Public Knowledge Records Winter Ball at No. 9

Steppin out with Chill Ms Jackson
Public Knowledge Records Winter Ball at No. 9

Out hitting the indie music scene this past weekend I had the opportunity to check out some of Upstate New York's hottest  new underground artists. When most people think of Upstate New York they think of sub zero temps and blowing snow but there was a definite heat wave hitting Watertown, NY this past Friday. Grass roots label, Public Knowledge Records held down a showcase at Club No. 9 that exceeded expectations. The venue itself is a sweet surprise. The outside of the venue looks like it could be any local pub, but inside, it's allllll class, employs a bar staff that is warm and attentive and drinks that are reasonably priced. The venue's event coordinator and promoter, Cassie Booth

also happens to have a soft spot for local hip hop artists who often are not given the opportunity to perform live in the city. According to Cassie, the No. 9's owners never intended to hold live performances but allowing local hip hop an in has brought about a notable physical transformation and "defined a club that was previously lacking an identity."

This plays out well for PKR one of two Upstate New York local music movements that frequently showcases local talent at No. 9 and other area venues. The label which is headed by CEO Jonathan Huntsman, was responsible for booking the performers, putting on the sound and coordinating the lineup. The show featured several artists from the PKR roster: Max Hammer; Special; FABE; Ronin and Ill Theory (Jonathon Huntsman) as well as some staples from the Syracuse hip hop scene: BMG's; GNetics' and Roche performed along with Round Table Entertainment's CEO and producer Uneek Beats; Exotics; Chi-Tiz and Oswego's enigmatic duo Def One and MC IQ of Enajyram.


Each act brought a unique sound to the stage and PKR artists continually brought the fire with collaborations that monopolized on the diversity of styles each performer possesses. To get a taste of the PKR catalog and other local hip hop acts check out their next two events and their bandcamp page: Individual artist links can be found in the text above.

Public Knowledge at Paddock Club March 23rd

PKR HipHop Holidaze April 20th

Public Knowledge Records on Bandcamp

Fergie Kills It at the NBA All-Stars Game As in Her Career

We all have a lane and while everyone should try something new on occasion there are certain lanes one should never travel down. For example, while I love singing, the possibility that I would ever do it anywhere outside of my shower or in my car are slim to none. Last night at the NBA All-Star game, a very sultry looking Fergie went down one such lane. In fact while I was reviewing her performance and the final high note that thankfully laid the anthem to rest, my Facebook app crashed.

Fergie has always been one of my favorite pop icons. As an entertainer she's amazing, as anthem songstress material not so much. Her version is being compared to Marilyn Monroe's, "Mr. President" or someone's drunk mom trying to act sexy which brings to mind her 2016 release of the song M.I.L.F.$. While her last album release performed only moderately well this past fall, she did actually manage to crush something and that was the memories of the notoriously bad anthem attempts made by Carl Lewis and Roseanne Bar as some of the worst anthem renditions ever. In fact, in a pretty effortless manner, Fergie managed to make last night look a little like Karaoke night at the All Stars. It's pretty safe to say that Fergie might make another billboard list this year, but it may not happen unless Billboard revises their recently released list of the 10 Worst National Anthem Performances Ever. 

I have to wonder if managing one's own music career is a good move. A good manager would have possibly stopped what looked like a bad case of career suicide and while Fergie looked great doing it in ironically an almost funeral appropriate black dress, I have to regretfully remind her, not everything is for everyone, sis.