AustinSurreal’s Matt Sonzala continues his '08 rolling rap show with two big gigs over the next seven days. Despite the bevy of contacts he brings with him from Houston, Sonzala balances between the gimme shows (Bun-B a day after II Trill dropped) and freewheeling, throwing his clout behind acts that wouldn’t normally come to or draw a crowd in Austin, like the Palestinian rappers who played here in May.

The first show – Saturday night at the Whisky bar – is more the latter. Ice Mike is far from a household name in rap, but the New Orleans bounce sound that he helped to cement some 15 years ago has resonated in the mainstream since, from that platinum late '90s Cash Money sound to the Baton Rouge scene that is just now hitting nationally. Largely, though, N.O. bounce remains a strictly regional sound, as no big names ever resurrected it to the same degree as Baltimore club.

But who cares? All the better, at least for the sake of Saturday night. Unless you’re a big fan of bounce, you and I don’t know this sound, even if we have heard it. Like any regional rap, it has its own codes, learning curves, formulas and walls built around it, which you can’t completely hop over unless you grew up around bounce or it grew up around you. That said, people in the Big Easy have been living and dancing to this music for two decades, and tomorrow night we might get to join them.

As for Sonzala's second event, he has yet to officially announce next Friday’s happenings on Lake Travis, but they involve the inimitable Bavu Blakes, DJ Grip, some booze, some food, and 147 other people not listed in this sentence. Tickets go on-sale on AustinSurreal sometime next week, presumably before the boat leaves.

Whisky Bar MySpace
Ice Mike MySpace
Austin Surreal