Thursday at SXSW was, for me, predominately about hip hop. I started off way earlier than Wednesday, with my first stop being Crisp on 6th Street for a showcase. I saw a lot of new faces, including Alaskan rapper Baked Alaska, who rapped about climbing mountains and the trap… Grizzly Bear trap, that is. While I couldn’t necessarily relate, at least he wasn’t lying.

I moved on shortly after down 6th Street, where I made another fun discovery in The Obvious!, who were  midway through a very authentic sounding Nirvana cover. I checked out the rest of their set, and it’s safe to say I’ll be looking them up once I get back to Milwaukee.

From then on, I just sort of wandered throughout Austin for the day. I don’t have an official badge, so I’ve been sifting through free parties as I go. I also don’t usually set plans, which from what I’ve heard is the way to go at SXSW. I watched street performances, including a twerking lion mascot, plenty of bucket drummers, and eventually made my way to the Pandora Discovery Den, where I caught Oakland funk-rock hybrid The Coup. With a very energetic performance, I would definitely recommend checking out their live show if you can. I hope that translates to record, as well.

I finished off the night at the Coast 2 Coast live showcase, where I got to see dozens of rappers try to impress a panel of producers from one song apiece. There was some good, some bad, but most importantly, Chicago duo Super Fresh Bros. and fellow Chicagoan Breezy killed it. They were who I came to see at that showcase, and they made it worth the trip. I closed out the night with their show, a visit to a rooftop Sony party on 4th & Colorado, and the most expensive cab ride of my life around 1:30 AM. Learned a lesson on that one…

No idea what Friday has in store for me, but you won’t find out until Saturday, unless you follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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