July 17, 2006 @ 10:42 am

Aliya S. King: The Hip Hop Karaoke Kid

by: Aliya S. King

Let me come clean right now. In a former life, I was a rock star. I like to think I can carry a tune and I can often be found throwing my head back and belting out anything by Beyoncé or Alicia Keys.

And yet, tragically, I missed my calling as a soul singer. Not counting a nervous rendition of Deniece Williams’ "Black Butterfly" in a seventh grade talent show, I’ve never performed in front of a live audience. The very idea makes my knees weak. So when I heard about an event called Hip Hop Karaoke, I was intrigued. Someone once told me that you should try something scary every day. I was long overdue so I headed to Hip Hop Karoke night at a Brooklyn nightclub.

right My hands were sweaty and my heart was threatening to burst out of my chest when I walked into the club. The place wasn’t full and I relaxed a little bit. If I screwed up, at least there wouldn’t be too many people to laugh at me. I signed up and noticed that the first three slots were empty. Of course, no one wants to go to first. I put myself down for the third slot and staked out the competition.

I introduced myself to Taj Salamm, 27, from Crown Heights. A fellow hip hop karaoke virgin, Taj planned to do “Unbelievable,” by The Notorious B.I.G. I asked him if he practiced, thinking of my constant rehearsal in the car. “Nah, I don’t have to practice,” he said. “I perform all the time. I’m new to karaoke. But not to rhyming.”

I walked away from Taj, hoping that I wasn't going on after him. He was way too confident.

By the time everything was ready to get underway, the crowd had doubled in size. There may have been about two hundred people there. But it felt like a sold-out Madison Square Garden show to me.

First up? A surprise appearance by rapper Rhymefest, who performed “Just A Friend” by Biz Markie. He rocked it and I was horrified—how was I supposed to follow a real rap performance? And then, after Rhymefest, a geeky kid named Joel took the stage and said he was going to do “Warm It Up Kane,” by Big Daddy Kane. I just shook my head. Even though I was a first-timer, I knew Big Daddy Kane should be off limits. And Joel didn’t look like he could handle it.

He began the verse and midway through the first line, someone bum rushed the stage to take over. It was Big Daddy Kane himself, holding a drink in one hand and a mic in the other. The crowd lost their mind. He even brought out Scoob, one half of his famed dancing duo, Scoob and Scrap.

While half of me was thrilled to catch a performance from Big Daddy Kane, the other half was near tears. How I was supposed to follow a rap legend?!

I found out soon enough. Here’s what I learned about performing:

You really can’t see the crowd from the stage. The lights are so bright that you can only see the people directly in front of you. This is good. It makes you less nervous when you can’t see reactions.
It takes crazy breath control to perform live. I performed “All I Need To Get By,” by Method Man and Mary J. Blige. I know Meth’s lyrics word for word. And it’s not a difficult song to perform. But when you’re live and the track is pulsating, there is no room for error.
You never know what your talents are. I thought I could sing (at least a little). But it turns out that I’m better at rapping! I didn’t sound half-bad when I was doing Method Man’s verses. But when I sang Mary J. Blige’s chorus, I sounded like a wounded, wet cat!
You become a different person when you hit that stage. I didn’t even recognize my own voice after the first verse. It felt like I was possessed by someone else who was performing the song for me.

I made it through the song, although I ran out of breath at the very end. It was exhilarating to see the people in the audience cheering for me and I think I may have even gotten a round of applause at the end.

The whole experience was even scarier than I thought it would be. And it was infinitely more rewarding. I don’t see skydiving or bungee jumping in my future. But another stint on a stage is definitely coming. If you’re in New York City, check out Hip Hop Karaoke NYC. Look for me, I’ll be scanning the sign-up list, making sure I don’t have to follow any hip hop legends.

Photo Credit: Rick Purcell