Namir Blade Cuts Through

“Whenever I'm onstage I try to be an embodiment of the music,” Namir Blade told me when we spoke for a recent Scene profile. “I try to play the songs in unique ways we may not otherwise again. That's what made the bands of yesteryear legendary. You had to be there.” 

Blade's show Thursday night on the rooftop of Acme Feed and Seed — part of Lovenoise and Acme Radio’s The Change Up series — may end up being one of those shows talked about for years to come by the few dozen who caught it. With support from Clarksville MC SeddyMac, who warmed up a mostly seated crowd with a series of agile, scholarly raps with a bit of singing for good measure, the gathering functioned as a belated dual record release for Blade. The local rapper-producer issued two albums mid-pandemic: the solo outing Aphelion's Traveling Circus as well as Imaginary Everything, a collab with North Carolina producer L'Orange.

Showgoers stood up and moved closer as Blade took the stage in a black silk button-up splashed with artwork from Dragonball Z. The kind of guy whose Labor Day plans are more likely to involve DragonCon than Bonnaroo, Blade keeps the atmosphere light. But he’s dead serious about his craft. A musician from a very young age, now coming into his own at 29, he had no trouble filling a headline-length set.

Where Blade's shows typically involve a live band and a film element, on Thursday he was backed solely by DJ Jevity, with birds flying by as people slowly made their way along the downtown pedestrian bridge. The setup further highlighted his raw talent on the mic and ability to command a crowd. Playing off a tuned-in audience that had the words to many of the songs committed to memory, Blade touched on highlights from both of his recent releases. That included the Aphelion's R&B vibe-out “Stay” and emotional tour de force “The Holy Mountain,” as well as Imaginary Everything's anthemic, guitar-driven “Nihilism.” A camera crew was on hand filming the whole performance, and vocalists Jordan Webb (sporting a Dragonball shirt that matched Blade’s) and JSKodiak reprised their guest spots from the recorded versions of “Pace” and “Homesick,” respectively. 

From one moment to the next, the performance was simultaneously humorous and solemn, tough and vulnerable, squaring a flair for the eccentric with potential to connect with the masses. It reaffirmed what makes Blade such a compelling, intriguing up-and-comer — an artist whose best work still lies ahead. 

“He's true to himself, and true to his influences,” said JSKodiak, caught for a comment after the show. “He thinks about the listener, and tries to shine a light on lesser-known ideas of Black culture, of nerd culture. … He creates a space where these new ideas have room to grow. You see it when you see him perform. People get so excited about singing the lyrics in his songs because they're like, 'That's me.' ”