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Have you ever thought of doing karaoke in the D.C. area? Of course, there’s a plethora of karaoke spots around town you can hit up, but if you’re looking to rap the lyrics to Future and Drake’s “Jumpman” or Atlanta rap trio Migos’ influential single “Versace,” your selection may be very limited. Enter Trap Karaoke, where all your dreams of rapping about “Trappin’ out the Bando” karaoke-style are a reality.
Last Saturday, the highly anticipated event was held at the Blind Whino in Southwest, and was promoted by We See Lions and Thank You For Not Snitching, the two collectives responsible for the successful “Late Skate” party in mid-November. While the event was put together at the last-minute—with less than two weeks to promote it—it ended up selling out almost immediately.
Fans are picked out by the host of the show, Nile Ivey (also known as Low Key), and are brought up on stage to perform a wide variety of songs from classic bangers like “International Players” to modern hits like “Hotline Bling.” Each person gets a shot on stage to perform a track, and fans can boo you off the stage if they’re doing bad.
Trap Karaoke is the brain child of Jason Mowatt, Dela Yador, and Ivey.
“[Dela] told me he has this idea about doing a hip-hop karaoke party,” Mowatt says, “[and] as soon as he said that, my ears perked up. I was like ‘Oh shit, that would be crazy!'” The idea was shelved about a year ago, but in the last few months, the two found some time to make Trap Karaoke come to life. Instead of doing normal rap hits like many karaoke bars, Mowatt’s friend Jonathan Hall gave them the idea to instead feature the biggest names in the trap music game, including Migos, Future, Gucci Mane, and Drake.
“When you think about trap, it’s the vibe, its that Down South, heavy bass, and that energy,” says Yador.
After the group’s first party was held in September, the trio then had a bigger one in Brooklyn in November. Saturday’s event was the first one held in D.C.—and their biggest show yet. Mowatt says that they’ve been asked to take Trap Karaoke to Los Angeles, Miami, and Atlanta so far (and he promises it’ll come back to D.C. eventually). And after Saturday’s party, Trap Karaoke seems poised to evolve into something even bigger: Not only was their event the No. 1 Twitter trending topic in D.C. that night, but they’ve already been approached by Hannibal Buress for a future show. Perhaps in D.C. Buress is known to throw surprises in the area.
Photo by Vance Brinkley
This post originally stated that Blind Whino is located in Southeast. It is located in Southwest.