Partners in Rhyme
A dozen contestants will try their best to move the crowd during the first annual Hip-Hop Karaoke NYC Championship on Friday. Over beat-laden instrumentals, rabid rap purists and mainstream music fans alike will battle — eschewing the low-wattage video screens, scrolling lyrics, and inebriated howling typical of late-night karaoke bars.
The spirited contest is a spin-off of a popular monthly event launched three years ago at the Knitting Factory. Co-founders Jason "J. New" Newman, Zach "djwex" Quillen, and Josh "Digs" Dick conceived of the event as a celebration of rap music and a tribute to its golden era. When exactly that era was remains a topic of debate, with some listeners putting it in the late 1980s, and others in the early 1990s prior to the emergence in 1994 of the diamond-studded hip-hop attributed to Sean "Diddy" Combs and his Bad Boy Records label. Judges, including hip-hop producer Prince Paul, and half of the rap duo Black Sheep, Andres "Dres" Titus, will anoint a winner from a selection of the city's would-be emcees.
Friday, 9 p.m. doors, 10 p.m., ages 16 and up, Highline Ballroom, 431 W. 16th St., between Ninth and Tenth avenues, 212-414-5994, $12–$15. For complete information, go to hhkchampionship.com.
