Big K.R.I.T. Gifts Michael Christmas With Opening Slot at The Sinclair
As temperatures dipped below freezing last Wednesday, hip-hop disciples lined Church Street in Cambridge for a chance to rock with Boston’s Michael Christmas and Mississippi emcee Big K.R.I.T. at The Sinclair.
Sporting a red and white trucker hat, black hoodie, and skinny jeans, Christmas traipsed along the crowded street, blending with the 20-something fans who lined the sidewalks in Harvard Square before doors opened at 8 p.m.
“Say hi to my dad,’’ Christmas shouted to the crowd, holding up his phone as recognizing fans sang “Hi Dad!’’ back before he headed back to the venue.
The eager crew assembled outside gave the air an electric energy despite the frigid temperatures, because for Christmas, the January 14 show was a homecoming not long in the making.
In December, the 20-year-old Roxbury native played a show at Converse on Newbury Street, where Christmas says the turnout was so tremendous that the raucous crowd nearly broke through the shop’s floor.
A little more than an hour after strolling the Cambridge streets, Christmas took the stage with a cover of a track familiar to the Gen Yers in the audience: the “Pokemon’’ theme song.
“Tick tick,’’ Christmas sang out to the crowd, urging them to offer a refrain of his catchphrase. “Tick tick,’’ the crowd answered without hesitation.
Christmas would use “tick tick’’ throughout the show to make sure the crowd was in tune with him as he paused between tracks such as “Y’all Trippin’’’ and “Michael Cera’’ from his 2014 mixtape “Is This Art?’’
A set of loyal Christmas fans about 20-deep lined the area directly in front of the stage, singing along to every word as he showered the crowd with personality and charisma throughout his 10-song set.
Before Christmas left the stage, he made sure to show Big K.R.I.T. and Converse Rubber Tracks plenty of love for letting him rock with his hometown.
Christmas’s burgeoning career was vaulted by the opportunity to record at Converse Rubber Tracks, a state-of-the-art recording studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn where up-and-coming artists can record for free with professional engineers guiding them along the way.
Christmas’s show with K.R.I.T. was part of a concert series extension of Rubber Tracks called Converse Rubber Tracks Live, which has included shows by headliners such as Ghostface Killah and Action Bronson in cities across the globe like San Francisco and Beijing.
The headliner of each Rubber Tracks Live event, like K.R.I.T. on January 14, is given a pool of Rubber Tracks recording artists to choose from. For K.R.I.T., the deliberation process was a careful and thoughtful one.
“For me it’s always important to be inspired by listening to somebody else as well, and I think when I listened to his music I was like, ‘Oh snap, I’m really digging that,’’’ K.R.I.T. said of Christmas, who he ultimately chose for his originality, flow, and storytelling.
When the offer came down from Converse Rubber Tracks, Christmas had just returned to his now home base in Los Angeles without knowing the next time he’d be able to return to the Hub.
“It was like ‘Damn, I’m not going to be in Boston for a long time,’ and then Rubber Tracks hit me like ‘You wanna come play this show in front of 500 people with Big K.R.I.T.?’’’ Christmas said he remembered before the show. “I’m like ‘Absolutely, I do.’’’
Surrounded by his friends in a dressing room at The Sinclair, Christmas admitted the whole selection process was surreal.
“I’ve got my own little backstage room, my name’s on the door,’’ Christmas said, half chuckling as he sat on a black leather couch. “Who am I? How cool is this?’’
Getting to pick an opener was a first for K.R.I.T., who called the selection experience dope.
“At the end of the day I’m always excited to bring new faces into the game and to collab with new people,’’ K.R.I.T. said before the show. “So it was actually exciting. Shout out to Converse for having that gall to allow the headliner to pick the openers.’’
K.R.I.T. listened to every Rubber Tracks artist available and, although he could choose only one for the ticket, praised the quality of all of the music he considered.
“Most of the people I heard, the music is quality and it’s already at that point where even if they didn’t open up this, they’re going to get shows,’’ K.R.I.T. noted, “and that’s important.’’
Big K.R.I.T. performed sons of “Cadillactica’’ during his set.
For K.R.I.T., headlining the Rubber Tracks Live show was special due in part to the vibe of the city.
“Boston’s definitely one of those places where the hip-hop definitely lives and people listen to the music in a way that’s still kind of organic and they put other people onto it,’’ K.R.I.T. said.
During his hour-plus performance, K.R.I.T. tore up the stage with songs including his recent singles “Pay Attention’’ and “Soul Food’’ and 2012 bangers “Money on the Floor’’ and “I Got This.’’
K.R.I.T. and Christmas seemed to have a lot in common during their respective portions of the show, including their mutual love for the UGK track “Int’l Players Anthem,’’ which they each covered during their sets.
Other things they had in common included how much they valued authenticity, which Christmas said he was only able to develop once he met his managers who pressured him to make better music.
“I was trying to be all my favorite rappers my whole life, and I realized all my favorite rappers weren’t trying to be their favorite rappers, they were trying to be themselves,’’ Christmas said. “That’s how all this came about, basically.’’
K.R.I.T. has made it a priority to be real with his music since the get-go, writing about his life, family, friends, and haters alike.
“I’ve definitely talked about my grandmother, talked about my family, talked about my friends, and my actual neighborhood and where I grew up,’’ K.R.I.T. said of his musical process. “And being honest as far as like, what life was like growing up, because there’s people who have been around me since I was 13 years old, and if I was able to rap about something I didn’t really know about, they’d probably check me on it.’’
Fans of K.R.I.T.’s will have an opportunity to check out his life through his music on the upcoming TBD “Cadillactica’’ tour and Michael Christmas fans will be able to check him out across the U.S. alongside Logic on “The Under Pressure Tour,’’ which kicks off Jan. 27 in Indianapolis.
After he finishes touring, Christmas plans on recording a new album in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles.
“I’m going to put together the best project I can,’’ Christmas said. “I think it’s going to be one of the best projects in the world.’’
What’s next after that?
“Everything,’’ Christmas said. “The world, I’ma take it. I’ma keep it.’’
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