Pre-Turkey Day Turn Up: Joe Kay + SOULECTION

SOULECTION is a genre, artist collective and culture defining "The Sound of Tomorrow" through experimental production styles and progressive music since 2011. Outside of its label, they have a world-renowned radio show syndicated on Apple Music. Some of their label affiliates include Sango, J.Robb, Monte Booker, Mr. Carmack, Ta-Ku, Esta and Goldlink.Recently, collective founder Joe Kay has embarked on an 8-city international tour beginning in Santa Ana and ending in Jakarta, Indonesia. His support throughout the tour may be consistent or changing according to location. Luckily, I was able to attend the first show at the Observatory Orange County.At first, I considered skipping the show as a whole, but it would serve a space to reflect on my blessings during Thanksgiving break. My best friend and rapper Osi Mac ended up tagging along for the ride. The night featured sets by SOULECTION founders Joe Kay and Andre Power and Baltimore producer and DJ J.Robb.We entered the venue around 11:30 and the show ran until 2 am. Midway through Kay's set, weed and alcohol fogged the air. He paid homage to Kaytranada, some of their team and Golden era Hip-Hop and R&B. The crowd's responsiveness was generally positive, screaming in awe and jumping in unison to the music.By midnight, J.Robb took the stage for the next hour. Fans loved Robb's set of his White Label project and Soundcloud remixes "Get You", "Trabajo x6" and "Molly Percs", highly anticipating "Yodak Bellow" to be incorporated in the mix.When Andre Power came on, fans were exhausted and ready to go. But Osi and I remained ecstatic and in trance of his heavy hip-hop set. Power played some Kanye West, Schoolboy Q and some EDM. It was obvious that the Observatory crowd enjoyed Hip-Hop over Electronic. But nonetheless, the crowd enjoyed Soulection as a whole.