In an attempt to push all things District, the Washington, D.C. Economic Partnership (or We DC) now showcases its local music talent as cultural ambassadors for the city and region. The talent isn’t in question. Neither was stacking its SXSW showcase with DC Loves Dilla as the closer. Or at least it shouldn’t have been.
DC Loves Dilla is a collective of like-minded rap artists covering various J Dilla (James Yancey) productions, which has spawned an eponymous concert series dedicated to his greatness. The ATX show featured up-and-coming wordsmiths Ra the MC, Awthentik, and Toine. The talented Players, a rhythm section and two DJs, served as backing band.
The night’s featured act, aside from the late Detroit producer’s presence, was rapper/producer Oddisee, who had just whipped the crowd into a thick lather with a dominating performance. Unfortunately for the DC Loves Dilla set, the underrated MC effectually served as the headliner of the showcase, which created tangible suffocation for the following mash-up.
That’s not to say the faction failed to produce some fireworks.
“Stop,” from Dilla’s classic Donuts, was a well-executed cover of the same Dionne Warwick vocal/music sample Yancey previously chopped to perfection. Ra the MC set the Roots’ “Dynamite!” ablaze with her spitfire lyrics. Appropriately, Dilla’s mother, Maureen “Ma Dukes” Yancey, provided a heartfelt message to close out the evening.
Complete SXSW Music coverage at austinchronicle.com/sxsw/music.
This article appears in March 13 • 2015.
