Opening for B-Real & DJ Lord

The experience was surreal..

I am feeling so much gratitude for this one in a life time opportunity to open for Hip-Hop legends that are B-Real (Cypress Hill) and DJ Lord ( Public Enemy).

These two artists have informed my journey when it comes to Hip-Hop.

When it comes to my own music, Public Enemy was part of the pivotal bands which inspired me to radicalize my lyrics (the likes of 2Pac, Rage against the machine, Prophets of Rage, The Coup, Tribe Called Quest, Dälek, Dead Prez, Lauryn Hill, KRS-One, Saul Williams, M.I.A. and many more..).

I remember singing "Insane in the Brain" by Cypress Hill with my father in the car driving me back from High School. We would laugh insanely by repeating the hook over and over using all sorts of different funny voices. It ended up becoming an inside joke that we have together. My father, though not at all a Mary-Jane enthousiast, was the first person to introduce me to Cypress Hill through that song.

As an indie artist this experience was rewarding mostly due to the challenge it represented for me to push myself forward and always get out of my comfort zone.

I only had 4 days to prepare my set (mind you I had no set prepared as I'm in a recording and production phase currently) and was lucky to find a replacement DJ in Wasulu Selecta as my usual stage sista Djagacida couldn't sadly make that short a deadline.

I learned as well on this show how truly important it is to me to visualize and curate an experience that is not only for the audience but also for myself.

I can't wait to put in practice all I learned from this experience and I thank DJ Lord & B-Real for their kindness and very down to earth attitudes. Great conversations were shared and I am grateful for this now permanent memory.

The team at PTR was adorable and super reactive when it came to organizing (with special mention to Eugen who even put white roses in my backstage room and was so thoughtful and kind).

The team at the Alhambra was also super sweet from the sound/light engineers to the sécurity staff.

A big thanks as well to all the fans who came out, your beautiful smiling faces gave me the strength to overcome the stage jitters! What a beautiful way to end the year!

BIG HUG,

Sei.