Under the hot sun in Austin, Texas acts including Wheelchair Sports Camp and 3Two raised the roof for the hip-hop celebration Wednesday at the Colorado Music Party at SXSW.
"Oh it's so much fun, you know," Wheelchair Sports Camp's Kalyn Heffernan said after a blistering set that packed the small rooftop patio at 512 at Sixth Street. "Especially when we have so many of the band people up there. You know it's just a big party on stage."
For Heffernan, the event required her crew to lift her up – literally. The three-foot, six-inch, 55-pound Heffernan has osteogenesis imperfecta, which causes brittle bones, and was carried up a flight of stairs to the showcase where she was shown some big love from both fans and fellow musicians.
Fans were fawning over Wheelchair Sports Camp's small-but-mighty Kalyn Heffernan. #COmusic #SXSW pic.twitter.com/DU7sANLYV2
— Stacy Nick (@StacyNick) March 18, 2015
Getting around the 512 was tough enough. Getting around with throngs of music fans at an event like SXSW requires planning. Heffernan brings a smaller wheelchair and works to avoid even minor run ins which can easily send the performer to the emergency room.
During Wheelchair Sports Camp's regional tour ending at SXSW, Heffernan suffered a broken arm at the hands of an overzealous fan. But Heffernan didn't shy away from high-fiving fans at the show and making time to talk to them and take photos after the show. At the last SXSW, Heffernan's show made a fan out of Roxanne Urias from New Braunfels, Texas. So much so that she brought a group of friends with her this year.
"They jammed," Urias said. "Everything about it. They were in harmony. She was just like, throwing rhymes. It was crazy. Loved it. Loved it."
Later on, rapper Christopher Bennett, who goes by the stage name 3Two, brought his larger-than-life stage presence to the showcase.
"Meeting a lot of new people and just performing outside of my own city and amongst so many great musicians, it's been awesome," Bennett said of his experience so far at SXSW.
Even though the day was about celebrating hip-hop, 3Two didn't shy away from raps that were critical of some hip-hop artists and hip-hop culture, such as the song "Melon N' Melanin."
"It's an ode to my distaste for the n-word," he explained after the show.
"I know a lot of rappers disagree and that's fine but… for a long time we've just been made to accept it and roll with it so I figured I would write a song dedicated to the people who don't want to hear that song and love hip-hop," he said.
Editor's Note: Reporter Stacy Nick is in Austin, Texas reporting from the 2015 South By Southwest festival and the Colorado Music Party. You can follow Stacy Nick on Twitter for updates: @StacyNick
