On Sept. 7, WLOY hosted its first concert of the year, which featured the Baltimorean experimental hip-hop group, Soul Cannon. Up and coming artist Brandon Newby, who only used his laptop to provide the background instrumentals, rapped over the tracks he had selected from previous projects. He previewed three new songs for a project that will be available on SoundCloud later this month.

Soul Cannon’s on-stage presence was overwhelming and absorbing. Their music is appealing from both a lyrical and an instrumental perspective. The small, intimate setting forced the audience to the front, and the electric hip-hop sounds were smooth but edgy.  They made you forget that the whole event was only in McGuire.

The band consists of Eze Jackson as the MC, Jon Birkholz on the keyboard, Matt Frazao on the guitar, Charles Wilson on the drums, and Ryan Dorsey on the bass. The band has previously opened for Mos Def, Talib Kweli, and many other artists.

Other than just playing groovy tunes through the night, the group also had tips on how to find out more about the music scene in the Baltimore area. Jackson recommended to “follow the acts that you see at WLOY and from that, you can discover other acts from the city too.”

Soul Cannon was brought to Loyola by Tara Howell ’18, the general manager of WLOY. Howell also schedules many open mic nights and acoustic guitar singers to perform next to Starbucks in the Student Center. Next week’s acoustic show stars Nalani and Serena, twins with an eclectic set ranging from soul to pop and rock.

Anyone interested in joining Loyola’s WLOY radio station is welcome. “You don’t need any DJ experience, you just need to have a love for music and know a bit about the music you might want to play,” Tara said.

If you’re interested in seeing Soul Cannon live, they’re playing Saturday, Sept. 30 at The Crown.