Live: Rye Rye BLAK – APRIL 5 - by Amanda Scriver - Nothing is going to hold this 17-year old female hip-hop MC down. Not the flight cancellation that originally kept her from performing at The Social last month. And not the by-law police that showed up at Blak for her second attempt. The beginning of the night got off to a rocky start with the arrival of the police, which threatened to cancel her performance AGAIN. Billed for the night was Fool's Gold Records' Jokers of the Scene, Dirty 30, Mad Decent Records' 20-year old DJ prodigy DJ Sega and, of course, Rye Rye, but as it closer to 11:30pm, still no acts had gone on. The cops were combing the venue, apparently trying to find anything to bust people on, but really, people were there just having a good time and enjoying the music. Once the police took one step out the door, the bass was thumping. (I'm actually quite surprised I still have hearing today!) First off, DJ Sega took to the stage, working as Rye Rye's beats man. To get the crowd pumping, he played the M.I.A remix of Paper Planes (which includes Rye Rye). You knew shit was going down when this crowd of hipsters threw their faux-guns in their air. Lil' Rye climbed the stage and began shakin' her bootay. Then, finally, the beat dropped out, she gave a scream — "WASSUP!" — and launched into a searing rendition of the single, "Wassup Wassup". The front of the stage was jacked. People on all fronts were shaking, grinding, twerking and going nuts; definitely an improvement from the early sketched-out vibe. The stage presence of this little 17-year old was incredible. She held down the stage on her own, giving high-fives to the crowd and doing your typical Southern booty shake. After a high-energy 20 minute set (with no stopping) she finished off with her most famous track to date, "Shake It to the Ground" — the perfect end to a quick and dirty set. As she walks off the stage, Isis from Thunderheist gives her a quick hug. Rye Rye still has much to learn. She's young. But she's got a lot of heart and with the Mad Decent crew behind her, she's got a bright future.