Bavu Blakes and the Extra Plairs at SXSW 2009

This is an article I wrote for the Austin American-Statesman during SXSW. Oddly enough, I’d never seen Bavu Blakes before (despite being Facebook friends and having served as judges together for a high school battle of the bands).

I have a feeling if Bavu lived in New York or Los Angeles, he would be much more popular than he is here in Austin. But, I’m so glad he is here. Currently, he’s Austin’s great best hope for a hip hop success story.

By V.M. Black | Thursday, March 19, 2009, 11:48 AM

(1 a.m. Thursday, The Mohawk Patio)

Bavu Blakes & The Extra Plairs did not suffer foolish monitor mixes, lead feet or stiff behinds lightly as they played the 1 a.m. highlight set during a hip hop-billed evening on the outdoor stage at the Mohawk.

“I am the mayor of Austin hip-hop,” Blakes blasted the audience (and sound engineer). After a quick stop to fix a bad microphone and an atrocious monitor mix, Blakes and his Extra Plairs clocked a fiercely tight set of rhymes and beats, putting his own stamp on the Dirty South hip-hop genre.

Bavu Blakes is ready for his close-up.

Blakes’ skills as an MC were unflappable: The easy bravado was backed up by polished skill, his charisma had all eyes in the house focused on the stage and his ability to build set momentum was unparalleled in the venue that evening. Yet, the secret ingredient of the “bounce with me” sauce that Blakes served up was potently anchored by his musical director/bassist D-Madness and his drummer, Brannen Temple. Few words can describe the synergy created between D-Madness and Temple’s lock-step grooves which laid the foundation for Blakes’ rhymes as he breezed around the entirety of the stage like a caged tiger watching his trainer dice raw meat.

And despite Blakes’ nonstop command, he graciously brought up Los Angeles rapper Karma Stewart to do two songs of her own: “On A Cloud” and “Look.” Stewart was all love and flow, staying on stage for the rest of the set matching Blakes line for line, spit for spit.

The feel of Blakes’ band was not unlike the pastiche feel created by Philadelphia’s Roots crew. Blakes even led his band through a medley (now seemingly an unspoken requisite move at hip-hop shows) as the band played snippets of “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now),” “Ice, Ice Baby” and Nelly’s “Hot In Herre.” With his tongue firmly planted in his cheek, Blakes was mocking the pop hits in his medley, ultimately using them as a hyped-up lead in to his own would-be hit, “Southern Man.”