Veteran Freshman 4 @ The TLA.

Text by Niesha Miller. Images by Tiesha Miller.

Minutes before Yusuf “Yuie” Muhammad’s brainchild Veteran Freshman 4 concert began, a crowd gathered in front of the Theatre of Living Arts on South Street. Some folks waited for the doors to open. Stragglers purchased their tickets at the window.  And others blocked foot traffic as they caught up with friends, excited to support their favorite local artists.

When 8 o’clock hit, the place had yet to be filled, but that would soon change. More than 400 people were in attendance for the showcase of Philly’s finest up-and-coming rappers, singers and DJs.

Novacane.

DJ Ricochet kept the crowd hype with joints from the 90s while Host Cory Townes swag surfed across stage.

Novacane was up first.

“I’m so blessed to be here. I love this music thing,” he professed.

The crowd swayed and grooved to his soft poetic rhymes.

Before announcing the next act, Townes kept the crowd hype by shouting out different parts of Philly, while DJ Ricochet bumped Meek Mill’s “House Party.”

Uptown was definitely in the building.

Swiper (above) was then announced. The crowd cheered and gathered as he rode his bike on stage.

“My first radio interview they asked what I planned to do as an artist. I plan to fuck the city up,” he told the crowd

“Phrat,” the name of his much-hyped rap group, was cheered by fans lurking in the crowd. The self-proclaimed Holographic Tupac pumped the crowd up with his single “Swiper No Swiping” sampling a tune from the Nickelodeon cartoon Dora the Explorer.

People in the crowd lip-synced to the music while waving their hands in the air.

The rest of the Phrat Team joined Swiper on stage tossing t-shirts and wrist bands into the crowd.

Frenchie.

The beautiful Frenchie later followed.

“I want to thank ya’ll for coming out and rocking with me,” she said.

The multi-talented artist started her set with a slow ballad.

She was all over the place. She locked eyes with the crowd and won them over with her soulful voice, then bounced across the stage spitting her fastest and hottest rhymes from her single “Reminisce” featuring I’AM FUTURE.

But that wasn’t enough. She danced on stage with two other dancers, performing to her pop joint “Nocturnal.”

Beano and friends.

“Nice Things” was shouted from the crowd for Beano, who was filling in as a backup performer.

Later West Philly native Newz Huddle approached the stage. With excitement, he announced that it was his first time performing at TLA.

“If you don’t know me, then I hope you want to get to know me,” he said.

He won the crowd over with his single “Billions.”

Other crowd pleasers included D-Roc, who performed with a three-piece band, and Matt Ford (formally S.i.R.) who performed over the stylings  of DJ Sylo.

Muzic Class.

More than two hours later, headliners Muzic Class stormed the stage, one on a giant trike.

“A lot of people didn’t think this would happen. A lot of people didn’t want this to happen. A lot of people asked why this happened,” they told the crowd.

The set was long and definitely worth it. The group literally poured their sweat as they swooned their fans with their fast paced beats and thought-provoking lyrics.  The stage was taken over by props like a school desk and a bunch of people dancing and hopping across the stage.

It wasn’t too long until the much anticipated act Blonde Gang– 2nd Child (top image)) approached the stage.

“If you have a Blonde Gang shirt, wave it in the air,” Bok Nero of 2nd Child said.

People started swinging their ripped t-shirts and tank tops in the air once the beat dropped.

Fans yelled the pink, and blonde haired duo’s lyrics and shouted “Blonde Gang” during the group’s performance.

Many people left Veteran Freshman with mixtapes, special edition shirts and wrist bands, and a new respect for Philly’s underground artists.

Newz Huddle.

D-Roc.

Matt Ford.