Hip-hop labels are a dime a dozen in Baltimore, but the overwhelming majority are vanity imprints for one rapper/founder/CEO, with maybe a few hangers-on who appear on the posse cuts. For the People Entertainment, on the other hand, has quietly become one of the most active rap labels in the city, releasing albums or mixtapes by five of its artists--Billo, Cutthroat, Bear, Ace, and the duo Yuk and Cut--just in the past year. No single MC on the label's roster is the clear breakout star, at least at the moment. But even without the kind of radio play or industry buzz that allows the occasional local MC to headline the club room at Sonar, For the People demonstrated enough of a grass-roots following to pack the place for its "March Madness" showcase last Saturday. The night began with a long wait, which might've been more tolerable if the DJ had any fresh records, or even classics, in his crate. Instead, everything he played sounded a year-and-a-half-old--that unpleasant no man's land between current hits and old-school throwbacks. And playing Pharrell's "Can I Have It Like That" for 10 minutes straight would have been inexcusable even back when that record was new. Two of the three groups that opened the show, Kartel and Bmore Real, subscribed to the popular method of stuffing a dozen people onstage and having them shout every line in unison, regardless of whose verse it is. As an approach, it has its merits--like, you know, everybody's a winner. But it's not the best way to get acquainted with an up-and-coming crew, and only one MC, Kartel's Shakean da Analyst, displayed enough charisma to stand out from either pack. And because of Sonar's tendency to mix the vocals a bit too high, the beat often got so buried that it took a few minutes to realize that the guys onstage were actually rhyming over a song you've heard on the radio every day for the last six months. By contrast, a duo by the name of the Weak took the stage with no hypemen and no fanfare, just a couple of dudes in jeans and winter coats, and put on a substantially more enjoyable show. All of the artists on For the People collaborate as a crew called Squadre Committee, but instead of taking the strength-in-numbers approach onstage, each artist had a brief solo set. First up was Cutthroat, a Puerto Rican rapper with a penchant for political lyrics. Killing the house lights and hanging a lantern onstage, he started his set off on a dramatic note with "Exquisite," a quietly intense track from his 2006 album Words Can't Explain It. Unfortunately, Cutthroat's earnest approach doesn't easily connect with crowds, and label mate Billo, with his "Hood Rock Star" swagger, got a better response. Though Billo started off with the introspective "Going Through Some Things," where he declares "Don't ask me why my raps ain't on that club tip, shit/ This is real life, fuck if ya can't dance to this," he spent most of his time running through generic club rockers like "Prada Shoes" and "Stand Up Guy." And as the evening progressed, the collabos and posse cuts began to blur together, once again making it hard to distinguish who was onstage at any given moment. After FTP wrapped up, there were still a few acts in the wings, including Skarr Akbar introducing a solo set by one of his many protégés, Al Great of the group Alevan. By that point, though, serious ringing in the ears from Sonar's vocal-heavy mix made the decision to not stick around that much easier.
