VTHH NOTES: 11/17/21 — Vermont Hip Hop

Real Ricky having a pretty decent time at ArtsRiot. Photo via Timberline Media

As expected, the Love, Kelly showcase at ArtsRiot on November 6th was a wild time; a peak moment. At capacity pretty much since it started, packed full of enthusiastic fans looking to shake off 18 months of lockdown bullshit, and featuring a cool dozen artists eager to bring them some of the best entertainment they'd ever seen. That's a good recipe. It's not a flash in the pan, either: these are the ingredients for a sustainable and growing scene.

A young scene, that is. The "All Ages" component here cannot be overlooked, especially since it was also the engine driving some early successes for 99 Neighbors. Like I said about a week back, "scenes are built by the people who show up," and the older your fanbase becomes, the less likely it is they'll be standing in line for you when doors open. Such is life.

Yet even the oldest and grumpiest of heads among us should be nothing but encouraged by this new wave. Rising demand is rising demand, and if you can't make that work for you, well, Charles Darwin is laughing in Hell.

ArtsRiot knows how to pick winners, and on Saturday, December 4th, they'll be hosting another showcase, this time from the Queen City Kickback team. They're a young promoter team that’s been putting on some legendary underground shows over the past year and their big stage debut will feature a mix of punk and hip hop acts currently percolating their way to the top.

There's a lot more coverage on this new wave coming shortly — tomorrow, in fact — but with two weeks worth of news to catch up on, let's keep it moving. See that photo up top, though? That's courtesy of the Timberline Media team, who do outstanding photography work. I liked the event photos I saw, but the portfolio on their website really impressed me. If you need professional grade portrait work and live shots (and you fucking do, believe me) give them a shout. Nothing worth anything in this world is free. Invest in yourself.

Also announced: southern VT scene stalwart David Phair of Hustle & Loyalty Records is returning to the Howlin' Mouse Record Store in Rutland for a Hip Hop Turkey Drive on Monday, November 22nd. The bill includes Konflik, Humble Among, and Green Mountain Boys Productions, who are currently at work on a lot of new music. The excellent Babes Bar team will be slinging drinks, too. $10 or a food donation at the door. All money & donations go to Project Happy Holidays, a Bethel-area fundraising drive organized by local businesses.

On the music front, it's been another busy week. Freddie Losambe, who is having an incredibly prolific and consistent 2021, just dropped the latest "Excursion" installment of his FNTM TOLLBOOTH instrumental run. These are short, funky and psychedelic beat tape style journeys and I would definitely buy a CD full of them to bump next time I'm out buying grain & groceries.

Then we've got a new video from Robscure (GET FAMILIAR). "Funny Feeling" is a stark, stripped-down treatment for his recent single, and it looks damn good. Mr. Scure has been busy this year and has no plans on slowing down, with a new release ready to drop within the month.

I missed the latest LP from the Milkhaus crew, by far one of the most distinctive and authentic art rap crews in Vermont. Well, from Vermont: like so many other 802 talents, they're living in New York City these days. Never understood the appeal, but I hear the food is great there if you can afford it. Featuring Pensive verses over Moses Rainbow productions, The Good Word is a remarkably political project, especially coming from artists who have been a lot more philosophical — hell, even spiritual — on prior releases. Safe to bet that life at ground zero of finance capitalism & bohemian socialism will only radicalize these country boys even more.

The end of any given calendar year goes fast, and it's crazy how close we're getting to the First Annual Vermont Hip Hop Awards in January. There is a team, and we're working hard already. Over the past week I've been reaching out to OGs, artists, DJs, promoters, producers and tastemaker types about participating as voters and it's been encouraging to see how many of you want to be involved. I'm still working my way down the list, but if you haven't heard from me yet and you want to be onboard, please feel free to reach out. This ain't the Illuminati.

Although there is a lot of work being done behind the scenes, the hardest work of all is ultimately going to be done by the voters in January. In theory, sure, it's great to take a look back on a long year, assess who did the best material, and honor their efforts. In practice, though, nobody has the time for that. Check out the 802 Hip Hop Discography project: there were 48 albums in 2020. Who is actually going to listen to all of those? Not even me.

The most common concern I hear from the people I'm reaching out to goes a little something like this: "I'm going to be too biased towards my team, and I haven't heard most of the stuff that came out this year." That's fine, and that's equally true for nearly every other person you'll be voting alongside. There's just under 80 confirmed voters so far, all of them biased, all them imperfect human beings like you and me. That's all going to balance out when we tally up them votes, too.

However. It's worth starting to think about these categories now. The question of who had the best video is a fairly small pool of options, but who had the best song? That’s a way bigger galaxy of options. So here’s the full stack for this year: Best Emcee, Best Producer, Best Group, Best DJ, Best Graf Artist, Rookie of the Year, Best Verse, Best Song, Best Album, and Best Music Video. (There is also an eleventh category still in the works, but trust me, that one will be an easy call.)

So there it is. Starting chewing on ‘em now. And if you’re sitting on material in any of those categories, bud, get ‘em done ASAP. Anything up until December 31st, 2021 will be eligible for nominations. See you back here in January.