Mega Ran / Sammus / None Like Joshua / Gavin Riley Smoke Machine
$12 adv / $14 day-of / Doors 7:30 / Show 8:00Random, aka Mega Ran, aka RandomBeats… Teacher, Rapper, Hero:
When LA Weekly said that Ran’s “fanbase and niche audiences are growing at a rate not seen since Tech N9ne,” they meant it. A former middle school teacher, Mega Ran (formerly Random) blends education, hip-hop and gaming in amazing new ways, penetrating the farthest reaches of the galaxy with his unique rhyme style and electric performances.
Ran cut his teeth in the city of Philadelphia as a moonlighting emcee and producer, performing, freestyle rapping, producing and later engineering at a studio. After relocating to Phoenix, competing in the Scribble Jam emcee battle championships and taking an early exit, Ran almost quit before he was even started, when a creative lightning bolt struck, and a fire was lit.
Various video game developer co-signs and admiration from the genre’s toughest critics have led to placements in TV, movies, university coursework, and of course, games. Random’s music and story have been shared on stages across the world, on television (ABC/NBC News, ESPN, Portlandia, Tosh.O, WWE Wrestling) and in leading music, gaming and tech publications, print and online.
Today, Random is no longer a teacher by title, but maintains a rigorous touring and recording schedule, traveling the world to entertain and educate through the gift of rhyme. With over 3 million YouTube views and a legion of smart art fans he calls “Team Mega” beside him, the future looks brighter than ever.
None Like Joshua:
What comes to mind when you think of a rapper? It’s most likely that None Like Joshua would be the last thing you think of. As a versatile wordsmith and experimental producer, Josh dabbles through a diverse set of music genres and topics to rap about. Rapping over hip-hop, dubstep, electro, orchestral, electronica and more, he believes there isn’t a genre he can’t master. The topics he raps about ranges from politics, ninjas and robots, internet freedom to psychological challenges, society, and post-apocalyptic warfare, but what brought him to the forefront of rap music is the support from big EDM producers like Flux Pavilion & Ephixa and collaborations with youtubers like Veela, Boyinaband, Dan Bull, Slyfoxhound & more, plus the thousands of fans who have shared one of his 160+ songs he’s created in his career.With over 7 million views, Josh is taking over the internet with his music that moves from nerdcore to political raps to glitch-hop productions that anyone can dance and rock out to. Accomplishing countless blog features, big collaborations, and raking in the views, Josh “isn’t your average rapper. None Like Joshua comes in with a style like MIke Shinoda’s, but dreams further than the stars rapping over some of the hottest dubstep beats,” according to FreshNewTracks.
Sammus:
SAMMUS (Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo) is an Ithaca-raised, Philadelphia-based rap artist, producer, and PhD student in the Department of Science & Technology Studies at Cornell University. Known as much for her rousing stage presence as she is for her prowess as a beatmaker and lyricist, Sammus has spent the past several years cultivating a strong following of activists, hip hop heads, punks, and self-identified nerds and geeks, among others. As noted by the Los Angeles Times, Sammus “has a gift for getting a message across.” Having recently made her Don Giovanni debut (while remaining tied to NuBlack Music Group), she is poised to cement herself as an artist who consistently thinks outside boxes and dances across lines (and does other neat things with geometrical figures).In addition to managing a full-time music career, Enongo has spent the past eight years as a public-school and college level educator. After graduating from Cornell University in 2008 with a double BA in Sociology and Science & Technology Studies, she was accepted into the national teaching program Teach for America and placed in Houston Texas, where she taught elementary math and science between 2008 to 2010. In the fall semester of 2011 she returned to Cornell as a PhD candidate to pursue an interest a wide array of sound studies topics, including sound and gaming as well as the identity politics of community studios. As an academic in training and very-vocal feminist, Enongo has produced articles for publications such as Bitch, For Harriet, Sounding Out!, and The Mary Sue related to issues of race, hip-hop, gaming, and feminism.
Gavin Riley Smoke Machine:
Philly-based, choose-your-own-adventure hip hop musical comedy.
Source: Mega Ran – Tickets – PhilaMOCA – Philadelphia, PA – March 27th, 2018 | Ticketfly