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The Mesa Press

The Mesa Press

The independent student news site of San Diego Mesa College.

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The Mesa Press

The Mesa Press

RJ at the beach rocks the Belly

The artist best known for his sampling and his instrumentals commonly used by other artists has changed his style a bit . At the Belly Up Tavern in Solano Beach on Sunday may 13 RjD2 and opener Pigeon John played to a standing room only audience.

Pigeon opened the show in an exuberant fashion which is a common theme throughout his performance. The band included Pigeon as the front man with a drummer on a simple snare, bass and simble setup and DJ with two tables.

Entertainment to a variety of the senses. Visually his presence on stage is almost overwhelming. There was no piece of stage untouched by his free-flow flailing that almost seemed choreographed. Drenched in sweat it is was clear that his all was given. Wether you like his music or not at the very least his exuberance entertaining.

Both highly influenced by hip-hop and R&B the rift between both RJ and pigeon could be felt by the fans in attendance. Though Thoroughly enthused by both, one could not help but notice which fans belonged to who and which were prepared for RJ’s new sound.

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In earlier shows RJs performances could be summed up as trip hop, DJing, and sampled funk beats with little to no vocals. The stage would commonly be filled with simply him and his turntables. The latest avenue that he has taken introduces many more instruments ,a full band and more lyrics.

“I feel that RJ’s new sound and old sound greatly benefit from his use of a full band and more instruments.” said Zack Gaferdie , a fan at the show. ” I wasn’t aware of how well and how many instruments he could play.”

RJs new setup consisted of a full band . RJ leads with turntable and guitar, drum and bass provide the beat and keyboard added to the rythum.

In the spirit of trying to keep the show a good mixture of old and new material many of his electronic compilations were played with the band. The show also included a section of strictly turntables with visual que’s in the background. Sections of full band and lone turntables flow together semlessly showing the musicians attention to time and beat.

Even though RJand his band didn’t dance or posture as much as much as their opener pigeon the movement on stage was probably equivalent. Each band member had at least three different things going on at one time . the result was a rich full bodied sound.

The evening was a fine example of new paths that hip hop is taking . One of the forerunners honing this undeveloped sound is RJD2.

“The venue was intimate the crowd was eclectic and the tunes were impeccable,” said concert gower wade peppers as he reluctantly left the venue as it closed.

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