Grilled Cheese Salvation

—Judith Lewis

Broadwaysoundedlikeawarzonewith fireworks popping like gunshots in random volleys. Spent firecrackers littered the streets. The Chinese New Year Parade was in full effect as the colorful dragons wound through the streets of downtown.

Tucked behind a bank in an alley of old Chinatown there were explosions of a different kind. A gathering of teens and young adults, mostly Asian, huddled around a stage where two MCs were rhyming. In the front row, a middle-aged woman furiously swiveled her hips with the beat, her hands outstretched to the performers. Smiling faces at the Real Youth Center table handed me free condoms, pens and lollipops with stickers that said “Don’t be a dum-dum, wear a condom!”

An MC named NoCanDo stepped on stage. “I’m gonna start with some a capella,” he announced. Great. Another AmericanIdolwanna be. These free hip-hop shows are often havens for mediocre, mic-hungry performers looking for a place to run their mouths and hone their skills. But NoCanDo began spewing lyrics, spoken word and poetry with sharp cadence and pristine pronunciation. Dude was good and I had goose bumps by the time he finished his first piece. The crowd grew larger and fell silent as NoCanDo began to flow. The dancing woman in front kept trying to grab him, as if he were some sort of rock star.

What was going on here? DumbFoundDead, the host of the show and a fellow Marshall High alum, said I had stumbled upon the third annual Double Standard, a celebration of the Lunar New Year, put on by promoter Kublai Kwon.

The free event (to everybody but Kwon who paid for lights, stage and amps) was a showcase for up-and-coming, and primarily Asian, hip-hop and spoken-word artists. Hip-hop, though revered for its acceptance of all races, hasn’t seen too many Asian artists take hold of the mic. The promoters hoped this show would help bring them more into the mainstream. Skim, a fierce-looking young Asian woman from New York, tantalized the crowd with her rhymes about Korea.

Though it was getting cold and late, more people streamed in to see the show. The dancing lady wouldn’t stop flinging herself toward the stage, waving her arms in the performers’ faces. And just when it looked like NoCanDo was about to swat her out of the way, he instead bent over and gave her a loving bear hug.

—Lena Valencia