Brian Slattery Photos
Host Chefren Gray, a.k.a. Chef the Chef, gave the growing audience at Cafe Nine a wide smile Wednesday night as he introduced New Haven Grand Prix Round 4 — not the bike race, sadly cancelled again this year, but Gray’s gladly ongoing showcase of New Haven’s hip hop and R&B talent, now taking place monthly.
“If this is your first time, welcome,” he said, as he promised the crowd the “most exuberant, incredible, persistent artists in the area.” With act after act of rappers and singers, he delivered on that promise.
After a set of DJed music from The Moon, DJ Drew stepped up to the mic first. “I’m so glad you all came out tonight,” he said. “I’m vibing with you. It’s dope.” He gave the audience a set of heartbreak raps, filled with sadness, tinged with a little anger, and mixed with a healthy dose of pride — enough to keep the mood in the room light, and enough to garner real applause at the end of each song.
“That’s all I got for you tonight,” he said at the end of his set, as he got a healthy, appreciative cheer. “Next time I come here, I’m going to have some new songs.”
The next set focused on an MC named Navi; with help from friends Sxrinity and Jonny Sensai (who would appear later in the evening as well), he got the audience off the stools and chairs at Cafe Nine and drew them closer to the stage. The three rappers traded bars as heads bobbed and phones came out to broadcast the proceedings; it was clear that things were heating up, with Chef the Chef proclaiming that the three rappers gave him “Black Star vibes.”
“It’s hip hop for no reason at all — we’re just doing it,” Gray said as he brought the next act, Yoshua, to the stage, but Yoshua saw a deeper thread running through what he had heard. “Love and life! Greetings, multidimensional beings of the universe! I love you so much,” he exclaimed, immediately ingratiating himself as a Broonlynite in a so-far New Haven-based crowd. “It’s an honor to be performing with these other conscious MCs.” His songs brought the energy up a further notch as, in between songs, he enjoined the audience to work together to achieve political action and, well, change the world.
“Remember why you got into rapping and music in the first place,” he said.
That message wasn’t lost on Gray. Talking about the competitiveness among acts in the music business, he reminded the audience that “if you all understand that we’re all together, things would move a little different.” He urged more cooperation among musical acts and more support among musicians and audiences. “Take care of the people. You know the people I’m talking about. Take care of them,” he said.
“Where you from?” someone in the audience asked Jonny Sensai when he stepped onto the stage. Squinting into the lights, Sensai announced he was from New Haven. He took Yoshua’s energy and brought it even higher, spitting rapid-fire, angular lines eyes closed, as if channeling them from elsewhere. His lyrics revealed him as an MC looking to make his mark by making things better, hoping to leave a positive influence on the world. By then the audience had drawn in close.
“We love you, Sensai!” someone shouted from the audience. The feeling appeared to be mutual.
Next up was Mia Lynn, a.k.a Beautiful Confusion, fresh off two releases in 2021 and already starting her set with newer material than that. She began by praising a higher power. “The only reason I’m standing here today is because of God,” she said, “and my sister right there,” she added, shooting a smile into the crowd. Her first song expressed that very sentiment; it was a personal prayer that felt entirely earned as the song built momentum and her voice gained urgency. She followed that up with a song about “taking your power back” from those who tried to tear you down, and a song about God making a second ark to save people today. Preaching but never preachy, Lynn used her faith as a form of liberation.
She turned that devotion to a call for unity, across race, gender, and sexuality. “I’m sick and tired of the division and the fighting,” she said. “The higher-ups — they know how much power we have when we stand together. Every single person — we’re all equal, we’re all created by God…. Clear the dirt from your eyes.”
She received rapturous applause at the end of her set and she smiled back. “I can’t see your faces, but you’re all beautiful and I love you,” she said.
Keila Myles, a.k.a. Keyz Believe Me followed up with a scorching set that was both support and counterpoint to Lynn’s. While acknowledging that unity was important, she also made space for defiance in the face of injustice, and for Black pride — a stance as equally supported in the cheering she received. It culminated in a song of ferocious power that used heavy Jamaican rhythms as a vehicle for both the fleetest rapping heard all night and a keening chorus that entranced the crowd.
The night wasn’t over. Sxrinity returned for a fuller set of his own songs, and Chef the Chef himself capped off the evening with his own boisterous rhymes. The reestablishment of Chef the Chef’s showcases was another piece in the puzzle of musicians returning to New Haven stages — and audiences eagerly coming out to hear them.