The decks started spinning at 20.
Some sweet R&B songs mixed with old school Dre style hip hop introduced the rap to come, trap was also in Juju Rogers’ DJ’s repertoire. The real muthaphuckkin’ G’s started to bang their heads in the audience while waiting for Umse.
Magnolia from Playboi Carti was showing the broad spectrum of the DJ when Juju Rogers (the opening act) came out. His low speed R&B trappy rap with a lot of “ja ja” and “hey hey yo” brought the audience back from their head banging to a slow sway. The cheering from the crowd was heard only when Umse’s name came out of his mouth.
It’s not about the beginning or the end but about the ride, and what a ride Umse gave us.
The main trio finally stepped on stage. The DJ tried the speakers with a single kick drum and the hour and a half of sweet ass hip hop began filling the room. “Bescheid”, the first song of the touring album (Durch die Wolkendecke) is the way to start when you’re not in a rush, when the stage is cold and the night is long. It’s not about the beginning or the end but about the ride, and what a ride Umse gave us.
No jumping, yelling nor “yo yo mic check” came from the stage, only lyrics and heavenly smooth sensations from R&B jazzy samples. When there is a lot to say there’s no time for “hey hey yo”.
When there is a lot to say there’s no time for “hey hey yo”.
The first songs were the prologue to “Feiert Das”, the first climax. In between songs you could just hear “Dankeschön” and then “hit the beat DJ”. The brasses caressed the walls of Festsaal Kreuzberg with colorful positive vibes. “Der tag ist mein Freund” finished chilling the air and a Berliner Luft bottle appeared in the DJ’s desk, one for you, one for them, all for Berlin, Prost!
After the Pfeffi pause, the beats turned darker and reached lower with “Bruce Banner” and “Mach das Kleine groß”, a song that makes a drum break repeat until it makes a melody which then is turned into a base beat. Another Pfeffi shot, this one just for the DJ.
The beat is the MC’s house and this house is home for Umse, he knows its rooms well. The trio built a comfortable place for them to live in and took ‘em years, you can feel it when you see them play live. No jumping nor yelling onomatopoeic crap, there’s a lot to say, no time to waste.
No jumping nor yelling onomatopoeic crap, there’s a lot to say, no time to waste.
So much to be said that they had to put together a mashup made of trimmed songs not to leave the fans hanging. Your song would be played, or at least a small part of it, and that’s how the encore started. An encore of 20 minutes that ended in a dancing peak. When the fans thought they had played for a long of time, the trio answered with a song made of amnesic addictive powder that yelled: dance and forget.
Exhausted and satisfied, us and them, a last “Tschüss” or “ Ciao” reverberated in the room. It cannot be well remembered because of the dream-like sensation and the amnesic effect. it was a simple goodbye. No drama, they’ll be around for a while for sure.
Photo by Robert Winter
