At the Hot and Cool Cafe in Leimert Park, K.Solar threw a standout pop-up listening party for his latest EP, Vol. 3: Flex and the City. He set an awesome atmosphere of ecstatic Hip Hop vibes in the artsy space, sharing an assortment of songs with the packed audience. Although he’s from Los Angeles the rapper brought Brooklyn inspired beats to eager ears in the historically Black L.A. neighborhood.

The Flex City Pop-Up was an intimate engagement filled with friends as well as many new faces. The emerging Hip Hop artist set out to address his experiences of living in such a fast-paced city with his EP by merging his eclectic East Coast world to his West Coast home. I felt the evening and overall event was a creative success, showcasing K.Solar’s new music as well as his commitment to art and community building. 

Every table and sitting area inside the cafe was filled with people. Those standing up were likely bouncing their heads and moving their bodies to K.Solar’s beats. It was an event centered on connecting people through  music. Conversations sprouted from every corner and K.Solar’s songs fueled the jovial and down-to-earth atmosphere. As more music played, people filtered in wanting to catch a sense of the whole vibe, to experience a slice of the underground fusion of music, art, and community. 

Vol.3: Flex and the City is the EP that’ll get you into a chilled out mode. As a beat maker and sound engineer, K.Solar produced the project. Before playing tracks from his EP, K.Solar shared with us what went into the creative process. 

The project sums up what I was doing in 2018, which is a bunch of EPs. I was working on it for the last two months. It’s aimed at The Low End Theory scene, the beat scene, and culture.

K.Solar

Not only can one hear the influence of Brooklyn in the EP, K.Solar distinctly wanted to focus on the foundational elements that make Hip Hop what it is: beats. Hits are made to beats, words are made into songs with beats. K.Solar set an intention to take his third project in a different direction than his last two volumes, “Vol. 1: Capricorn Deluxe.” and “Vol. 2: Changes”. At the pop-up, he said, “In Vol. 3, I was thinking I need more beats. It’s about the beats, not about the streets.”

Once all was said and done with many of the songs from his EP played, I asked K.Solar what he felt in the moment. He’s used to putting on live shows, yet this listening party was a great new experience for the attendees and himself. 

It was a good come up. It was informational. I was able to see the power of my music. It’s different than performing. I got to see and watch people engaging with the music beyond me evoking it. I see the love in the room. 

K.Solar

If you haven’t yet listened to music by K.Solar, I highly recommend you do. You can listen to the artist on Spotify, SoundCloud, and Apple Music. Be sure to check out the full EP, for now, you can listen to one of his new tracks below. 

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Best,

Kai 😀