By Mitch West
Photo Credit: Tropidelic
The Ill Niño Tour with Tropidelic, UBI of CES Cru, and The Palmer Squares brought one hell of a storm Saturday night to a sold-out Waiting Room Lounge. Their air conditioning was no match for the heat this storm brought. Ill Niños Omaha date marked the tour's 8th date on the tour which launched in February on the 18th. It was a strange boom-bap speed rap green vibing kind of night with lyrical flows that hurt your brain paired with beats that knocked you straight through your chess. It's what happens when you get some of the Midwest's best together on one stage.
The Palmers Squares at Waiting Room Lounge Photo Credit: @thatonemitchkid
With their first release in 2012, The Palmer Squares from Chicago, IL continues to prove music from the windy city isn't just a bunch of hot air. 13 albums and they're not slowing down. This was my first time seeing the Palmer Squares live. Going into it I was a bit pessimistic. Until you see a group live, it's hard to know truly how talented they are especially with spitters. Whatever the expectation was before they hit the stage they exceeded it and then some. It was a flawless performance in my opinion and by no means am I kissing ass. That night's set mixed with their lyrical complexity and energy as a duo took the bar and raised it even higher. The crowd wanted more, us included! The group continues on for the remainder of the Ill Niño tour with Tropidelic and UBI. Once this tour raps they have other dates stopping in Illinois, Ohio, Texas, Colorado, California, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho and returning to share the stage with Tropidelic on August, 1st playing the Everwild Festival in Thornville, OH. Were crossing our fingers they make their way back to the Good Life.
UBI at Waiting Room Lounge Photo Credit: @thatonemitchkid
For those of you who get down to underground hip-hop, UBI aka Ubiquitous might sound familiar. UBI is one half of the all-mighty dynamic rap duo CES Cru with Godemis both signed to Strange Music from Kansas City, MO. Strange Music boasts a very eclectic and talented roster of artists including King ISO, Murs, Rittz, and Krizz Kaliko just to name a few as one of the best emcees in history, Tech N9ne. UBI is one hell of an intricate lyricist with several levels of speed rapping gears shifting through them at different times throughout his set. The art of speed rap is a hard one and UBI does it well. One of the highlights was towards the end of his set when the boys from Palmers Squares joined him on stage to perform "The Quill", a collaboration between the three from UBI's 2019 record 'Under Bad Influence' ending the night with "Game Show" from that same release. So what's in store for Ubiquitous? His latest track Deal or No Deal with Mike Summers is out now.
Tropidelic at Waiting Room Lounge Photo Credit: @thatonemitchkid
Before the show, we had the chance to sit down with Tropidelic's Matthew Roads and James Begin about their two latest singles "Same Hat" featuring Ritzz which was released the week of this show, and "Ease Up" as well as their upcoming Everwild Music Festival, AI and more (interview coming soon). Following the interview the band welcomed VIP fans and treated them to an intimate three-song private acoustic set. It was a special moment. They were signing skateboards, shirts, posters and more taking a plethora of pictures before going backstage until their set later that night. 9:05 pm the lights went down and the boys hit the stage playing songs new and old throughout the night including some they haven't played much in a while such as "Hey Now" off of their 2017 release Heavy Is The Head. About halfway through James Begin got back on the microphone "This just in, we are SOLD OUT LADIES AND GENTLEMAN!!" the crowd screamed. These moments don't just happen, it takes constant work with the never-ending grind. You could feel the accomplishment and excitement. It was palpable. Sold-out shows are becoming more common Tropidelic and they deserve every damn one of them.
Photo Credit: Tropidelic
The Ill Niño Tour rolls on with stops in Wichita Kansas on March 14th, Kansas City on March 15th, Des Moines, IA on March 16th, Savannah, GA on April 12th wrapping up April 13th in Orlando, FL. It doesn't stop their. Just announced while writing this post Tropidelic continues to hit the road on their next tour coined The King Flamingo Tour with supporting acts that very throughout the tour like The Quasi Kings, Topyraps, Crooked Coast, Jon Wayne and The Pain. As if that isn't enough, Tropidelic is playing several festivals and other events wrapping up the summer in August with their annual three day Everwild Music Festival at Legend Valley in Thornville, OH. This years fest features Stick Figure, Soja, Little Stranger, Sensamotion, James Begin & Friends, Two Depressed Kids, Rebelution, Bumpin Uglies, The Hip Abduction, The Quasi Kings, The Palmer Squares, Dale and the Zdubs, Rubix Groove, Benny & Zach, Cultivated Mind, The Movement, Wookiefoot, Devin The Dude, Ballyhoo!, Kyle Smith, Tobyraps, Jarv, Apostle Jones and Brandon Hardesty.
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