Bigger dreams fill up empty seats at hip-hop concert

“I see a lot of empty seats… but it only means that there’s more room for us to grow,” said hip-hop artist Mike Swift, the brains behind Araneta Dreams, a hip-hop concert held April 9.

He apologized to a lot of people for the slight lack of organization, especially behind the scenes, admitting that they are “rookies” because it was the first and most ambitious hip-hop concert they’ve organized.

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Yet, bringing together everyone in the hip-hop community to Araneta Coliseum was a risk well worth taking and a dream come true for the organizers.

Platform for new rap talents

Gloc-9, Jay-R, Urban Flow, Quest, Pow Chavez, Mike Kosa were among the many who performed that night in support of the dream. A vision he held for years and to some impossible to achieve, Mike Swift still managed to produce a showcase of all the great artists in the Pinoy hip-hop. He also got to introduce another platform for new Rap Battle talents to find their voice.

One of the highlights of the evening was the Rap Battle Sunugan between the Philippines and the US. The host described this battle as “World War 3” because it was between the best of the best in rap. People waited until the end of the show just to see the duels between Loonie vs. Dizaster and Batas vs. Swave Sevah.

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I was curious to see how our local wordsmiths would weave their way in English, because Tagalog had always been the main language in previous local rap battles.

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Right before the first duel with Swave Sevah, Batas had a big smile on his face. He said it was the first time he had the crowd on his side, having been notoriously dissed and dismissed for being too vulgar in his previous rap battles online.

MTV hip-hop champion Dizaster, having been in the Philippines for a week prior to the show, used his knowledge of the Philippines and a few Tagalog words to his advantage. He even got a tattoo of the Philippine flag, which he showed everyone during the battle.

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Loonie, on the other hand, had a surplus of strong words and went beyond his allotted time, showing Dizaster he was unfazed by the champion.

Ogie Alcasid, Ka Freddie give full support

The hip-hop community, believed to be a very insular group, proved that night that the interconnection of local music scene. OPM ambassador Ogie Alcasid expressed his support for this scene and performed that evening with Urban Flow to open the concert proper.

Freddie Aguilar, who had performed that night alongside his sons Jonan and Jeriko, said he was a long-time friend of concert organizer Mike Swift. He recounted how years ago Mike had told him about this dream of putting together the whole hip-hop community in a large-scale concert and that even back then he had given his full support to Mike’s vision.

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To reinforce the fusion of hip hop with other forms of music, rap metal pioneers Greyhoundz took the stage. The band’s home court production Barangay Tibay, usually hosts the bands Sultans of Snap, a metal band headed by Batas.

Manila Symphony Orchestra backed up rap battle

The group Stick Figgas, with emcees Loonie and Ron Henley, performed with all-star rock musicians Kat Agarrado of SinoSikat and Queso’s Tuts Calinawan and Biboy Garcia.

It was also surprising to have Manila Symphony Orchestra play along with some of the artists who sang that evening. They even backed up the Battle Royal competitors when they slung words at each other, using classical instruments to inspire the rappers’ rhyme and meter.

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Right before the show ended, Mike Swift, who said that the event was one of the highlights of his life, proposed to his long-time girlfriend who was in the crowd. It was heartwarming moment, especially because the event had always been a personal one for Mike and the scene he had dreamed of uniting.

Maintaining the scene

Araneta Dreams may have fallen short of its live reception compared to how strong it was online, yet the crowd’s energy was more than enough to fill the whole venue. This was an initiative that had to be taken.

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If anything, the concert was an example of the possibilities that needed to be mined. It showed how the massive support that the hip-hop scene gets online deserves to be translated to a live one. In the process, one hopes that it can create a consistently flowing economy that will be able to sustain and maintain a scene.

Based on the show that evening, it was clear that a grand venue was needed to get this going and showed everyone just how large a spotlight the Pinoy hip-hop community deserves.