VTHH NOTES: 3/2/22 — Vermont Hip Hop

"Better late than never," right? With the Awards more or less wrapped and the backlog growing every day, it's high time to get back into the regular routines of covering Vermont's percolating hip hop scene. (I joked about taking a vacation, yes, but instead I've been working my ass off.) This here will be quick & dirty; expect a much more in-depth NOTES update next week.

Some of those routines are already quietly underway. THE FEED has been back up and running since the 22nd, and the SHOWS calendar is going to be monthly instead of weekly this year. (And if your event in March are currently missing, help me fix that.)

Last week, Chris Farnsworth at Seven Days did a whole headline writeup about the First Annual Vermont Hip Hop Awards, an unexpected gift. It was also more than a little humbling, because I've had a cool two dozen people hit me up about it since. Which is great. But. They had absolutely no idea it was going on, at all, until they saw it in full color print. A good reminder that despite the steady traffic this website gets, my reach remains rather tiny. But it's growing.

This week, Chris Farnsworth at Seven Days dedicated a healthy portion of his Soundbites column to the rise of North Ave Jax, and rightly so. It's pretty wild to have Vermont hip hop getting back to back coverage like that, yet that's neither a fluke nor a favor: that's a testament to how much work everyone is doing. Undeniably successful, smart, savvy work. It's great to get writeups in the hometown paper, but Jax also got a spotlight in Lyrical Lemonade for his new single/video, "Play Dumb."

You've seen it, right? No? Fix that.

With winter coming to a close, it's a longstanding tradition in Vermont to have a completely baffling hip hop show featuring world class legends at Sugarbush. 2022 is no exception: this time, it's Das EFX, Marley Marl & Craig G rocking at The REKS on Saturday, March 5th. No word on the cover charge, but be warned, it was $110 back in 2019. At least you don't have to "Call Dino for tickets" this time. Local support include Nahte Renmus, Jarv and Mister Burns.

The next night, down in Manchester, NH, the long-running Rap Night at The Shaskeen will be headlined by none other than Cognac Cousins, aka Yung Breeze and Raw Deff. If you're in the area, or even just tempted to make the trek: do it. Rap Night is always a good time and you'll connect with some awesome people. Really, the more we can do to connect the 603 and 802 scenes, the better. It's a ton of talent.

Just a heads-up on the subject of legends: underground powerhouse Copywrite is coming to the Green Door on Saturday, March 12th (more on that next week) and motherfucking Pharaohe Monch will be rocking The Shaskeen on Saturday, March 26th. That may, in fact, already be sold out, so jump on it.

Finally: a salute to the welcome return of Omega Jade’s blog. One of the most fearless and zero bullshit voices in the scene, her blog posts are always downright wholesome; supportive and encouraging stuff. Looking forward to more music from her in 2022. You can catch Omega Jade rocking the Waking Windows festival this year, too, a huge honor and well deserved.