Rye Rye found herself in the hilarious (juxta)position of following Court Yard Hounds - the side project of two-thirds of The Dixie Chicks - onto the Palm Door stage on Friday night. To say that the Hounds' country-flecked songs were a strange lead-in to Rye Rye's rap bangers would be the understatement of the century. Indeed, the crowd inside the Rolling Stone showcase turned over nearly completely between the two sets. Despite the strange pairing, however, Rye Rye found herself facing a full audience when she took the stage. One of my most anticipated artists of SXSW, she carried enough buzz to pack the place.
The set, much like Rye Rye herself, was short and energetic. Backed by two dancers (each wearing shirts that said "Rye"), she paced the stage while dropping massive tracks on an audience that knew how to move. "Bang," her collaborative track with M.I.A., was predictably the set's high point, but every track landed well. "We gonna turn this into a Baltimore party!" she shouted - an ambitious plan for any venue at SXSW, let alone Palm Door. True to her word, though, the young emcee managed to make it feel like a familiar affair. Everywhere I looked, people were smiling, rapping along, feeling the heavy bass pump through the bouncing floor. Hers was the most ambitious set of the evening; Rye Rye managed to make a strange position feel just like home.
