With the mic pressed to his lips, emcee Crucial Tactics from Staten Island, N.Y. moves the crowd with his fresh beats and original rhymes.
The room is black, and the only light comes from the stage near the far wall. Chairs line the floor in a row near the bar crammed with people looking for a good time.
The crowd can feel the bass vibrate through the soles of their feet as the smell of cigarette smoke mixed with a hint of marijuana gently wafts through the air.
After asking all the ladies to come to the stage, Crucial Tactics serenades them with a rhyme about one-night stands.
“Everybody nice and drunk?” he shouts to the group, and they all go wild.
Crucial Tactics is a puppet master of the audience; they bounce and nod their heads with the ebb and flow of his beats, and with a few words from him, they throw their arms in the air.
This was how hip hop lovers got a glimpse of the underground rap movement at Downtown Brewing Co. in San Luis Obispo on Sunday night.
The show featured hip hop artists from around the country, along with amateur emcees from San Luis Obispo County. Graphic communications major “Rob Cee,” 25, organized the event and was initially reluctant to begin the project, but was pleased with the end result.
“I think it was a really good turnout for a Sunday night,” Cee said. “Everyone was surprised, and I think I might do it again.”
The event featured the first hip hop battle at the Downtown Brewing Co., where amateur emcees competed with each other on the mic for a grand prize of $60, and emcees from around the country came to entertain the masses. Each battle showcased two opponents, who competed for the winning title by insulting the other with only 45 seconds to show their rhymes, creativity and originality.
Even those who don’t particularly enjoy hip hop were impressed with the event.
“They (the battles) were fun just to watch because I don’t really follow hip hop,” said business major Kelly Hurley, 21, who works with the Downtown Brewing Co. booking coordinator. “It takes a lot of nerve to get up there. That’s what makes it exciting.”
Some were more thrilled than others with the overall performances of the amateur competitors.
“Everyone who battled, it was like their first battle,” Cee said. “I didn’t enjoy any of ’em.”
Although the battle didn’t live up to his standards, Cee said that he’ll be organizing SLO Underground 2 in May. As a member of the Cal Poly club Students United by Hip Hop Culture, Cee said he wants “serious battlers” to sign up for the next installment of the event.
“I hope they all step their game up and practice every day,” Cee said of future battle competitors.