On Saturday April 25th, The High Definition Society invaded New York City’s legendary ALIFE Rivington Club for Laelo’s #DTPHTM album release party. The event started around 5pm with DJ J-Scrilla & DJ RBI taking turns spinning some dope hip-hop to warm up the crowd. By 5:30 the ALIFE courtyard was packed with a diverse crowd of music lovers. They all were enjoying free beer and waiting in anticipation to see this buzzing underground rapper from DC they had heard about. The show started around 6 o’clock with Real Life Kaz taking on the hosting duties. He introduced the opening acts starting with Sm City, followed by Dubwork then Awthentik. The crowd was definitely feeling the vibe of the show. As people started to get a little looser and smoke began to feel the air, Kaz took to the mic around 7pm to introduce the headline act. He performed almost a dozen songs over about 45 minutes and gave the crowd at ALIFE one hell of a show! Laelo performs his records with passion, even spitting a few acapella verses through-out the set. You can tell he means and believes everything he utters. He was accompanied on stage for most of the set by Mela Machinko who has records with hip-hop greats the likes of Joe Budden, Rapsody, Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch and more. She sang most of the hooks for Laelo during the show. It gave the set a consistent feel and sound which was great. Laelo was also joined on stage by rappers Rob Regal, X-Kal, Awthentik and R&B singer, Paradise. Needless to say, by the end of the show Laelo had captivated a New York crowd with his music and made a bunch of new fans. After the performance Laelo stuck around to sign autographs, take pictures and party with the fans and tastemakers that came to see him perform. All-in-all it was a fun and entertaining event with no interruptions, delays or foul ups. Laelo is a great performer and makes meaningful songs. His brand new album “Deeper Than Plenty, Higher Than Most” is a must have if you are a fan of real emceeing and great production. Make sure you go check it out.
