PARADISE GRAY, FREESTYLE, HANDSDOWN + BZE JOIN SOANDRY

We are thrilled to announce additional performers and a very special host who will join Soandry on stage this Saturday at the New Hazlett Theater. Soandry will be joined by special guests and Pittsburgh and international favorites FREESTYLE, HANDSDOWN (ShaRon Don and Deejay Huggy), and BZE! We are honored to have PARADISE GRAY host this special event!

Freestyle a.k.a. FRZY

As an international recording artist, Freestyle has collaborated with other artists from Japan, Morocco, Bulgaria, and Germany and has reached great success. He has been featured on DJ Khaled's "Drive Time Show" twice, has reached the top ten charts in Germany, and has already performed for crowds as large as 30,000 people. He has been featured on two of the largest Jay-Z fansites as the "Next Jay-Z" and all hail his upcoming project "Reincarnation" as one of the most remarkable projects ever released in hip-hop.

Handsdown (ChaRon Don and Deejay Huggy)

Handsdown (ChaRon Don and Deejay Huggy) is a Pittsburgh native duo hip-hop group who have performing, recording and distributing music internationally and are working on a new release which is due to drop next month.

BZE (a.k.a. the Cuban Cruise Missile)

BZE, also known as the Cuban Cruise Missile, grew up in Northern California and was born to Cuban immigrants. The majority of BZE's cuts are dark, funky beats with production assistance by Omar-Abdul.

Paradise Gray (left)

Paradise Gray, who will host this performance, has a long track record in hip-hop, beginning with his membership in the socially conscious group the X-Clan. On the business side, he was a photographer for hip-hop magazines and manager of entertainment for The Latin Quarters, the legendary New York club that helped launch such acts as Public Enemy and A Tribe Called Quest.

Paradise Gray and X-Clan's "Xodus"

Order tickets in advance here.
Tickets will also be available at the door:
$12 general admission
Mattress Factory members (+1) free at the door
Pitt & CMU students with I.D. are $9 at the door
Performance begins at 8pm

Soandry’s debut performance in the U.S. on October 23, 2010!

We are very excited to announce that Cuban hip-hop artist Soandry, formerly of the duo “Hermanos de Causa”, will be performing for the first time in the United States at the New Hazlett Theater on Saturday, October 23, 2010. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to learn the stories of the struggles and the triumphs of a Cuban rapper.

Soandry “Luchando con rimas” (“Struggling with rhymes”) by Oscar B. Castillo

Known for being a passionate free-thinker who shares the realities of life in Cuba, Soandry, is a leader of the hip-hop scene in Havana. He shares a distinct socially conscious rap ethic that is uncommon in Cuba. His unabashed criticism of the Cuban government is audacious.

Soandry’s “Negro Cubano”

Soandry was recently featured in the documentary about Cuban hip-hop entitled “East of Havana”. The film, which focuses on Soandry and two other underground Cuban hip-hop artists, has been deemed “A vital look at Cuba's tenaciously grassroots hip-hop scene” and that “For the youth in the film, music doesn’t just have a purpose, it is a purpose, and the artists find in hip-hop a 'mental freedom.'” The film will be screened on October 21, 2010, at the Mattress Factory with an introduction by the director. The event is free.

“East of Havana” trailer featuring Soandry