The RiiZE: It Can Only Go Up From Here

The brainchild of Just Marcus & France Mayari has been in the making for quite some time & though it wasn’t exactly what they had planned, the vision couldn’t have turned out any better. Tonight’s event was the culmination of hard work, sleepless nights, lots of organizing but most importantly, two leaders bringing about the change they wish to see within the city. Now is not the time for division but rather unity & their efforts to bring communities, artists, vendors, organizations, you name it, together to celebrate San Antonio as a whole is more than worthy of the many standing ovations received throughout the night. Even the many posters created by Blyss were snatched up quick, so if that don’t tell you how serious this night was then what else is there to say. You could look at this showcase as a mere celebration of what’s to come, as massive as the turnout was, it still only scratches the surface of what’s to come & we’re not just talking about the comic book either, as exciting as it is to await the first batch of issues, but our curators here are already gearing up for much more. We also would like to give a shoutout to Ace The Owner, who was loving enough to have allowed our curators to utilize his beautiful bar for this event & we must say, there ain’t no other bar like this one in the city. From the patio area to the game room to even the big flatscreens that showcased the performances for anyone not looking to be claustrophobic in the crowd, this is hands down the new go to bar in San Antonio. He made sure everybody was taken care of & that all who attended felt safe & welcomed.

Yasey Michelle was the host for the night, accompanied by France, who kicked things off by showing love to the many big wigs in the building, be it Takeover Clothing, Red’s Body Art, 210RapDaily, the Wavez of course, food by King’s Cajun, for anyone looking to satiate their hunger with that authentic New Orleans flavor, as well as cynalytho DJing her heart out like always. France then took the time to meditate with the audience & share with us her beautiful words of affirmation & you can guarantee she had that sage burning as well, it’s an extension of her body. But soon after, you best believe things turnt up with the many openers, with Josh Stone setting the tone for the night with his ethereal musical visions. 4evayoungent shut things down as well, Dru, the homie Treylen, then followed by a masterfully energetic set from King Kay & Big Texas, both representing Pack Static. Khe even came all the way out from Dallas to perform a set that was sultry, poetic & mystifying all in one, accompanied by her choreographers Draylon & Shana who only further enforced how impeccable our headliners were about to be, I’m not even sure we call these artist openers.

A city mainstay, a legend, an icon around these parts, JC kicked off our lineup of headliners by blessing us with her tranquility. As you can always expect with Jade, she opened her set with some of her beautifully impactful spoken word. She could’ve honestly performed her entire setlist acapella & it still would’ve hit as hard as her actual recordings. Of course, you can always expect her to perform her ONLY3REE collab “THOSE NIGHTS”, as well as soon to be classics off her debut EP “No Love Lost”, be it the anti-abuse anthem with “Tears Turn 2 Scars” or “Know me No more”, a beautiful ode to soaring above that of which is no longer of use to you & your growth & even has some of her most empowering poetry to close the record off. JC a gangsta though so you know despite the turmoil she’s been faced with, she keeps it P, as in proper in the face of adversity. Everytime she performs that smash, floors stop & roofs fly off. But she even had a surprise performance in the midst of these records when she invited THC member MASN up to perform a record that you unfortunately had to be there to witness, you probably won’t hear or see them perform it again until it’s fully unleashed. It’s inevitably to be another one of them ones to further cement her musical takeover, as well as longevity.

JC was not ready to leave that stage though, being that she was the muse to kick off DONOV3N’s set with their smash “Still Gon’ Slide”. It couldn’t have been a more intimate way to start his performance, I mean, with Don’s immaculately soaring vocals coupled with Jade’s presence alone, the sensuality was tense in their fervor towards one another. It’s the first time since the release of the mini-movie visuals that we’ve seen these two share the stage together but it definitely won’t be the last. When DONOV3N has that mic in hand, he’s ready to sing sing & by that I mean, he doesn’t miss a single note. Whether he’s crooning enough to make the ladies swoon with his '“Passion”, lusting over the biddies on “Onlyfans” or simply setting his “City On Fire” in the most emotionally charged way possible, you can guarantee that he’s gonna yank your heartstrings until they snap when he’s belting out his seasoned vocals.

For the penultimate performance of the night, the impeccable Brooklyn Michelle might’ve given her best performance yet. She’s so renowned at this juncture in her career that before she could even hit the stage, she was getting a standing ovation. As always, you can anticipate her opening with her latest smash “Come Here”, with it’s eerie mysticism reeling you directly into her world for her melancholic set. “Rage Room” only further added to that sense of melancholy with it’s moodiness & is surely becoming a fan favorite though yet to be officially rleased. Even her more lighthearted records on this setlist like “Found It’ were performed with such looming gloom like something out of a daunting fairytale. Being that we’re in spooky season or BSZN if you’re fancy, she made sure to hit us with records like “I Don’t Mind” & “Voodoo Doll”, as well as reintroducing the killer choreography she 1st showcased at the Texas Fashion Awards with her performance of the intense “No More”. Marisol Luna, who you may recognize from her cameo in the “Crosswords” music video, was also front & center when Brook got to that cut. She even further surprised those of us in the crowd with a soon to be released smash with “The Girl Not To Worry About”. It’s a side of Brooklyn that fans have yet to see & we must admit that, there couldn’t be a banger more subtle than this record is. Although subdued in it’s sound, Brooklyn was feeling herself on this one so the crowd was turnt regardless. Even more turnt when her acapella of the “Retail Therapy” hook perfectly synced up with the beat once the music finally kicked in, definitely another one of the highlights in her performance.

Last but not least, The Tree Team was back in full effect, marking the return of the almighty duo of Reek & Sage for their first performance in over a year so you know they had to showout something special for everyone who came out to see them. Their set was a healthy balance of familiar fan favorites like “Myself”, “Mail”, “Need It”, classics in their catalog like “G2KU”, even hidden gems like “Nowadays” & “Lonesum” off their underrated EP “At A Time Like This” & it’s fitting cause what better time to remind them. He even had some words of affirmation as he spilled that real in his disclaimer before “Be Somebody”. Their first surprise came when they invited Eastside Fish to perform “Do You Love Me”, which only further amped the crowd up with his presence, being that they only assumed it was the head honchos of the Tree performing, though Fish at this point is clearly the 3rd head to the musical monsters this collective consists of. The 2nd surprise then came when they brought Malcolm Jakob on to perform an unreleased track that, if you missed, we feel bad for you cause its another one of them ones that proves how far ahead of the curve these guys are both lyrically & musically, especially musically, which it was great to see Sage get more of his well deserved flowers. His production just becomes more pristine by the minute. And just when the crowd assumed the set was over, they hit us with an encore with their smash “Bounce”, which left the audience sleeping with the fishes when they got through. A fitting way to end this night of togetherness. So many artists came out to show their love & support for what our curators put together for the city. Whether you bumped into DiversiD, JAH, Naalah, Keeks, hell, even Swanny was there, this was an event for the books. Not to mention. it forced alot of your favorite artists to network with one another so I’m sure we can expect even bigger things in the future. This is only the beginning of how far RiiZE is going to take this vision & if this is how things turned out on the 1st showcase then sky isn’t even the limit, they about the break the stratosphere with their ascension so if you ain’t uppin’ the RiiZE then you just all up in the way cause it can only go up from here!

Here’s some more photos of the night, just to reiterate how special this event was. Better luck next go around if you were unfortunate enough to have missed out on this monumental celebration of our city! Fret not though, this was only Prologue 1 & we heard through the grapevine that the next one is about to be even more massive so stay tuned!