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On February 5th, Youth Radio, in collaboration with i2i and OutLoud Radio, hosted the first Bites & Beats of the year! The event was entitled “Let’s Rhyme About Love.” The theme of the evening was Teen Dating Violence Awareness. To start the night off right, DJ Imperial played some old school hyphy music to get the energy flowing and fill the time between performances, while the audience grabbed food made by Youth Radio’s CHEF Department.
The opening act was “Sincerely”, performed by Queen Tut and Sunshine. The two put on a great show while allowing the audience to fill in parts of the chorus “I love you, but I love me too”. After another set by DJ Imperial, Sunshine came back on stage alone to sing three of her original songs, “Sunshine”, “Sound Check”, and “How Does it Feel”. As she moved from one song to another the energy in the room changed with her tone.
The next performance was by Goddess Queen Goddess, Annie, and rapper Jeremiah. Goddess Queen Goddess later went on stage to recite her original poem “Hidden Love”, and the songs “Finding My LIfe” and “We Dream”. She ended her performance with a rap/freestyle which resulted in many members of the audience rushing to the floor to turn up. Host Takiyah later said “I was getting hyphy, and that song was lit”.
At this point, the energy in the room was full on HYPHY when DJ Imperial played “Feelin’ Myself” by Mac Dre. One member of the audience, Kyle remarked on DJ Imperial’s playlist saying “She uses the genres relevant to the environment. She has a really good way of using tone to fit the mood, and people can talk or dance while she plays her music”. In what was to be the last performance of the night, Jaala and Rishah performed a cover of Nicki Minaj’s “Grand Piano” together; with Jalah on vocals and Rishah spitting hot fire!
However, in a special sneak peek of next month’s Bites & Beats, two members of the House of Harbinger went on stage and smoothly passed the jobs of freestyling and beat boxing. All in all, this Bites & Beats included great performances and delicious food. The first of many to come. This month we rhymed about love but next month we’re getting turnt up!