LOS ANGELES — On a suffocating afternoon in early September, the cavernous Hollywood Palladium was unnaturally empty.
Inside, the South-Central hip-hop artist Blxst (pronounced "Blast") ran through a soundcheck before his second sold-out show at the 4,000 capacity venue. Midway through, he and his band rehearsed their rendition of "Die Hard," the Kendrick Lamar song on which Blxst begs for another chance despite missing each one prior. Live instruments illuminated the track's layered melodies, the emotion swelling each time they reached a section's apex. But Blxst wasn't satisfied.
He and a stage manager huddled with the violin-toting Grandmaster Vic, instructing him to "go crazy right there" in the absence of Lamar. They ran the song back and Vic unleashed a riveting solo, racing across octaves and punctuating it with well-timed ricochet bowing.
