Reciprocity Live feels like a family reunion. Distant friends, mainly via Facebook now, hug, kiss and greet each other before the evening events begin. The vibe is family, memories and reconnecting.
Herbs, incense and information dominate the lobby of the South Dallas Cultural Center as Reciprocity family, old and new chat, browse, consider, purchase or sign up with vendors splayed throughout the elongated hallways. As the crowd slowly drifts into the main auditorium, DJ Viz (whom many remember from the infamous Last Hip-Hop Fridays in Deep Ellum at the Curtain Club) spins a little new with some of the good old soul and the crowd murmurs quietly. All is irie as the audience waits patiently and grows steadily, ensuring standing room only by the end of the night.
In the late 90’s the idea of Reciprocity was given life by Teetah Crear and Emmanuel Gillespie. It would become a place where spoken word artist flourished, where the most talented of Dallas such as Erykah Badu, N’Dambi and GNO would take their fledgling flights to fame. Over the years, although Reciprocity’s doors somewhat closed on Tyler Street in Oak Cliff, the idea and the history that was made there remained. Like a lovely black ashen phoenix, the idea was re-birthed and the result was simple mesmerizing.
The show opens with a funky groove band Deaf 2 Radio led by Lil’John, enhanced by Jason Davis on tenor sax and vocals by a very young yet very talented Kierion Johnson, who woke the crowd up with a smooth version of “Butterflies” and ending the short sweet set with Jill Scott’s “Slowly Surely”.
Humble host Rasheed Aziz, who is simply known as “Aziz” to most, introduced the soothing Sarafia. Her voice strong and reminiscent of a very young MC Lyte spat forth erotic sexually charges personifications of “the mic”. Blessing the stage all the way from Waco, Texas, her poetry was just the naturally caffeinated boost the audience needed to kick off the night.
Next up was Nhari Djonz, whose vocal ability hover between Ron Isley and Musiq Soulchild. His lyrics are humorous and somewhat serious and easily evoke a crowd response with very little effort. However, when he revealed himself to be a true crooner he set the spectators spinning with every note.
A Reciprocity favorite Ashley Wilkerson graced the stage and gave love to a place which she stated was a “Good place to experiment her craft.” And perfected her craft she truly has; for what she lacks in height she makes up in tremendous talent. Her poetry fiery and strong, she seems to channel Sonya Sanchez with a sprinkle of Nikki Giovanni mixed in for flavor. Her acting and writing abilities are very apparent as she held the crowd in the very palm of her “hood mixed with avant-garde” white gloved hand.
Flowing through the technical difficulties Sonya Jevette lifted souls from their seats with Texas blues and soul guitar. The dreaded daughter of the good fiddle plucked profound sounds from her electric guitar and taught the crowd the “Wobbly Wobbly” and the loved every minute of it.
Renowned spoken word artist GNO receives so much love from the audience. Immediately he vocalizes the big picture of life through his cutting commentary of rhythmic words. GNO verbally attacks the bullshit that after all these years manages to still stink and he lets you know it. He uses repetition and inflection to spew forth the militant 90’s or perhaps 70’s like verse that listeners might run from but never hide.”I am a street poet and I write about real bad shit” he decadently declares into the face of reality.
In an interesting interlude, Aziz, Teetah and Alejandro Perez, a.k.a A.P. get the crowd moving and grooving before the second half of the event. The energy is uplifting and spiritual; it could have easily been church or a family reunion.
As the show winds down, Geno Young, whose history in Dallas soul is so extensive one can only say, he has done just about “it all” comes to the stage to share a few of his songs with adoring fans, friends and family. In the midst of his performance he warmly recalls his experience with Reciprocity and the unified spirit its founders extended to up and coming artist in the early years of its conception.
Rounding out the night was Alkhemi Jones, she brings the noise and the funk as they rocked the crowd into a closing of one of the most spectacular gathering of artists, admirers and activist. Phillyitgirls boldly blasts the multi-talented artist, stating that "Ms. Jones sounds like a beautiful mix of Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu and Andre 3000 with a twist of UGK."
The reprise of Reciprocity was greatly anticipated and live up to each poetic promise. One can hardly wait to see what happens when Reciprocity returns in just three momentous months.
