#Latepass

The show in New Haven was a few shades light of a nightmare. But by the grace of God I got through it and got love when it was over. Even got asked to come back by the radio’s main DJ in the building! S/O to Bigg E!

But I couldn’t WAIT to get on the road and get the FUGG OUTTA DODGE…

The thoughts running through my head on the way to Rhode Island we’re bananas. You have to understand, in all my time doing this, which isn’t that long compared to some, I have never heard the sound of booing!! At least not directed at me! I’d always considered myself a natural on stage because of how comfortable I am and be lying if I said I the whole thing wasn’t a little jarring. That ride to Lupos was a loooong one for real. I kept replaying the show in my head, looking at where I went wrong and how I could have fixed it. All the while DJ Self Doubt has the same soundtrack spinning in my head..

Why didn’t I see that coming?

Am I losing my touch?

What if it’s already gone?

Maybe I’m not as good as I Thought… now what?

And just as DJ Self-Doubt is doing his best Jazzy Jeff impression, we pull up and I see this…

Yep, typical sold out show. Big ass line packed with raving mad, foaming-at-the-mouth fans ready to spaz out. And here I was trying to figure out if I still deserved to be in front of them. I’m not gonna say that I’ve never questioned myself but I’d shaken that shit off forever ago. Now the opener is on, the clock is ticking and I’m trying to figure out how I did it.

I focused on the typo on the set list to distract myself (my set was 20 min, not 15) while the opening act doing his thing. The crowd wasn’t being to receptive to him. He couldn’t get their hands up, they wouldn’t sing along with his hooks and they’d even thrown some cd’s he’d thrown to the crowd back at him which had me more uneasy than I already was. I stated thinking this show was gonna be a rewind of New haven and I was in trouble. And then, it happened… Just as I’m fighting off that sinking feeling in my gut I hear him say “MAKE SOME NOISE IF YOU’RE HERE FOR SLAUGHTERHOUSE!!”

The crowd roared… I cracked up.

He was doing the exact same thing the openers in New Haven did. Shouting out the headliners to get a rise for himself, a rookie mistake I’d seen a million times. Not being foul but I just couldn’t help myself and laughed my ass off in the corner. When I stopped, I realized all this self-inflicted pressure was because I wanted to do better tonight than last night. But the thing is, I want to do better EVERY night! The nerves were on me because I’d fallen short of that the night before but the need to be the better was what gives me the touch/edge I was worried about losing in the 1st place!

As soon as show-time hit, I’d made my mind up..

I deserved to be there… and I’d prove it tonight.

I’ll prove it every night….

And hey… the perks of trying ain’t bad!

Crisis: SOLVED

Next up: Northern Lights, Albany NY

I Can Explain..! Coming soon

Mecc

After burning it down in Boston, meeting a ton of new people and making some new fans it was time to hit the road and head to the next spot. I won’t front, after everything that popped off at Wilbur Theater, I had some pretty high hopes for New Haven spot and couldn’t WAIT to get there. I just KNEW this was gonna be an AWESOME day… And then the day became an exercise in Murphys Law… The sound was the 1st thing to go south. My normal guy @DJSammyNeedlz was pre-booked and couldn’t make it out. So I had to call my guy Mo Nicklez to come through and hold me down. Great idea till he told me he was booked up too! Travel was the 2nd thing to go south. Traveling from Boston the, the rise was supposed to be about three hours tops. I figured Since my set time was at 9pm, I could leave at 3:30 pm and be there as the club was opening up. Yeah that plan went to shit as soon as I hit the station and saw the ONE bus I wanted was done due to traffic and the only one I could get would have my pulling in at 9pm exactly. So not only might I miss my set time, but my secret plan to catch game three of the Knicks/Heat series was fading fast… FML Now I’m not gonna front like everything was all dark everything… I the bus was on time, there was no traffic and thanks to the Slaughter boys running a bit behind, I got a call letting me know my set time was pushed back to 9:30 so I’d be on time. I got a call from Mo telling me that even though he couldn’t cover it, his boy DJ LoKash was in. Turns out I’d done a drop for him many moons ago that he’d just used in a DMC competition and dug my shit! I even managed to catch some of the playoffs during the layover and the Knicks were winning! I really convinced myself things were looking up…

…riiight up until I hit the club.

,

Me and Lo hit the spot at about 9:10 and get led downstairs to the performers area. But instead of going over the songs and prepping the set, we had these two dudes already down there to deal with. They were cool but one of them talked NON-STOP continuously the whole time we were down there… You know the kind of unrelenting, staccato machine-gun, tsunami of bullshit that you join in with just to try and end? That was him. This dude didnt stop until we go the call to hit the stage and the last thing he said was “Yo, I’m taking tonight pictures so I’m gonna be on stage with yall too!!”

Oh Joy…

Then there was the crowd…

Standing by the side of the stage I could see the natives were restless. I had gone up to check em during another opening acts set and saw that they weren’t getting a lot of love and the crowd was pretty fed up with them. To make matters worse, the group kept shouting to the crowd “Make some noise for Slaughterhouse!!!!” because it always got a reaction. Then while I’m standing at the side of the stage waiting for my cue, the house DJ starts doing the same thing! “Y’ALL READY FOR SLAUGHTERHOUSE?!?!?!” What a fuckin setup…

(Side-note)

I just gotta say this. To any DJ, opening act or show host, Never, evER, EVER shout out the headliner like they’re about to come out unless they are. If you’re an opener, the crowd is NOT CHEERING for YOU, they ARE cheering for the HEADLINER. All you’re doing is reminding the crowd that you aren’t them. If you’re a DJ and your doing it, all doing is hurting the momentum of the act that’s coming out next and disappointing the crowd when they see they’ve got another opener to go through.

Which brings us to my set, or as I’ve come to call it, The Day After Tomorrow…

From the door, things didn’t look good for our hero. The act before me wasn’t getting any love from the crowd (as you can see) and had pretty much left them fed up with openers in general… even though they were only the 2nd act out. To make matters worse, while I’m standing on the side of the stage waiting for my cue, the DJ damn-near starts a Slaughterhouse chant with the audience knowing that I was coming out next!! I shouted at Lo, and ran out to do damage control and salvage the shit-show my set was becoming. I cracked one good joke about how I was NOT Slaughterhouse but I Windex Royce’s glasses and jumped right into the 1st song. I figure I had about 90% of the crowd rocking with me so I figured I’d shout out the city to get that last 10. So I started to say how I came a long way to rock in Hartford….

…but I was in New Haven. FML!!!

90% turned to 30% and the boos started. Big, loud, angry, ugly obnoxious boos that seem to come from everywhere at once, giving me 0 chances to play it off. So I stood there and let the 1st boos of my career sink in with a smile. I went into survival mode and did what anybody with their back to the wall would… I improvised.

The DJ came up behind me and said “We’re in New Haven dog!” in my ear and I used it to get back in the saddle. I rattled off a quick joke set about how I was under pressure from 2 baby mamas and 4 baby daddies and how my kids big wheel just got repo’d. As soon as they started laughing I went into song 2.

Long story short, after clowning somebodies mom in the crowd, out-heckling my hecklers, pulling a chick on stage to dance with and basically pulling out all the stops, I got back to about 80%. It was an uphill battle for real but when i was all said and done, I got a lot of love from the crowd, sold a bunch of shirts and even got a shout from the local radio station for “pulling his set back from the brink of death.” I learned a couple of things that night.

1) Comedy beats screw-ups

2) Avoid motormouth mu-fuckas before the set

3) Even though this pic sums up the reaction of the crowd after I got off stage…. 

…next time, I’ll just shout out the damn venue.

Next up, Lupos Heartbreak Hotel, R.I.

The Saga Continues

MrMECC TALKS PREPARATION AND PROMOTION FOR DEBUT ALBUM ON THE ROAD WITH SLAUGHTERHOUSE

NEW YORK, NY – May 15, 2012 – Just weeks after the release of his first single “#JBF,” journalist/emcee MrMecc celebrated another career milestone last April when he was selected by Shady Records rap super-group Slaughterhouse to join them on the last leg of their “Welcome To Our House” Tour. Mecc lent his charismatic, humorous and lyrical stage show to Slaughterhouse’s rowdy performance on a four-date run leading up to the final stop of their first U.S. tour.

As he readies the Summer 2012 release of his debut album I Can Explain…, MrMecc jumped at the opportunity to expand his ever-growing following by introducing his music to Slaughterhouse fans, an audience that was more than ready for his versatile blend of old school and new school sensibilities. “Being approved by high-level lyricist like Slaughterhouse to open their show is a stamp no one can touch,” says Mecc of his experience, “and being asked to join them on the road is a chance no one could pass up. The love I’ve gotten from the fans has been incredible… And I know this is just the beginning.”

Following his run on the “Welcome To Our House” Tour, which took the Jamaica, Queens native to Hip-Hop hotspots like Boston, New Haven, Providence, Albany and more MrMecc is back in New York putting the finishing touches on his new album. After years of observing the game as an entertainment journalist and Music Editor for The Source Magazine, and an equal amount of time and energy spent honing his skills, Mecc is sure to deliver a much needed fresh perspective to Hip-Hop music with I Can Explain… Click here for MrMecc’s video introduction to the project.

Additional photos of MrMecc on the “Welcome To Our House” Tour are available here. You can also follow MrMecc at www.twitter.com/mrmecc.

I should have written this awhile ago… And better late than never, just sounds like bullshit so I’ll just get started.

For those that didn’t get the memo (as in damn near all of yall) MrMecc was added to the Our House tour and named the official opening act for Joell Ortiz, Crooked I, Joe Budden & Royce Da 5’9” a.k.a. Shady Records very own Slaughterhouse.

(Dramatic pause for applause….)

That’s right true believers! After a lot of hustle and even more slick talking, the support YOU GUYS gave to my single #JBF and to #JumpOffTV put ya man on the radar of one of the most lyrical groups in existence. Now all I have to do is go out in front of a thousand plus people, used to high levels of lyricism, night after night and keep them happy and amped before four of the most gifted wordsmiths of the genre who were personally signed by Marshall Mathers hit the stage…

…Nah, no pressure though.

Now I’ve TONS of shows and the tour was 43 dates strong but there was something about The Wilbur Theater in Boston told me tonight was going to be special… It started off normal enough. After getting a fresh cut coutesy of the hometown hero @JThaS (#Salute) I hit the venue, told security who I was, got escorted over and grabbed my credentials from will call…

…slid over to the stage to double-check my set time..

and after pointing out and correcting a quick mistake (I had 20 min, not 15) everything was all gravy! The music was ready, the sound-system sounded good and the place was sold-out. I really couldn’t have asked for anything more…

And then, it happened. I was sitting by the side of the stage about to crack open my bag when I got approached by one of the production hands. I was already reaching for my all-access pass when the conversation took a very, very unexpected turn…

“Excuse me, Mr Mecc?”

“Yep, That’s me!”

“Hi! I’m Denise, I’m doing production for the show. How are you?”

“Oh nice to meet you! And I’m groovey thanks! What’s the deal? Is everything ok?”

“Oh sure! I just wanted to see if you’re ready to go to your dressing room.”

“… I’m sorry, my… what?”

“We have your dressing room ready, let me show you to it….”

“Um, I’m not in Slaughterhouse…”

” Oh I know, theirs is downstairs. Just follow me.”

Dude, the next thing I know, for the 1st time in my career, I was standing inside my own freaking dressing room!!!

Now there was no question I had some things I needed to do, swap gear, charge my phone, double check my songs.. but I’m not gonna lie. Before any of that I stood there for a few minutes and let the coolness of the moment sink in… and proceeded to CHEESE like my mama called me cute!!

I took full advantage, got nice and comfy and switched into my official custom show shirt, complete with my Twitter name, courtesy of my dude @Phetus88. I don’t normally take pics of myself, but I figured being that I was in MY DRESSING ROOM and all… I could do that. #Swag

Yeah, I was FULLY on my Kanye mindset, the only thing that you could tell me was absolutey NOTHING. I know its seems like a small thing, but I couldnt help feeling like I was on the right track. My name on the door just felt like I was being… verified, if that makes any sense. After years of standing in other peopIes or sharing with other artist, I felt as if this space wasn’t given to me, I’d earned my way into that room and now, I was gonna go on stage and prove it. I went in front of that crowd with a determination to earn my place with them too.

So After I did THIS…

…it was on to THIS…

And THIS…

Which ended with THIS..

I think it’s Mission Accomplished… what do YOU think?? LOL! I’d need it, the next stop was kinda rough, but hey…

I Can Explain..!

Mecc