9.4.2016: Back & Forth 2016 US Club Tour: Los Angeles

This was my first ever Korean Hip Hop event that I have ever been to, so I really didn’t know that to expect. The event was held by an Independent Korean Hip Hop music company called, AOMG. AOMG features artists like: Jay Park (Founder), Simon Dominic (CEO), Hoody, GRAY, Loco, Ugly Duck, ELO, and various others. The club event was at Club Bound in K-Town, which I didn’t know existed even though I have been in K-Town so many times I have never seen the venue before. Anyways, so a friend and I went to this event around 9:30 to wait in line. I was actually nervous, because I didn’t know what to expect when I went in. so I asked myself: What would the venue be like inside? Will the music be good? and other similar questions. When 10:00 came around and the bouncers started letting people in, you could not COMPREHEND how excited I was. The venue was really nice on the inside, beautiful cream sofas and tables surrounded the dancefloor and DJ booth. Throughout the night, even if you were in the back of the venue sitting down you felt like you were still part of the event, because the venue was smaller than some of the larger clubs in LA. The event started off with people trickling in, and there was so much space on the dancefloor when the first DJ’s set started. DJ Son was the first DJ and he was very good, there was a perfect mix of Hip Hop and Trap music. The second DJ was the headliner, DJ Pumpkin. At this point it was a little later in the evening, and the dancefloor started to fill up with people. DJ Pumpkin’s set was good as well, by mixing old and new hip hop with a taste of EDM, really set the mood for the rest of the night. All of the sudden during DJ Pumpkin’s set; there was a lot more screaming and pushing happening on the dancefloor. I honestly couldn’t see what was going on, but when I looked in the sitting area by the DJ booth Simon Dominic (Rapper) was standing up there taking pictures. It was so cool to actually see him in person, and it seemed unreal.

Later, Ugly Duck (Rapper) came and was relaxing in the sitting area by the DJ booth, which was really cool as well. The other DJs were good as well; DJ Wegun had a more old school hip hop set while DJ spray was similar to DJ Pumpkin and DJ Son’s Hip Hip/Trap/EDM sets. Overall, I had a great experience. One of the things that amazed me is the diversity that I saw when I was there. Besides the Korean Fans, there was a mix of African Americans, Hispanics and Caucasian fans as well. Thus, shows that music in general is for everyone to enjoy and love, which is a beautiful thing.

9.5.2016 Reddy (Hi-Lite Records) “First Los Angeles Show”

First, this has been the first time that I went to two club events back to back before. I don’t regret going at all, but at school the next day I felt like I was dying (haha). I had been a fan of Reddy since he was on the Rap Show “Show me the money”. So when I heard that he was coming to Los Angeles. I absolutely HAD to go and see him. The event was held at Los Globos on Sunset Boulevard, and again I’ve driven down that street and never saw the place before. When I got there I was so excited to see Reddy and other artists like; Killagramz and Kero One. While standing in line, I look towards the front of the line and I see Brian Hirano from the Dance Crew, Quest Crew. Internally, as a lover of dance, I was freaking out internally that he was there. When it was 9:30, we were finally able to go in and the venue was perfect for the show. The inside was rustic and wooden, with a bar in the back. Even though the bar, dance floor, and stage were in one room there was plenty of room to move around in. The show was pretty good there were a few artists that I kind of didn’t care for as much. However, Killagramz tore the place up in his set (as expected). Kero One had an amazing set and setting the mood with his old school hip hop style. Then the headliner Reddy came on stage, he spoke in Korean most of the time asking the audience if they knew the songs he was performing and how grateful he was to be in Los Angeles. The highlight of his performance was that he would perform his newest song that he released the day after called, Ocean View (CHECK IT OUT!!). After the show ended, my friend and I were leaving the venue to head home and Reddy was just standing outside taking pictures with people and talking to fans. So being the fan girl that I am, I had to take a picture with him.

Then, as my friend and I are trying to walk to my car, we see Dumbfoundead/ Parker (LA based Rapper) outside as well, and I was super excited and we were able to take pictures with him as well.

These two events were the highlight of my Labor Day/ birthday weekend. I had so much fun those two days, and I will definitely go to more events like these in the future.

이따 봐요/itta bwayo/See you later,

Brea