I first met Jelani Maliik aka the Knightheart back in 2020 when I was hosting my now defunct podcast. I met him through my longtime friend InSessions Productions, a Midwestern music producer, who also happens to be a former union autoworker brother of mine.
Knightheart showed up for his podcast interview in my old studio with a posse of local musicians and artists with him, and he impressed the fuck out of me with his story and his talent. He’d spent much of his childhood homeless, and he started performing spoken word and hip hop in clubs years before he was of legal age to be in those clubs as a patron, and as soon as he reached adulthood he founded MVNIFVST, LLC, an artist production company. Our shared background of housing instability and overcoming struggle to chase our artistic dreams led to a friendship and mutual respect since that first meeting.
And because of that friendship, Knightheart and MVNIFVST have invited me to perform poetry at multiple shows the last few years, and it’s no understatement that those shows have been amongst the highlights of my poetry journey.
Last Saturday night at the legendary Ottawa Tavern in Toledo was another one of those shows. Dubbed The Purple Renaissance- Music & Art Event, it was another one of those phenomenal summer nights when the poetry, art and music mingled with good times and good people, and the afterglow vibes will resonate for days.
If you’ve never been to the Ottawa Tavern in Toledo’s Adam’s Street area, put it on your list of must sees in Toledo. Adams Street is one of the best stretches of nightlife, fun, and cool stuff in the city, and if I’m out doing nightlife stuff there’s a 50% chance it’s on Adams St. The Ottawa Tavern, or the OT as it’s known, is at one end of the Adams Street corridor, and I’ve attended dozens of great shows and events there over the years, and many of those events were with some of my closest friends.
The OT holds its own amongst the better midwestern dive bar music venues. They’ve got good food on the kitchen menu, a thousand different drink options from cheap canned beer to hipster IPA’s, and your regular orgasmic drink cocktails, and they’ve got several NA options for those like me that don’t drink. The OT also has a couple of lounge areas a half floor above the stage and audience, and that area is perfect for art shows and selling merch.
At the Purple Renaissance, Chloris the Fairy, a local artist, musician and cosplay specialist, held their first solo art exhibit in that half upstairs lounge area. I won’t pretend to be an art critic. I’m just a lover of it. So, I can’t give you a critique of Chloris the Fairy’s work, but I can tell you that the work on display was vibrant with color, and powerful with its use of multimedia. And they sold about 3/4 of the art on display in their first solo exhibition. A critic would say the work was well received. But I ain’t a critic. I’d say Chloris the Fairy’s artwork that ranges from horror, to mystical fantasy and fairyland was a smash hit amongst the hip hop artist audience.
I bought a print of a mushroom painting, because I’ve been looking for some mushroom art for obvious reasons, and they had a print that followed me home long after I first gazed at it. Chloris also had stickers, small prints and all the good vibes you’d ever want.
That’s the thing I love about working with InSessions Productions, or MVNIFST and Jelani: they intentionally surround themselves and work with the best good vibes artists you’ll ever meet. Most of the artists and friends I mention the rest of this rambling ramshackle of a story, I met all of them because of Knightheart and InSessions. Both of those artists, and their overlapping circles of influence in our art scene, have all had a huge impact on me as an artist that I’ll forever be grateful for.
The musical performances kicked off just after 8pm, and The Knightheart himself kicked it off with a surprise short set. Several other artists and I were talking on the OT’s patio after his performance, and there’s a mutual agreement that Knight might have the best stage presence in the city. He definitely kicked the show off in high gear. He was joined by his frequent sidekick, Jesse Reau the guitarist, yet another artist I’m happy to call friend.
My dude Press Play went on next as another surprise special guest, and he brought the fire with his lyrics that always kick you in the heart. And I’m not just saying this because I was asked to be interviewed for a big new project he’s working on, but I love that dude like a kid brother. I’ve watched him grow the last few years from his first singles and EP to two full length albums, and hundreds of thousands of downloads and listens.
The thing I love the most about these local hip hop shows is the incredible energy. From the the jumping, dancing, raging and flexing on stage, to the raucous dancing crowd, I love all of the hype and good times. And I love that most artist sets feature at least one other artist on a song, in the grand tradition of hip hop collaborations that I enjoy so much. So, all night long artists are making surprise stage appearances.
My friend Luna Day was amongst the performers. My first time I’ve seen him perform live, and not only is he rapping, but dude can sing. Kindrosys killed it with his set, and later while we were enjoying adult smokes on the patio, he and I talked about how long we’d both been writing and chasing poetry and rhymes. It’s more than one decade for us both.
I read two poems in my slot in the middle of the show, and as always when reading in a bar with a big crowd, it took several seconds to get the chatter to quiet, but it did, and that went well enough that I got a little uncomfortable with all the ‘hell yeahs’ and ‘good jobs.’
Chloris the Fairy killed it with their music set. They were definitely the brightest star in a well lit night sky. Cito, WhatNowBaylee, Mara, Bailey, Meche Trejo and others all kicked ass, and the whole night was a beautiful orchestra of hugs, fist bumps, good weed, big smiles and bigger daydreams.
Nights like last Saturday reaffirm my belief that pound for pound, Toledo has the most talented artists in the Midwest, and if you’ve never tapped into the local hip hop scene, you’re missing out on some of the best energy in the city.
Some of Chloris the Fairy’s art work on display at the Ottawa Tavern. This photo courtesy of MVNIFVST, LLC and Photographer Luna Day.
(All other photos by author.)
The Knightheart performing live.
The Ottawa Tavern sign has to be one of the top 10 most photographed places in Toledo.
Chloris the Fairy, Me, and The Knightheart. One of my favorite photos of the year so far.
(I lied. This photo was taken by another human on the OT’s patio, that was kind enough to take this for us on my phone. I didn’t get their name, because I’m not a journalist, just a blue collar writer.)
Chloris the Fairy performing during their set.