Spiritual Experience with Candlelight Concerts’ Ode to Hip Hop

In the midst of political angst at home and abroad, it is nice to find a respite in one of the universal unifiers, music. The mastery of rap and hip hop were on full display recently at Candlelight Concerts: Best of Hip Hop shows with an interesting twist. Classical musicians transformed hip hop music as they reinterpreted the songs through stringed instruments. From Lauren to Ludwig and Biggie to Bach, the two art forms collided and created a musical amalgamation to remember.

With The Cyrus Place as the backdrop, the audience’s senses and spirits awakened. The late 19^th-century German-Revival structure refurbished church in downtown Indianapolis, was transformed into a multi-use event space, in 2016. The Old World charm of high ceilings, aged, dark-wood floors and elaborate crown molding added character and a sacred feel to the candlelit evening.

Concert goers filtered into the venue’s Grand Hall and the anticipation was palpable. The environment felt intimate with nearly 200 of your closest friends.  Dressed in jeans and T-shirts to semi-formal sundresses and suit jackets, people came to relax, enjoy and be entertained. The vibrancy in the room was quite appropriate since the shows marked Candlelight Concerts second anniversary in Indy.

For a 6:30 p.m. start time, it’s hard to imagine a candlelit stage since the sun doesn’t set until after 9 p.m. during Indy summers. Black curtains blanketed the stained-glass windows keeping the bright evening sun out. The flickering hues of candles dimly illuminated the musicians on stage creating a calming aura around the room.

The show opened to the haunting screeches of strings and haunting “ahhs” from Coolio’s “Gangster’s Paradise” interlude. The notes from the Grammy-winning anthem, from the Dangerous Minds soundtrack, permeated the air and bounced off the walls intensifying the atmosphere for the musical journey ahead.

Next, Cardi B’s “I Like It” spiced things up with a bit of a Latin swing harkening back to Pete Rodriguez’s 1967 hit, “I Like It Like That.”

The quartet turned the party up a few more notched with a Jay-Z compilation. The set included bangers like “99 Problems,” “Big Pimpin’,” and collaboration songs “Bonny & Clyde” with his wife, Beyoncé, and “Empire State of Mind” with fellow New Yorker, Alicia Keyes.

The crowd was an eclectic mix of ages, ethnicities and persuasions. But from 18 to 65 years old, people rocked in their seats, waved their hands, hummed and rapped along.

“Hearing the music without the context of the words gave the music a new experience,” attendee Victoria Hawes said.

From OutKast’s catalog the quartet played “Ms. Jackson,” “Hey Yah,” and “Speaker Box” giving a nod to the Southern hip-hop style. The soulful sounds of Lauren Hill were up next with “Ready or Not,” “Zion” and “Doo Ooop.” Hill’s remake of Roberta Flack’s, “Killing Me Softly” sounded even more melancholy with strings.

The presence of R&B and soul music showed in the melodies of songs sampled to make rap and hip hop music. Naysayers have long criticized the 70’s, Bronx, New York-born genre for lacking originality.

However, in his 2006 book, “Holler If You Hear Me, Searching for Tupac Shakur,” Michael Eric Dyson, said that criticism shrugs the technical skills needed to alter existing sounds to create new music. Dyson offers that contemporary American classical music and smooth jazz both repeat musical formulas just as rap and hip hop do.

The mood of the room quickly reenergized with a slide into Tupac’s hard-hitting mix with “California Love” and “Dear Mama.” At this point the difficulty of translating musical genres became more apparent. The transitions here were clunky and a bit more labored than with other transitions during the show. The musicians seemed to get a little lost in the notes. But, maybe everything in musical genres don’t always have a direct translation just like with languages.

Fortunately, the drummer seemed to help usher the musicians back onto the collective melody just in time to smooth things over for the Notorious B.I.G.’s compilation. Biggie Smalls’ music moved into “…the place with style and grace” to stringed renditions of “Juicy,” “Big Poppa” and “Hypnotize.”

The quartet briefly floated into the current rappers’ beef with performances of Kendrick Lamar’s “Swimming Pools” and Drake’s “Passionfruit.” 

And don’t forget about the other West Coast hommies! The crowd’s excitement could hardly be contained when the first few notes of Dr. Dre’s “Nuthin’ But a G Thang” rang out.  Of course, his LBC protégé, Snoop Dogg, took the microphone first on this song as did the violins for the classical adaptation.

The musicians cleverly played the polyrhythmic notes while music lovers picked out their favorite parts to hum and rap along to with Dre’s monster hit “The Next Episode” featuring Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg and Kurupt. And yes, the room collectively shouted Nate Dogg’s last line of the song. If you know, you know. Otherwise, Google it.

Dre’s set wrapped up with “Forgot About Dre” a collab with his Detroit protégé, Eminem. With the song’s quick beats and riffs, the quartet segued into Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” from his autobiographical film, 8 Mile.

Seated firmly on Forbes’ wealthiest celebrities lists, hip hop royalty’s music closed the show out with Beyonce’s “Drunken Love” featuring Jay Z. This ended the concert on a soaring high note and the audience didn’t want the evening to end. Hawes said this was her first Candlelight Concert, but it definitely wouldn’t be her last.

Concert goer, Toni Brown, said the performance was touching and nostalgic. She found it surprising that it was also emotional. It’s understandable when you realize that people connect with music on an emotional level. Hearing the soundtrack of your life and remembering moments from yesteryear tends to conjure up lots of feelings and emotions.

The Best of Hip Hop’s song list represented a wide range of hip hop, allowing people to hear many of their favorites. “Picking the list is a collaborative effort between our Fever team and Listeso,” said Marek Magda, event coordinator for Candlelight Concerts Indianapolis. Listeso provides Fever support with hiring professional classical musicians for the candlelit shows.  Magda said the song selection process was based on a song’s popularity and how well it would sound with solely a quartet playing them.

The performers for the two, sold-out shows are known as The StringSource String Quartet. Group members include Ryan Tolentino and Quincy Tilles on violins, Emilee Drumm on viola and Stephen Hawkey on cello. A drummer accompanied the string quartet for the shows. While uncommon for Candlelight Concerts, Magda said it seemed appropriate considering the rhythmic nature of the music.

With shows in over 100 cities across the globe, Spain-based Candlelight Concerts by Fever creates one-of-a-kind experiences in candle lit settings according to their website. Fever focuses on presenting live music in unique settings to elevate the work of music composers of all genres. Indianapolis will host 42 shows by year’s end in venues like the Cyrus Place, the Scottish Rite Cathedral and even outdoor locations.