TINO

Story time! (This is a long post. You’ve been warned lol) This Saturday I got the opportunity to go down to Cincinnati and be a part of Da Inphamus Amadeuz’s The Punchline Academy. Amadeuz is a DJ on SiriusXM Shade 45 and often features his series on the Shade 45 platform. The series is a one take cypher with invited emcees only. S/O to Grant Gatsby for the invitation.

I was told new or unreleased material would be best to showcase so I decided to write a new verse. BIG mistake. My usual process before performing new material is writing and rehearsing to record, recording the song, viewing mixes of the song, re-recording as needed, mix reviewing again, and mastering. I’ll have lived with and have heard a song hundreds of times before playing it out.

I wrote this new verse in 2 or 3 days. I had 9 days to get it memorized which I knew I could do but when you’re really performing a song you don’t want to be thinking about it. You rehearse to the point that you can be doing every day tasks or even reading and replying to text while reciting it. It becomes like muscle memory for your brain. By Saturday it was not muscle memory. I could do the verse but I was still thinking about the next line frequently.

Amadeuz gets there and his crew sets up for the shoot. He gives this speech about don’t get in front of the mic if you don’t really want this. He only wants real spitters to showcase what Ohio has to say. It was a hype football coach style of speech. The emcees and crowd file into the spot. The beat is already playing and we’ve got 10 minutes before the 16 emcee one take shoot begins. I fire off my verse flawlessly in prep about 5 times and we line up for the video.

Soon as the camera starts rolling I can’t remember my verse. I’m 12th in the pecking order so I try to lock in and get to another verse that I do know that I was keeping tucked for an in case of emergency break glass situation like this. I can’t remember that verse beyond the first few bars either. Emcee after emcee is eating and I start to think what if I’m the guy that fumbles this for Ohio? What if I get up here and bomb ruining all the effort I’d put in all these years and let down everyone that’s been holding me down during that time?

There’s one artist ahead of me and panic sets in. I find the homie T.Hunt who’s supposed be right after me and I ask him to step in at 12 because I don’t think I can do this. He was like bro you got this. I told him at this point I don’t want to make us (Ohio/Dayton) look bad and I’m blanking. Hunt was like I got you and I told him who I was supposed to follow. Big Bro Chete Blaque was also there and told me “you need to do this.”

While Hunt was up murdering his verse I thought about how big the moment felt. You get around your peers in rap and it’s often so competitive, but here everyone was so supportive because it was a look for our state and scene. I thought about the folks I told I was going to be doing this event and how disappointing it would be to have to explain I let anxiety get the best of me. I thought about Amadeuz’s speech and remembered I was really like that and the hundreds of shows I’ve played and crowds I’ve rocked.

Chete was the anchor of the event at number 16. I turned to him as the 14th emcee was going and told him I was ready. Just moments before I came to the realization I’d regret it more if I had the opportunity to be a part of the moment and played the background than if I went up there, tried and failed. As it always seems to do when I stepped to the mic the voices in my head quieted and I completed the verse with a slight mumble during the 12th bar. The crowd pop I got after the last line reassured me not giving into the brief window of self doubt was the right move.

tl;dr It’s okay to do something a majority of your life and still have doubts. Being willing to fail is the way you learn to succeed. I’m happy that after all this time the culture, art form, and community still factor/mean so much to me that I feel that pressure to uphold a standard.

T. Hunt, Chete, Steve I’m grateful y’all where there and helped me push through on 🙏🏾

Double duty Saturday. Performing at Wagner Subaru Outdoor Experience Saturday 3:25pm to 4:45pm.

Going down to Cincy Saturday night to represent Ohio on a national/global reaching platform that is Shade 45 and I won’t let the look go to waste

I saw an Odyssey two night TV special when I was a kid and have been enamored with the story ever since. I’m glad people are finding an appreciation for one of the greatest epics ever told similar to how I did thanks to Christopher Nolan. One of the first songs I ever wrote and recorded was about my guy Odysseus. Darrick Patrick captured me performing it at Bob’s last weekend.

TINO - Homer's Odyssey Pt. 1 (Blind Bob's) TINO jamming 'Homer's Odyssey Pt. 1' at Blind Bob's in Dayton, Ohio...

Photo from my last solo Blind Bob's show December 2024. I’ll be making up for lost time tomorrow night on night 2 of their 18 year anniversary.

Photos taken by Mike Kidd of me at my most recent show. I’ve got one more Dayton solo performance slated for this year and it’s Blind Bob's 18th anniversary show Aug 29th. This will be the proper punctuation to a fruitful and busy 2026.

Dayton I’ve got two more shows for you before I go dark on solo sets until 2027. Tomorrow night at The Brightside Music & Event Venue I’ll be playing Brighter Daze 2 with my set starting at 8:30pm. You can still get Presales for that up until door at 7pm tomorrow on Brightside’s website. My last performance will be at Blind Bob's closing their two night 18th anniversary weekend Saturday Aug 29th.

I appreciate all the love you all have shown the new releases and multiple events this year. I’d be grateful if you’d help me close out these last performances strong. 🫶🏾