Music, dance, art and style at Tuesday Blend’s monthly mashup of ‘everything hip’

By Erin Ryan

Wednesday, March 14, 2012 | 8:08 p.m.

There’s a lull before the storm of a show, when the floor is dark and dotted with people awkwardly drinking, waiting for the signal to swarm. At Tuesday Blend, there is no lull. The show starts when the doors open, because almost everyone in line is a performer.

DJs EARWAXXX and Phase are threading old Notorious B.I.G. and LL Cool J into new Busta Rhymes and Tyga, a funky sample of the Inspector Gadget theme and anything else with a thick beat. The crowd responds with bursts of krumping, jookin’, popping and locking while they talk. The moves are part of the conversation, and they swell into a dance circle just off the display of street art up for raffle to benefit charity Renew Yamada. And the official show hasn’t even begun.

Hence the Tuesday Blend. The monthly mashup of “everything hip” was founded by local movement the Waterhole KINGS so hip-hop artists could connect and share with a little more structure. But anyone can submit a project with a good shot at making the stage.

“When you’re out in the desert, you have all the animals that come out to socialize and drink at this waterhole. That’s what we wanted to create, an environment where people that have the same interests—art, fashion, music, dance—they all come there to network and hang out,” says Jayar Tolentino, KINGS co-founder and the evening’s co-host. “It’s kind of like a place that feeds everyone.”

The stage show rolls from Korabo Taiko’s traditional drumming to Campfire Music spitting rhymes, singer Rene Ashley styling Adele and dance crews Hypnotix and KnuckleHead Zoo in distinct, controlled explosions. Hypnotix ends with a dancer flying from the arms of his crew like a bullet from a gun, matching the track. It’s a slick metaphor, because on so many levels, I’m blown away.