Photo of Czarface by Holly Kite.
w/ Sensi All-Stars
Cannabis industry professionals and social media influencers from around the country gathered at Off Broadway on February 2nd for a special invite-only event featuring a performance by hip-hop supergroup Czarface. The event was sponsored by Bloom Medicinals, a corporation that operates cannabis dispensaries and grow operations throughout the United States, with holdings in Missouri, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, and Ohio.
According to Byron Staton, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Bloom, the event, aptly named “Missouri’s Getting Rec’d”, served as not only a celebration of the end of cannabis prohibition in Missouri, but also as a networking opportunity for industry professionals seeking to capitalize on the new legal landscape.
On November 8th, 2022, Missouri voted to approve Amendment 3, the ballot initiative that legalized the possession and sale of recreational-use cannabis throughout the state. The law officially went into effect one month later, immediately decriminalizing cannabis use and personal possession under 3 ounces.
Although there were already medical-only dispensaries operating in Missouri prior to legalization, under the new law, businesses were required to apply for a comprehensive license that would allow them to sell both medical and recreational-use cannabis. Hence, February 3rd marked the first day that Missouri dispensaries could legally sell cannabis for non-medical purposes. It was a fortunate quirk of timing that the Off Broadway event happened to fall on the evening that the first of these comprehensive licenses went into effect.
“We didn’t know it was going to line up like this today. At 2:25PM today, they sent a letter out saying ‘We’re on,’ so it just lined up right for the party,” Staton told us.
Bloom currently operates four dispensaries in Missouri (one each in O’Fallon, Cape Girardeau, Springfield, and Cameron). Cameron is also the location of their grow operation, WonderGrove, and the Off Broadway event served as a product launch for WonderGrove’s new brand of flower, as well as an advertisement for Bloom’s other cannabis products.
The headlining entertainment for the evening was Czarface, a project consisting of rappers Inspectah Deck (Jason Hunter) and Esoteric (Seamus Ryan), and producer 7L (George Andrinopoulos). Formed in 2012, Czarface harkens back to the boom bap style of 90’s East Coast hip hop that was pioneered by groups like Gang Starr, Mobb Deep, and the Wu-Tang Clan (of which Inspectah Deck is a founding member). In addition to the high caliber rapping, Czarface is known for their explosive and colorful album artwork, which features the titular character in action scenes in the style of Golden Age comic book art.
Although Czarface rarely performs live, the project has been highly prolific, with the group releasing roughly one album per year since its founding. Czarface is known for its collaborations with other hip-hop luminaries, most notably their split albums with MF DOOM and Ghostface Killah (the latter of whom is also a Wu-Tang veteran).
Based on my research, the Off Broadway show was Czarface’s first performance in St. Louis. Inspectah Deck did join last year’s Wu-Tang Clan/Nas tour, however, which included a September tour stop at the Amphitheater in Maryland Heights.
The opening act for the evening was Sensi All-Stars, a funk/R&B group consisting of staffers from Sensi Magazine, a cannabis industry/lifestyle magazine. Like Czarface, the group is based in Boston. Sensi All-Stars frequently perform at cannabis industry events, as does Inspectah Deck, who is personal friends with Bloom COO Byron Staton.
Sensi All-Stars started their set around 9:00PM, playing funky mood music as attendees drifted between the various dab bars and merch booths that were set up around the venue. The stage featured a backdrop of the St. Louis skyline, and projectors were set up at various points throughout, running footage of cannabis plants being processed. Fittingly, the group performed a cover of Peter Tosh’s famous pro-cannabis anthem “Legalize It.”
Czarface took the stage around 11:00PM, immediately injecting a dose of adrenaline into the now thoroughly stoned crowd. The group performed several of their most-famous songs from across their discography, as well as medleys of Inspectah Deck’s verses from various Wu-Tang Clan and Gang Starr tracks. The charisma and stage presence of Esoteric and Inspectah Deck is truly off the charts—there seemed to be not a single wasted word or pause between any of their verses, with tracks effortlessly transitioning one into the next.
Swift, verbose, and highly technical rapping in the style that Inspectah Deck and Esoteric have perfected has largely fallen out of fashion with mainstream audiences, making performances like their set at Off Broadway all the more vital. Throughout his set, Inspectah Deck boasted the virtues of “real hip-hop shit,” a phenomenon I noticed at Wu-Tang’s performance at the Amphitheater as well.
For people who do not frequently see contemporary rap acts, it is hard to understate just how little emphasis is placed on the performance itself. A Gen Z rap show usually involves a “rapper” aimlessly walking around the stage while a completely unedited version of the vocal and instrumental track plays in the background, occasionally mumbling a bar or two between plugging merch and their various social media accounts. As someone who has seen Maxo Kream and Ski Mask the Slump God live: take it from me, it really is that dire.
By contrast, a Czarface show is a zero bullshit affair, and a true showcase of hip-hop as an artform. Both Inspectah Deck and Esoteric performed impressive freestyles, ad-libbing raps about St. Louis, the Anheuser-Busch brewery, and a guy in the audience wearing a Dead Prez t-shirt. 7L performs a live mix during their performances, which included deft displays of turntablism.
Most impressive of all, Czarface invited the Sensi All-Stars back on stage for an encore, performing a completely improvised set as Inspectah Deck jokingly assumed the role of a 1950s big band leader. Improvising raps to a band that is also improvising takes an enormous amount of confidence and talent on the part of all parties involved—it was a stunning display, and as an audience member, makes for a truly unique experience, as you leave the venue knowing you witnessed a genuinely one-of-a-kind performance.
According to sources close to the performers, Czarface is planning on touring in 2023. For all fans of “real hip-hop shit” unable to make it to this invite-only event, I certainly hope they consider another stop in St. Louis. Based on their remarks during the set, they certainly seemed to be fans of our weed, at the very least. | David Von Nordheim
