During a night of music that moved and came alive, it was refreshing to see a crowd predominantly filled with Skyline students.

Kymberly Jackson, aka K-Jeezy aka Skyline’s own professor of music, opened the show giving the crowd a taste of what was to come, playing music that included a track she made with the one and only Stevie Wonder. She played solo, and only with the assistance of her “DJ in a box” as she called her laptop.

The second act was not a human being. Francisco “FriScO” Romero, known as the first American Beatbox Champion, mesmerized the audience by performing hip-hop and EDM sounds while speaking in voices that ranged from Super Mario to Optimus Prime. When he finished there was a moment where the audience sat there like “what just happened?” before some jumped out of their seats to give the superhuman musician a standing ovation.

“The beat-boxing was really impressive,” Skyline Student Stephen Costakis said.

The third act was unlike anything I’ve seen before. The Mik Nawooj Ensemble took over the stage with their distinct “Hybrid music” style, featuring two rapper/poets, a singer, drummer, flutist, clarinetist, violinist, cellist, and, of course, the composer/pianist JooWan Kim, who led the musicians.

ENM enticed with easily recognizable hip-hop tracks such as the Wu-Tang Clan’s “Wu-Tang clan ain’t nuthing ta F**k wit,” incorporating the live musicians into the music. They easily transitioned from hard hip-hop lyrics to smooth singing. It’s like they wanted to lull the audience into a false sense of security with serene singing that transcended the hard vibe just to hit us unexpectedly with something vicious.

“I liked it a lot…it was really good, fast and precise,” Costakis said. “I like that they did stuff we’d recognize with some of their own original music.”

The highlight of the night had to be when EMN began playing their original music. They managed to bring across a formidable melody with a level of uncommon creativity.The rappers unleashed “floetic” verses over opera style singing and I have to say, it was beautiful.

“It’s pretty cool, I like it,” Audience attendee Tiffani Del Real said. “It’s a good combination of classical and hip-hop.”

At one point, EMN performed a track that featured a solo by nearly every member of the group. There wasn’t a weak moment in the song and so the audience would give loud praise after every solo, somewhat interrupting the next artist.

“This is the most unique ensemble in the district,” Jackson said. “Where hip-hop meets R&B;, soul, and Jazz..”

Though the audience was not completely full, it only added to the feeling that those in attendance where in on a secret. I mean, I don’t often hear people speak of this kind of music, but with artists like the ones featured in the Ensemble Mik Nawooj, that could soon change because what they do to music is groundbreaking.