On Friday, June 6, 2014 the Blue Note Jazz Festival presented Salt-N-Pepa with DJ Bent Rock at the Highline Ballroom.
The legendary hip-hop duo along with DJ Spinderella had the venue hyped and blasting. Opening for Salt-N-Pepa was hip-hop alternative group, Oxymorrons, composed of Bellavue brothers Dave “D” and Ashmy “KI” on vocals, Matty Mayz on drums, and Mr. Hernandez on decks. I got to sit down with the group before the show for an interview:
What does it mean to be opening for Salt-N-Pepa?
Dave “D” Bellevue: Honestly, it’s awesome. Our crew grew up in Queens, they grew up in Queens. We grew up listening to their music. It’s literally awesome. When we were called up for the opportunity, we were like hell yea let’s do it, why not. They’re icons, they’re iconic. And to be able to share a stage with them is like the best thing ever.
Matty Mayz: They’re just like a staple of hip-hop. Not only within the female hip-hop community, but they grab the whole hip-hop community. I grew up in their main point in time, it’s fun to open for them and it’s awesome for what they’ve done and what they have going on.
What are you guys working on right now?
DB: We’re working on an EP. What we’re gonna do is release a single and video every month for pretty much the next week and we’re just gonna bombard people and play awesome shows. We got another show with Ludacris and Juicy J, like we’re doing a whole bunch of stuff so everything’s just going to pretty much turn up to the max. It will not be a let down, petal to the metal for the whole time. And then we release our new EP.
So what are your summer plans? What are your hobbies?
DB: Oh man. Well, we’re playing basketball. We’ll be playing a lot of video games, we’ll be reading comic books. Actually it’s funny because one of our guys from Marvel, Blake Garrison, is coming to the show, and the new comic books are gonna be awesome. And we’re planning on going to Comic Con.
MM: There’s gonna be a lot of local Super Smash Bros. Tournaments, I’m gonna be hittin’ up over the summer.
DB: A lot of cool stuff. We’re going to a Jay-Z concert, that’s gonna be awesome. Yea, that’s about it. And hopefully hanging out with you! You should come out! We rage, we rage come hang out!
Any final thoughts?
DB: It’s our first time playing Highline, which is crazy because we’ve played at most New York venues and we just love it here. Last time we were here with Pharrell and N.E.R.D., watching them play here. So there’s a lot of history behind this place. So honestly, we just geek out. It’s geek life. It’s what we do, it’s our culture and we’re here to have fun. Yeah, and the name of our new EP is Complex but Basic.
Oxymorrons performed the tracks “Freak Parade”, “What’s My Name”, “Freight Train”, “Party Tonight”, “808”, “Asleep”, “What the World”, and “Freeze Frame”.
After that it was time for the main event. The crowd rushed to the stage. DJ Spinderella appeared on the decks to introduce the main act, Salt-N-Pepa . Both ladies were dressed in matching black outfits with gold chains and bracelets. They were also joined by two male background dancers and DJ Spinderella on the decks. The duo opened with “Do You Want Me”, the second track on the duo’s Black’s Magic album and “Shake Your Thang”, immediately getting everyone on their feet.
They made it clear that it was not just about them performing, but about everyone joining in and having fun, proclaiming that feel as they know what type of people their fans are.
Following, Salt-N-Pepa tested how old school the crowd was by playing songs like “Big Bank Hank”, “Engine Engine Number Nine”, and Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend”.
The duo become famous through rapping about sex and women empowerment, which they did not forget to remind the audience. Throughout the concert, they gave talks to the women about men and respecting themselves with inspirational words about waiting for the right man and deserving better love.
The audience was made of up fans from all ages and backrounds, showing the influence Salt-N-Pepa have made with their music as they danced along to the popular hits during the night like “I’ll take your man”, “RU Ready”, “Tramp”, “Expression”, “Let’s Talk About Sex”, and DMX’s “Up in Here”. Finally, the duo played their most famous song, “Push It” which had everyone singing and dancing along to the words as they left the venue.
-Tristen Yang
