Hard work pays off, Hardwork Movement packs it in at KFN

Hardwork Movement | Photo by John Vettese for WXPN

“I do not think Kung Fu Necktie knew what they were getting into when they agreed to have us play here,” Jeremy Keys told a packed house at the Fishtown venue on January 7th.

When I say packed, I don’t exaggerate. From the moment you got to the top of the stairs at Hardwork Movement‘s release party, it was wall-to-wall people filling up the bar, into the secondary room (what the heck do we call that…the dance floor? the chillout room? the place with couches?) and on the way to the stage tucked away in the far room. I spent most of Brava y Dulce’s set making my way through and positioning myself for a good spot to watch the headliners, who had just dropped the impressive Good Problems on Bandcamp.

The album is a mixture of throwback and forward-thinking hip-hop, and in step with that, the three MCs – Sterling Duns, RB Ricks and Rick Banks – and singer – Keys – performed half the hour-long set backed by a DJ, the rest augmented by drums, horns and fierce guitar playing from Duns. Dancing was continuous throughout. Check out photos from the show below.