Before arriving at the corner of Congress and 4th in Austin’s Warehouse District, I could hear heavy bass that drew me right to Red Bull’s final event during Thre3stlye hosted by Skillz. Held in a gigantic parking lot, this party couldn’t have been much more public as it was free and open to everyone of age requiring no RSVP. As the windy night carried on, more and more curious pedestrians piled onto the concrete to hear some of the world’s most beloved selectors. Even Kanye West stopped by.
Already a huge success in Canada last year, Thre3style recently was introduced to many more countries including the U.S. The competition usually features talent from each city competing to see who can create the best mix utilizing three genres of music, but this particular night was more of an all-star showcase. Not to be mistaken, DJ Spider, DJ Klever, J.Rocc, The Juan McLean, Cut Chemist, and Jazzy Jeff were still asked to apply the Thre3style, genre mash-up format. And while it wasn’t an official competition, the crowd blatantly had their favorites.
Jazzy Jeff—fittingly the final DJ up—killed it. Biases aside, no selector that night evoked as many cheers. To be fair, me and most of the final audience wasn’t around to catch the first couple DJs. But judging from when the place starting to fill up during Cut Chemist’s set, Jeff warmed up the bitterly cold crowd best. Beginning with a barrage of straight up hip-hop classics (Dead Prez’s “Hip-Hop”), the legend then kept hitting us with surprising gems (David Bowie and Queen’s “Under Pressure”), and universal pop hits (Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back”). All the while, Jeff showed off his unobtrusive scratching skills.
Respect is also due to J.Rocc who put on a great West Coast-heavy set featuring everyone from Snoop Dogg to Rick James. And during this Beat Junkie’s mix is when a crew of b-boys came on stage to uprock to the choice rididms and then hit the floor.
Giving the people a variety of talent, Red Bull invited Mos Def to headline Thre3style. By the time this Brooklyn native stepped up after midnight, the parking lot was packed. Like most of his shows these days, Mos played it pretty cool, mostly performing songs from last year’s critically-acclaimed The Ecstatic. Interestingly the MC/actor seemed more talkative this show, towards the end, telling us, “thank you for letting me be myself.”
Scheduled to finish at one, Mos Def kept extending his set, probably feeding off the visible reaction from those in the front rows. With so many legends in the building and such a great turnout, Mos wasn’t the only one that wanted to keep the night moving.
