VTHH NOTES - 4/27/22

First up: tomorrow night, Smokepurpp hits Higher Ground, which could turn out to be a memorable shitshow. He's been having a tough time on tour and his recent stops in New England have either been cancelled outright or, well, "a disaster." Might be an opportunity to watch a meltdown and get your $40 refunded, too.

On Saturday, things will be much different. Concertgoing types will face a tough-ass choice between catching Belizbeha in South Burlington or Cappadonna in Waterbury. Either way, you win.

My piece last Sunday about why Higher Ground shows seldom include local openers started a fair few conversations, all of them interesting. First up, Vermont Hip Hop godfather Nastee dropped some gems:

Across the board, the lack of real world promo in the current scene is baffling to me. I get that everyone is on Instagram, and people seldom look up from their phones even when they're driving, but making yourself more visible seems like a pretty fucking easy way to get noticed. Especially when nobody else is doing it.

I also got corrected by a number of people for leaving out a very important point: you can contact the Higher Ground team with a "package" of your own. We recently saw a spectacularly successful example of this when the Love, Kelly circus sold out the Ballroom on April 16th with North Ave Jax and SSGKobe.

If you can put together a headliner, some local support with a strong draw, and a proven promo team, you can definitely get the attention of Vermont's most prominent venue. And pretty much everywhere else, too.

Which brings me to a dope new project down in Castleton, Event Genesis. They threw a show last weekend just off campus that drew over 200 people to hear Tyler Serrani, Obi the Voicegod, Ro$e Gold, and PLEASANT BOYS — which was a new name to me. Check out their work. Props to the team for making it happen, and expect to hear more from them shortly.

Meanwhile in BTV, the DIY house party gods at Queen City Kickback will be reconvening this Saturday with a killer lineup: Rivan C, KVMI OK!, HAKIMXOXO, Bilé, and once again, Obi the Voicegod. "DM 4 LOCATION," as the kids say.

This kind of momentum is glorious. I hope to be writing about new events like this every week, all summer long. This ties in directly to someday selling out Higher Ground, too: the best way to get your name out there and build a fanbase is playing backyards, parking lots, open mics, and house parties. Starting from the ground up and making it happen with your friends.

Which is, you may recall, exactly how this entire hip hop thing started. Can't stop, won't stop.

Another great way to reach people: making a pro grade music video. You may have noticed the coverage lately has been featuring quite a few of those. As supportive and friendly as the Vermont scene is, there's also a certain Darwinism in how the bar keeps getting raised on quality control and career accomplishments around here.

There’s a lot more to cover, but the fitness landscape of competition for limited resources affects everything in this cold world, including how much of my finite life I’m gonna spend on this project. Keep putting in work. That is all that matters. Converting fans means more than any coverage I can give you here.