Despite its modest size, Richmond is home to a bevy of gifted MCs. Unfortunately, there are only a handful of venues around the city capable and willing to have them grace their stages.
This not only frustrates MCs but also hip-hop lovers like Brandon White. So, he did something about it.
“I was seeing that there is no real space for hip-hop here,” he said. “And it’s crazy because you have all these talented artists in this lane, but there’s no real stage or platform designed for hip-hop.”
White, who hails from Charlottesville, moved to Richmond over a decade ago and quickly became an avid fan of Richmond rap. But he wanted to do more than rap along at shows. The MCs deserved so much more.
So, he started a radio station—WRBX-RVA Boombox.
As someone who doesn’t shy away from big ideas, White’s first iteration of the radio station wasn’t hosted in a typical radio studio. Instead, he housed the station in a shipping container behind his Northside home.
The station, still active today, primarily plays Richmond, underground, and classic hip-hop records.
White was proud of his fledgling platform but had his sights on something greater. He needed help.
He tapped Jasmyn Buckingham, who would eventually become the RVA Boombox program director, Sebastian Redd as operations manager, Kenton L. Robinson as creative director, DJ Banga as booking manager, Red Cup as events manager, and J.D. Haze as stage host. Additionally, Raakin Ali and Jason Thompson primarily serve as handymen.
Next on his to-do list was to find a venue.
He found an oddly-shaped studio in Jackson Ward, located at 309 N. Monroe St. White felt the location was perfect because of the area’s rich history as the birthplace of Black entrepreneurship and formerly coined the “Harlem of the South.”
But before the keys were handed over, Richmond BizSense spoke with White about the deal and published the story in January of last year. Unfortunately, it came with mixed reception.
On the critical side, residents feared “the baggage” a hip-hop venue would bring to the area. WTVR CBS 6 did a brief write-up (which redirected back to the Richmond BizSense story) on the deal and this is what some of the comments under the Facebook article post read:
“[F]igures the fried chicken, can’t pull their pants up crowd continues to deny they love killing each other more than any other race. Keep ignoring the issues, that always works well,” user Dawn Diane stated.
Another comment from user Jeffrey A. Selvek read: “With crime and shootings up in Richmond yeah this makes a lot of sense. It closes in three years I guarantee it.”
According to White, the outcry led the building owners to back out of the deal.
RVA Mag contacted a representative from Porter Realty—who manages the property—to speak with the building owners. At the time of this article’s publishing, we hadn’t received a comment.
“They can have their opinions and whatnot. But what’s worse is that [the ownership’s] opinion impeded my pursuit of happiness,” White recalled, slightly agitated.
As of this writing, the property remains unoccupied.
But White didn’t quit there. And he didn’t have to look far for his next location.
He decided to use the office space that housed his construction business (located underneath Cary Street Tattoo).
“[It] felt more hip-hop,” White said. “Not on front street.”
“You’ve got to work a little bit to find it,” Redd chimed in.
In the months to follow, the team hunkered down to make the dream a reality. Ali, Thompson, and a handful of others were instrumental in building the venue. But it inevitably came with its fair share of challenges.
White took a page out of Jay-Z’s book with the building’s construction—it was all off the dome. But it all came together like one of Jay’s timeless records.
“I didn’t see the vision at first before any construction began,” Ali said. “He had this—what you see today—in his head before it got built.”
White also called on local artist E’An’J to design the venue’s logo and paint murals along the walls.
“I’m happy to be a part of this for what it stands for—the vision behind it,” E’An’J said.
White also reached out to musicians and music producers in the area to partner with and have perform at the venue. Respected MC Noah-O was one of the first artists to buy into his vision. In fact, he and White searched for spaces together that could serve as both a merch store and music venue—unfortunately, to no avail.
But despite the setback, Noah-O pointed out White was instrumental in encouraging him to open up his own brick-and-mortar, which would later become the Charged Up Flagship Store.
“I’m learning, but it’s like second nature—I’ve always sold merch,” Noah-O said. “It’s a store where we can really have a home for the brand.”
Since RVA Boombox’s grand opening this past summer, the Richmond hip-hop community and beyond have sung its praises.
NameBrand, a music producer who heads The Producer Lounge—an affiliate of RVA Rap Elite—which has featured notable names such as ohbliv, Beats by JT, Nottz, and Khrysis, had this to say:
“Every producer who was on [The Producer Lounge] show…they were all like ‘Yo, that’s the best sound [I’ve] experienced when playing [my] beats.’”
Albeit an intimate venue with a max capacity of roughly 100 people, RVA Boombox has several amenities including a 24/7 radio station, a state-of-the-art sound system, and high-definition live streaming capabilities, as well as a recording studio. The team often live streams its venue performances so fans from around the world can tune in. Another bonus for artists is the performances are packaged so they can use the videos for their own promotional purposes.
“This is something that you can use for professional endeavors,” Ant The Symbol—another notable Richmond-based music producer—said. “So it’s not just a place to play music. [It creates] potential opportunities elsewhere.”
Brandon’s wife, Iliana—owner and CEO of Kahlo’s Taqueria & Bar—is proud of how Brandon’s vision has come to life and the profound impact it has already had on the community. The next step for RVA Boombox is to grow its non-profit and continue to create opportunities to educate and promote artists in Richmond and beyond.
Although RVA Boombox is now a brick-and-mortar, the Whites decided to keep the memento of where it all started.
“The shipping container is still behind the house,” Iliana said with a laugh.
Main photo (Top left to bottom right) Brandon White, Raakin Ali, Jason Thompson, E’An’J and Sebastian Redd, photo by Sterling Giles
