My, what an interesting environment Backspace provided this past First Thursday. An invite arrived in my inbox from Start Fires—an “anti-system electro rap” group—detailing the time and location. Since there was nothing else on my agenda, I figured I’d accept and turn out.

As we entered, an indie-looking kid in corduroy was on stage. It looked like he was clearing out before the next act, and I was a bit bummed I had missed the indie rock portion of the night (as I would have enjoyed the variety, I thought to myself). Within minutes, I realized that I had indeed not missed the indie kid, and that he indeed was not an indie rocker, but a hip-hop performer.

In front of a row of five or so die-hard fans that jumped when he jumped and fist-pumped when he fist pumped, Improv Logic—the skinny indie kid—moved about the stage both freestyling and rapping pre-written verses, backed by a DJ wearing a Kangol hat.

Aside from those five fans, though, the audience’s reaction to the Portland MC was rather mixed. When I turned to face the crowd, I noticed that others’ expressions ranged from blank to comically confused. One disgruntled audience member shouted out “Are you proud of that?” at the end of one of his songs. Improv Logic responded “Yeah, I’m proud of this,” at which point his disciples yelled back “as he should be!” The questions promptly left with Logic’s “friend”, who was shaking his head all the way out the door as the hip-hop flowed on.

Links:
Improv Logic-space
Backspace

Photos by Nilina Mason-Campbell