Dragonfly Hosts Underground Hip-Hop and Electronica Show Thursday

Triple Bill Features Thavius Beck, K-The-I and Kinjac

Story by David Brewer

Hip-Hop artist and producer Thavius Beck will headline a triple bill that includes K-The-I??? and Kinjac at the Dragonfly Theater & Pub this Thursday, February 26.

After a month-long tour of Europe, hip-hop artists Thavius Beck and K-the-I??? will kick off the first leg of their national tour with three dates in western North Carolina joined by Asheville-based electronica act Kinjac. This Thursday, February 26, the eclectic trio of acts will take the stage at Boone’s Dragonfly Theater & Pub in Boone. The show starts at 10:00 p.m. and there is a $5 cover at the door.

Composer of mercurial soundtracks for uncertain times, Thavius Beck merges various strains of electronic music to arrive at a daringly ambitious sound. He has received recognition in The Wire, Spin, and Urb for his solo releases under the moniker Adlib, the Labwaste project with fellow L.A. artist Subtitle, his early work with Global Phlowtations, numerous guest appearances and producing for and touring in support of and accompanying Saul Williams. An exceptional programmer, engineer and multi-instrumentalist, Beck’s many talents allow him to take a song from idea to completion without ever having to leave his cluttered studio. An uncompromising vision and an ear for the unusual are staples of this writer/producer’s work.

In addition to being a musician, Beck is a talented producer, having worked with the likes of Nas, Saul Williams, The Mars Volta and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails over the years, as well as having put out several albums of his own solo material.

Beck’s most recent project has been his production of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, the latest release of MC and Mush Records labelmate K-the-I???. At the end of January, Beck and K-the-I??? kicked off their month-long tour of Europe to support the new release, as well as Beck’s soon to be released third solo album Dialogue.

Hailing from Cambridge, Mass., but a musical nomad of sorts, K-The-I?? has traversed the United States, pushing sonic boundaries with his unique brand of densed-out boom-bap. Armed with a commanding voice and a gritty production aesthetic that recalls Bomb Squad-era Public Enemy and signature Def Jux recordings, he crafts tracks that swell and pulse with an immersive gravity.

Making an appearance on Bigg Jus and Orko Eloheem’s recent NMS album, Imperial Letters of Protection, K-The-I??? has earned the respect of many of indie hip-hop’s elite, including Beck, which lead to the pair’s recent collaboration. Whether writing epic love letters or harnessing bugged-out electric currents, K-The-I???’s music has a personality and urgency that demands your attention.

Kinjac is the moniker of Asheville-based musician and philosophy student Michael O’Shea. After a short stint in the Chapel Hill music scene as a drummer, he returned to western North Carolina to expand his musical repertoire beyond percussion to include all aspects of music—from writing to recording to producing to mastering.

Since becoming a solo act in early 2008, Kinjac has taken two full-length solo albums from conception to completion in his small, secluded studio. Blending minimalist melodies with a din of digitized percussion, Kinjac’s music is a unique synthesis of the digital and organic that manages to fall outside the bounds of most categorizations.

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