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Photo Gallery: SOB x RBE / Rory Fresco & SuperShaqGonzoe / Cuee at The Granada

DaBoii of SOB x RBE
Billed as a pre-show for this year's Flyover festival, Lawrence was supposed to be paid a visit by Vallejo, California rap crew SOB x RBE. What Kansas got, however, was either just SOB or RBE. Two of the group's four members, Yhung T.O. and Lul G, for reasons not fully disclosed at the show or mentioned beforehand, could not make the date. This left rappers DaBoii and Slimmy B to fend for themselves, with a bit of help from their DJ, for the length of their 40 minute headlining set.

Nearly every song performed met the same fate: a strong opening moment, mostly thanks to the group's choices in gut-punching Bay Area beats, followed by a rowdy verse or two from DaBoii or Slimmy, followed by near dead silence during T.O. and Lul G's parts. Crowd favorites like their early hit "Anti" and Black Panther soundtrack cut "Paramedic!" caused brief spikes in the venue's energy, but by the end of almost every song came a wave of disinterested chatter among the few hundred in attendance. Fans, whose faces had lit up when the group first emerged, mostly left the show indifferent and pondering aloud whether or not they should call it a night.

Nearly as disappointing as the SOB x RBE set was a support slot filled by a tag-team of Rory Fresco and SuperShaqGonzoe. The two rappers are responsible for some of the most powerful local hip-hop sets to hit the Granada stage in the last year, but when the crowd was hesitant to indulge the two, instead of cranking it up a notch, Shaq and Rory dialed their energy down to match and ended at least one song early.

The music of Lawrence rapper Cuee isn't as much party rap as it is kickback rap. Unlike her fellow performers this night, Cuee didn't aim for outlandish heights, choosing instead to dole out her hustle anthems and love songs with consistent amounts of energy and personality. Her vocals were occasionally hidden behind hulking, bass-heavy instrumentals, but renditions of the ever-smooth "Shook" and the Save Money-indebted "Blessed" made her set the most rewarding of the evening.

Full photo gallery here.

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