Jean Grae

Sorry the photos suck--I'm not all that familiar with my new camera and the batteries were almost dead so I didn't want it on while I futzed around with it.



I don't think the "retirement" thing was bullshit, she didn't actually say she was retiring, she said some cryptic stuff about how much she appreciated everyone's support and indicating that she was at the end of her rope, which I believe she was/is. she's discussed some of her label problems, and last night conformed my suspicions that she's not getting a cent from sales of The Orchestral Files, which she says she knew nothing about until it had been released (I paid for that shit!) Music industry is fucked.

So it was extra delightful to see her live again, she's an exhilarating performer, obviously loving it and controlling the stage with that cultivated edge that makes anything feel possible, like my fantasy of what punk rock was in high school. She began hectoring specific members of the audience for not raising their middle fingers in the air as per her instructions before she even got on stage. She handled drunk obsessive autograph-hounding fans with aplomb. She compared herself in song to Aileen Wuornos. She tore into Weezy ("I wanna throw some water on him after midnight and see what happens")and cracked up his #1 defender and my bf with her impression of his raspy nonsensical stream of conscious rhyming. She proved yet again that she's one of the top 5 emcees out there and her lack of recognition is criminal. "The Stick up Dance", which I saw her do with surprise guest Talib Kweli at Midway (or Rehab now, I guess, or whatever,) some months back is catchy as hell and could be a huge single if the years-delayed Prom Night ever gets out of label purgatory (she rapped over tracks with vocals at some points, explaining that the label would not release the instrumental tracks to her for live use...Blacksmith, what's going on? I like how she totally dodged questions about Kweli's role as advocate vs boss in this article.)



I think she might be an 8

Jeanius is album of the year. Check out "My Story" especially, one of my favorite songs of all time.

I will definitely be at Southpaw on the 3rd to see her again if at all possible.