My Favorite Performances from Q1 Part One: Q Tha Hero/ANLOH
Group projects are terrible because you have to take in the amount of different personalities, levels of investment/buy-in, and compromising with everyone looking out for their own best interests or ideas. It takes a lot to make them work. That’s the first thing I think when I see a bunch of people on a stage without an instrument of some sort. My mind instantly goes to Joseline Hernandez’s “Ho, why is you here?” clip when I see large groups on a stage together, because really - if you not rappin, playing an instrument, or even just vibing on the same level, why is you here?
Some times this works well. Our Da Function collaborator Blac Wata is organized like a cell, with each person getting their shine and bringing something different to the collective. But this isn’t so common amongst groups. Yet, when I saw ANLOH perform at the Diabolical Discs showcase I had to once again reconsider my bias against large groups.
ANLOH, standing for “a new level of high”, also a good example of collective power. Every person on staged amped the energy. No stragglers. One member even came down from Canada and the group made sure he had a grand entrance. Despite some technical issues the group commanded all areas of the stage and flowed like water.
The big question - and my large beef with groups - is where do we go from here? If you want to keep up with the group, the Instagram isn’t going to give you much help and all the good music that I heard that night isn’t anywhere yet. No Soundcloud. No Audiomack. But maybe this is exactly what it’s intended to be - a singular experience that you’re never gonna get again. I’m glad I experienced it.
You would’ve thought the Howard student was a hometown hero the way the crowd rushed to the front. The excitement for Q THA HERO matched that of many artists I’d seen at The Anthem.
Q’s expression is infectious. The hootin and hollerin, every bit of braggadocio, all the pomp - all work together to create a gravitational force that pulls you in. Anyone would act that way with a Tyler the Creator cosign, but an audience’s responding to the lyrics so in sync and prepared showed me that this couldn’t have been in response to Tyler. Building an audience takes time, but building an audience who can shout your lyrics back to you? The performance was just ahead of his album EXCELSIOR! dropped and what a way to introduce it.