Legends Nightclub: a place you may or may not exclusively associate with sweat and the one time you were dragged to hip-hop night. If you forgot that Legends also hosts concerts, I forgive you. However, the good people of WVFI Radio, Notre Dame's student-run Internet radio station, teamed up with Legends to bring "folk rapper" Raury to Notre Dame, an artist worth making the short trip to Legends for.
Atlanta, Georgia native Raury Deshawn Tullis, or simply Raury as his stage name, first gained attention in the summer of 2014 with his debut mixtape, “Indigo Child.” Experimental, subtle but contagiously joyous, whatever the short mixtape lacked in substance it more than made up for in promise. The next year, Raury would continue to harness his eclectic blend of hip-hop, folk and soul on his debut album, “All We Need,” an ambitiously sprawling album featuring a diverse group of guests, including RZA and Tom Morello.
Though it’s never easy to categorize an artist within a particular genre, Raury presents a particular challenge. In Raury's music, a breezy falsetto chorus dancing behind a Spanish guitar can make way for a biting rap verse. And while that may not sound pleasing, Raury’s vast musical acumen allows him to seamlessly weave through multiple genres. Lyrically, the youngster never shies away from heavy or provoking topics, and while he may come up short with the answers, his spunk and insightful perspectives are often refreshing.
At just 20 years old, Raury is off to an impressive start in the industry. In the past year alone, the singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has performed at a diverse group of festivals, including Sasquatch!, North Coast, Lightning in a Bottle and even the highly celebrated Newport Folk Festival — a testament to Raury folk sensibility. The executive producer of Newport Folk Festival, Jay Sweet, even claimed to All Songs Considered’s Bob Boilen that he watched Raury’s 2015 Colbert performance and “didn’t make it through the entire clip before I was on the phone making an offer.”
Jay Sweet isn’t alone in his assessment, as Chance the Rapper, Noname, Gucci Mane and Joey Bada$$ have all requested recent collaborations with Raury.
Even if Raury has yet to fully flesh out his wide-ranging sound, everything he does points up — kudos to Legends and WVFI for recognizing that. Whether it’s hip-hop, folk, soul, rock or pop, Saturday’s show will offer something for everyone, as well as chance to catch a rising talent in relatively intimate set. Let’s make Legends great again.
The show will take place on Saturday at 10 p.m. Notre Dame student rapper, Ladibree, will open. Admission is free with student ID.
