Mobtown Microshow: Kane Mayfield - What Weekly Magazine

Photos by Brooke Hall

This past Thursday we found ourselves, yet again, taking part in another Mobtown Studios Microshow, the music series so remarkable we’ve decided to try and chronicle every one. This story marks the third, in what will be a column dedicated to documenting the Microshows and the exceptional talent that somehow seems to find its way there every month. If you think I’m kidding, peep the list of free music that Mobtown has amassed.

This month we follow the continuing saga of stock broker turned hip-hop impresario Kane Mayfield. We first witnessed Mr. Mayfield onstage at the 14 Karat Cabaret helping The DriFish celebrate the release of his new album The Clown With No Circus. We were pretty certain that we’d witnessed an exceptional performance though we thought it best to take another look without the wine to be certain.

We walked into the control room at Mobtown to find Mayfield in the midst of convincing trombone player Patrick Harrison that he looked like a cult leader and asked us for our opinion and we agreed. From there the running stream of consciousness jumped from the overplayed gangsta image in rap music to crack pie to the deliciousness of fast food to the pros and cons of a career as financial advisor and came to rest somewhere near the assertion that I looked like a detective from Boston (but not Leonardo DiCaprio). There was also a brief meditation on the benefits of gin. You have to be on your toes to hold a conversation with Mayfield, his mind works at a dizzying pace and his chosen profession is word play so you get the sense that the exchange is probably a warm up for what happens later. It’s not hard to imagine him entertaining someone, somewhere, most of his waking life.

Mayfield brought the party to Mobtown Studios last Thursday. When he was on the mic he was on point and when he wasn’t on the mic he had a band of seasoned studio musicians to fend off the dastardly silence that brings a good time to a stand still. Mayfield has the rare gift of entertaining an audience with his music or whatever else he happens to throw at you. For this reason, the set we saw was half-serious, in the songs he delivered in all sincerity, and half-hilarity with his quick wit and irreverence. Not to mention, he covered the Fresh Prince of Bel Air which was an inspired choice.

Denard Watson

Patrick (clearly not a cult leader) Harrison

Karlos Brickhouse

Behold the winner of this week’s prestigious and highly coveted, ‘You Woke Up, Brushed Your Teeth, Put On a Buffalo Hat, Looked In The Mirror and Felt That What You Were Wearing Was Completely Appropriate For Shooting a Hip-Hop Show Down At Your Friendly Neighborhood Mobtown Studios Which Says To Me That You March To The Beat Of A Different Drummer And That Is Exactly What We Need In This Day And Age, More Independent Thinking, Buffalo Headed, Camera Men,’ award. Hold onto your hat, good buddy. When Kane sees this he’s gonna write a song just for you.

At one point in the evening Mayfield took us aside and revealed the secret to every MC’s success. What you’re seeing in this very rare photo, taken in secrecy and smuggled out of Charles Village, is Kane Mayfield’s “rapper shoes.” Without them, rumor has it, he could be reduced to rambling on for hours before finding two words that even come close to rhyming. This is probably the reason for the team of secret security ninjas that follow him everywhere but are rarely ever seen.