Playback’s a bitch

>> Hip Hop Karaoke is the new open mic, and Kool G Graf and Sagewondah are bringing it to Montreal

by SCOTT C

Although a recent look at some generic karaoke song lists included 2Pac’s “California Love” and Afroman’s “Because I Got High,” MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice and Young MC are still dominating the shortlist of hip hop tracks available to amateur MCs. Hip Hop Karaoke, on the other hand, offers a wide variety of rap classics, new stuff and, in the case of Montreal, a serious helping of French tracks for prospective performers to choose from.

New Yorker Jason Newman founded the original Hip Hop Karaoke back in 2004, along with his buddies DJ Wex and Josh Diggedy, after attending a punk and metal karaoke event at a bar on the Lower East Side of NYC. On Tuesday night, Montreal joins New York, Toronto and several other international cities in launching its very own monthly hip hop karaoke night, an amazingly simple concept that has attracted enthusiastic audiences everywhere it’s been introduced. The Mirror spoke to Montreal organizers Sagewondah and Kool G Graf about passing the mic to the people.

Mirror: How did you guys originally find out about this Hip Hop Karaoke thing, and decide you wanted to do it in Montreal?

Kool G Graf: I approached Sage with the idea a while ago, thinking it would be a great party with a good vibe. I actually Googled it and found out it was already being done in London and New York, and after a quick e-mail to them, saying that I wanted to do it here in Montreal, they gave us their support. They asked that we keep them posted with the progress.

M: So you didn’t have to fall in line with the way things were being done in New York?

KGG: No. Basically, we only have a loose MySpace relationship with Hip Hop Karaoke New York, and we’re very curious to see where this might go in a few months. Our song list will include not only a wide range of hip hop classics, but Montreal hip hop classics and club tracks, as well as crunk and new-school Dirty South hits.

Sagewondah: New York’s list seemed to be focusing on classics, but we’d like to appeal to everyone, so we’re including a little bit more. As long as people get hype and have fun with it, we’ll include as much as we can.

Sign-up of the timely

M: I look at this as a really fun way to reintroduce a lot of tracks that people may have forgotten, or don’t even know about in the first place, while putting new shit right alongside it.

S: Well, we’re starting small, and we’ll see how people respond.

M: I guess it’s all about the song list. People will have no problem letting you know what songs they want to see on that list.

S: That’s it. All of the songs that we have so far have been transferred from vinyl to Serato, so we can access all of the tracks quickly as digital files, but that list will probably grow as well.

KGG: Our first jam is going to be a learning experience. On the New York Web site, they talk about how certain songs just don’t work at all, and right now, our track list is much bigger than theirs, and there’s probably a reason for that.

S: We just want to give people a choice.

M: People need to practise at home, so they don’t get up there and waste time. This is serious business!

KGG: I’ve been practising!

M: What’s your song?

KGG: Oh, it’s confidential, but I’m probably gonna rely on a Biz Markie classic.

S: My song is Snoop Dogg’s “Ain’t No Fun.” (laughs)

M: How do people sign up to perform?

KGG: For the first event, registration is at 8:30 p.m. on the spot, and the show starts at 9:30 p.m., so show up early! On the Web site [www.mtlhiphopkaraoke.com], you’ll find the song list and the lyrics, and we’re working on setting up registration through the site in the future, but we’re not there yet.

AT LOLA LOUNGE ON TUESDAY,
FEB. 27, 8:30 P.M., $3