Since moving to New York by way of Seattle, Queens-based rapper Aaron Cohen has made several trips to Canada. This past July, he kicked off the Raw Every Day North American Tour in support of his new album by the same name.
The tour began in Portland, ME on July 24 and the first Canadian took place in downtown Ottawa the next day. Known for his strong work ethic, Cohen and his road dog Austin hit the road immediately after the Portland show was done to make the seven hour drive to Ottawa.
“It’s my most aggressive music so far, totally raw and unfiltered.” – Aaron Cohen
He arrived just in time for soundcheck inside Kinki Lounge Kitchen and the concert, presented by CapCityHipHop, started without a hitch not long after. Local Ottawa acts Trip, Apollo Rae, Capé, and DJ Alive kicked things off.
Aaron Cohen performs in Ottawa on July 25, 2019
Trip (aka The Most Rugged on Instagram), a fan favourite of mine, was the first act to perform and played mostly new records like “Yung Artist” (which received video support on Aug. 16), “Play Dead,” and “Dans Ta Face,” which is a a French saying for “in your face.”
You can find the songs on his new EP, Dark Art. “Dans Ta Face” was produced by Paris-based Art Aknid.
Apollo Rae, a new artist I’m just starting to get familiar with, came out in a track suit with gold dreaded tips and began his set with his single “Can’t Decide” off his The Golden Gate EP.
Apollo also performed a unreleased joint record “Familiar With My Roots” (Remix) with fellow rapper Capé which is off Apollo’s Killing The Python project.
As Capé came on stage, the crowd got closer to the stage as he performed his fan favourites, “OuttaCTRL,” and “Unshakable,” which just recently received video support.
Both songs can be found on his latest project, Genesis. Capé also performed the Timothy Spokes-assisted “Lockdown,” and his 2018-single, “Set It Straight.”
After the last opening act, Ottawa’s own DJ Alive played a few songs in between sets before Cohen was finally ready to take the stage. He jumped into his set with some hot records like “Red New York,” the Jarren Benton-assisted “Bloodshot,” and other tracks from his 2018 album See Red, and his new project, Raw Every Day.
The new 15-track Raw Every Day album was officially released today independently via Aaron Cohen Music. It features a handful of guest appearances by Benton, as well as UFO FEV (“Percy Miller”), Mark Battles (“Shapeshift”), and Radamiz (“A Funny Word”). Raw Every Day is available on various digital streaming platforms including Apple Music and Spotify.
You can follow @AaronCohenMusic on Instagram.
