Noah-O may be seen as a one-hit wonder by some who count by MTV airplay. The truth is, though, he’s never stopped making great records, and over the past half decade or so, he’s built up quite a track record for himself. Moving across the city, putting together projects with a succession of the best beatmakers in town, and steadily improving his skills in the process sees him still improving after being a big name on the RVA hip hop scene for at least seven years now. Having previously worked with everyone from Taylor Whitelow and Cadillac Cat to the late, great Kleph Dollaz, his latest project sees him teaming up with Gritty City production mastermind Fan Ran, who’s been carving out quite the career in his own right with a prolific series of projects with the full range of Gritty City’s packed stable of heavy-hitting MCs.
What do you get when the two join together? Some good eating, that’s for sure. Dirty Rice hit the streets last month via Bandcamp, and this show is a celebration of its release out in the real world. Noah-O and Fan Ran will bring the crowd a fire-spitting performance of the album’s many bangers, while Gritty City majordomo Johnny Ciggs provides valuable support with a set of his own. God Goldin shows off his lyrical skills on the mic as well, and a newcomer named Bonds about whom I know very little (that’s not an easy name to google, I gotta tell ya) will contribute the opening set. The event will also feature a pop-up shop selling an exclusive Dirty Rice t-shirt only available at this event, which will surely be accompanied by a variety of Charged Up Entertainment and Gritty City Records merch. Bring a few bucks, because you’re gonna want to do some shopping. But make sure you run out to the car and stow your brand new t-shirt before the headlining set–dirty rice is tasty, but it’ll stain your clothes if you don’t eat carefully.
