Rapper’s Delight
Living Arts of Tulsa
Tulsa
October 12, 2024
Go big or go home. That’s the sentiment I always get watching an Aaron Sawyer performance. The emcee, battle rapper, and mental health advocate has performed on many Tulsa stages throughout his career, all while helping to build platforms and cultivate relationships within Tulsa hip-hop. This time the platform was his own: he called it Rapper’s Delight, which is also the name of one of the most famous songs in hip-hop, so you can imagine the high bar Sawyer set himself to clear.
Rapper’s Delight aimed to share the “why” behind songs created by local hip-hop artists, ten of whom took to the Living Arts of Tulsa stage to answer this question. Each one gave an intro that revealed the backstory of the song they performed — or even for the song they chose to walk out to.
Sawyer took the stage first, explaining that his “why” for the event was to bring artists and art gallery enthusiasts into the same space. He rapped with so much expression it was as if he were creating a sculpture right before our eyes. Kendra Mars followed with a performance that took me on a trip as I sat and wondered, “When did she crash-land on this planet? Because there was no warning about how good she is.” She can transition from rapping to singing so smoothly that you forget which one she was doing first.
Da’juan Dupri moved to the stage next. I always appreciate his performances because he brings the same energy to the stage that you hear when you put your headphones on and listen to one of his tracks. The same can be said for LVLC; he wears so many hats in the community that it was fitting that he would wear one for this show. His “why” really struck a chord as he shared about losing his friend to cancer, an event that inspired his song “Nights.” He performed the song with his eyes closed and a voice that seemed to choke with the feeling of despair. Each bar seemed to tighten its grip on him, with a release of all that emotion at the end. Halfway through the night’s performances Madame Zeroni took the stage with a commanding aura — and even more, a voice — that filled the room. She shared a personal moment about depression and her self-discovery through it all.
The Thought was the newest artist in the lineup and had the most to prove. He’s not from Tulsa, but supporting Tulsa artists like he does has helped open doors to showcase his talents. He performed his song “PTSD,” a story about his life and how prescribed drugs left him not feeling like him. The song was creatively put together in two parts: the “High” and the “Come Down.”
Rebel gave a standout performance and an interesting “why”: her song, about shutting down the allegations that she was holding Sawyer back in his career, showed just how wrong some assumptions can be. Kara Dawn wore the badge “feather-rustler” with pride, performing with strong body language that punctuated her “I don’t care how you feel” attitude. The two rappers who followed her showed their serious sides: Just Cassell, with a song that sounded like an unsent letter to his parents, and Shyheim Nwadiei who, instead of doing the things he knew were wrong, put them all in his song. Last but certainly not least was Bezel365, who freestyled a song he had yet to release, but which his wife would always play for others to listen to. We quickly learned that some secrets are meant to be told.
“What is Rapper’s Delight?” At one point this might’ve been an answer to a Jeopardy question. But for the artists that performed at this event, the answer was clear: it’s the combination of “whys” that not only got them on this stage but helped them continue to search for fulfillment through making music. Rapper’s Delight proved that the question is just as interesting as the answer — and just like in any open-ended question, no two answers were the same.
Rapper's Delight wrap-up by Ryan Anderson / Tulsa Lines.
