Meet Mr. Smith
Tampa rapper Mr. Smith possesses the kind of smile and star quality that can take a fellow from B.E.T. to Hollywood. For now, Smith's making waves on the local nightclub scene with his party/fashion statement "Fresh White T." The song features a guest spot from fellow 813 MC, Acafool — the fellow behind the hit "Hatablockas" and a successful line of sunglasses that bear the same name. Following in Acafool's footsteps, Smith sells custom black cotton shirts with a white letter "T" on the front. But Smith is more than just another rapper with business acumen. He's a charismatic performer who showed up much of the competition at the recent Tampa Music Conference. When Smith got on stage to perform his slow jam "Indiana Jones," the backing-music CD got screwy. Conference co-host Mingle Mixx started beat-boxing, and rather than abort, Smith performed the song a cappella and made the crowd of media and fellow artists take notice, working the audience like they had paid good money to see him alone.
Mr. Smith, Fri., June 22, 10 p.m., Club Skye, Ybor City. —Wade Tatangelo
Summer in the City
It should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the always eclectic Aestheticized Presents that its third annual Summer Jam fest features everything from thuggish hip-hop to geeky post-rock. The event is spread across two Ybor City venues: Crowbar and New World Brewery. D'Visitors, who bring reggae-tinged funk and are fronted by vocalist Nikki Ferraro, headline the New World gig. Her fun-loving seven-piece will be joined by post-rockers Red Room Cinema, a quintet that can shoegaze and approach melodic one moment and get highly aggressive and noisy the next. Another notable on the bill is rotund rapper Black Reign, who, like Mr. Smith, made a strong showing at the Tampa Music Conference. The Brandon MC's go-to cut is the ultra-violent-to-the-point-of-cartoonish "Gun Shine State," which welcomes would-be rivals to "Trigger City." For a lineup of bands playing Crowbar as part of Summer Jam III and a story on that venue's headliner Voxtrot, see the music feature on p. XX.
Summer Jam III: Venue B feat. D'Visitors w/Red Room Cinema/Black Reign/Mumpsy/Bongo/The Same/Rocwell, Sat. June 23, 5 p.m, New World Brewery, Ybor City. $7 —WT
A dose of greasy funk
It's a been a long time since Dr. John donned the Mardi Gras Indian headdresses and gris-gris amulets and became a pop star oddity when his song "Right Place Wrong Time" went Top 10 in 1973. But the boogie-blues pianist with the nasty blues growl can still bring it. At least he did when I saw him perform two years back in his hometown of New Orleans at the city's famed Jazz Fest. The man known as Mac Rebennack by friends and family delighted a crowd of thousands, inspiring plenty of dancing among the all-ages crowd. High points in the performance included a simmering "I Walk on Guilded Splinters" and a rousing, stride-piano take on the Sly Stone classic "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)."
Dr. John, Sat. June 23, 8 p.m., Tampa Theatre, Tampa. $30-$37. —WT
This article appears in Jun 20-26, 2007.