Concert showcases local Philly talent

Students looking for high musical entertainment for a low price didn't have far to travel on Friday night. About 60 hip-hop fans, students and local residents alike, swarmed to the former Christian Association building on Locust Walk for the 2000 Philadelphia Music Conference Urban Music Showcase. Sponsored by The Foundation, the student-run, non-profit artistic venue, the concert showcased a variety of hip-hop, reggae and R&B; groups from the Philadelphia area. The on-campus concert was part of a four day event that featured performances in clubs across Philadelphia. Dockta Shock, a local producer, organized Friday's show. The performance brought numerous lesser-known local artists to campus -- including Jarrard Anthony, Cheikh Diop, Layla Rene_, Paris Cleamons, Souldiers of the Ill and Rated R. College senior Andrew Zitcer, one of the Foundation's organizers, said the Foundation had not been originally scheduled to host any part of the Conference. When the heads of the PMC read The Foundation's mission statement -- which identifies the venue as a place to "bring together the Penn student community with the people of West Philadelphia" -- they decided to bring Friday night's show to Penn. The Foundation has also received national attention, as MTV Online named the venue's series programming as the No. 11 local music event in the nation. "I think that the PMC deciding to host an event here was far more important than the MTV recognition," said Wharton senior Jon Herrmann, chairperson of the Social Planning and Events Committee. He said he believed PMC's decision to allow Penn to host the show was a true "testament to what we're trying to do here" in terms of reaching out to the greater community. The several dozen fans in attendance ranged from Penn freshmen to talent agents to other area hip-hop fans. And just as diverse as the people who came to the show were the opinions that they expressed midway through the concert. Nursing freshman Barbra Squeri, for example, said she felt "[the show] has been pretty good. I think Penn should definitely [host] this again." College freshman Kasis Kubin said, "[The show] gives a good view of the local artists. It's good that Penn is hosting it." Not everyone was pleased with the performance of the artists, though. Munit Selal, who was invited to see the music conference, shared her complaints. "The lyrics [of the performers] have gone too fast and it lacks variety," Selal said. Specifically, some audience members -- and performers themselves -- complained about the faulty sound system. "The sound system has been a little off, but otherwise it was good," College freshman Zeve Krieger said. In fact, Chairmen of the Board abruptly stopped in the middle of its performance to complain about the sound. After their performances, several of the musicians said they came to Penn in order to achieve greater exposure and display their talents. Layla Rene_, a solo artist from Washington D.C., who said she has recently toured all over the country and in Europe, noted that she could not "pass up a chance" to perform at Penn. "I've been performing since I was two and I [continue to] do it for the love of the music. This is what I love to do," Rene_ said.