. I want you to enjoy the Free Lunch experience over and over again. There's just a lot more to do. I'm not done.
As mentioned, R&B Singer / Songwriter and Producer B~Free brought the femininity, musicality, and technicality that Emmit James remembers to particularly include on his sets. From her unquestionable vocal talent to the live demonstration of her production skills (she produces her own shit), B~Free is a true artist and confirms so through her admiration for the outcome of the show itself.
BF: I think it is very well balanced… I've planned a lot of shows in my day and one of the things that I used to get aggravated about was piling up a whole bunch of people on the bill and not having a lot of care being put into who goes behind whom; ‘Do these acts match? Do their energies blend well with one another?’ I feel that the balance [here] is super super dope because Freakish Nerd has everything at his disposal to spin and then you get the hardcore Hip-Hop with Nile, and then I’m that transitional piece by taking a bit of that Soul and Hip-Hop edge that Nile has and bringin’ it in a bit more mellow and R&B. Then Em is the perfect culmination of all of that so I think that he did a really good job with being thoughtful with putting this lineup together and I’m thankful to be a part of it.
Album on the Way!
Lastly, After an already successful night, and a long time away from home, Emmit gives us Emmit; Hip~Hop, live instrumentation, witty innuendos, and a surprise performance from Fellow House of Renji member, Genesis Renji. As the music scene continues to climb the ladder to quality marketing, collaboration, and the element of performing, the standard for musical showcasing in Milwaukee is seen through productions like this.
/CW: I'm assuming that these are some of your favorite artists.. What as a fellow artist speaks to you?
EJ: Authenticity. People just being themselves. There's a lot of dope artists here, rappers, R&B singers, a bunch of dope people, so eventually as I come here more and more Imma try to put more people on the bill.
/CW: I noticed that your set especially had live instrumentation, other than B~Free. Does that speak to how you relate to them as an artist or was that just all natural?
EJ: Just natural. I always like to play with a band if I can. That's actually prefered. The last time we played here, I had a full band but if I'm being transparent, I paid a lot of people. So I was like let me shrink it and then that way I can pay the people on the bill a lot more… It's rare that I don't use a live instrument, I've done it on this tour in Chicago, but if I can have an instrument or an instrumentalist, I will… I played with a trumpet player a couple months ago and I was like ‘I don't know why I haven't been playing with a trumpet player..’ so I was just on facebook like ‘Yo does anybody know a trumpet player?’ and then people looked out and tagged people…
And there it is. Won’t He Do It! /Naomi-Re’a for CW
