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Vinyl Conflict’s New Label Blends Punk DIY and Richmond Hip Hop

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Vinyl Conflict record shop has unveiled plans for a locals-only hip hop label. Bobby Egger, owner and operator of Vinyl Conflict, debuted Fantastic Damage Records in early October following several successful hip-hop releases on the shop label.

The first two releases on Fantastic Damage will be cassette reissues of “Vices” (2013) and “Triflin” (2015) by local hip-hop artist Nickelus F, and will be available in time for Nickelus F’s upcoming tour with Tommy Wright III.

Vinyl Conflict specializes in punk, metal, and hardcore records, but the label’s roster has recently expanded to include several local hip-hop artists. Egger said that the success of those releases encouraged him to start the new label.

“People have been really excited about it,” he said. “It’s been really pushing me to look into future releases.”  

Earlier this year, Vinyl Conflict Records released a vinyl edition of Nickelus F’s 2018 album “Stuck,” and a cassette version of “Flick your tongue against your teeth” by Bedwetter, alias of Richmond artist Lil Ugly Mane.

“Obviously the first couple releases I had the privilege of putting out had really strong reactions,” Egger said.

Fantastic Damage will function much like Vinyl Conflict records. It’s a DIY label, meaning that the record label and artist work together to promote the record and set up tour dates. The DIY model has been the modus operandi for punk and hardcore labels since the 80s, but it’s a relatively new idea in the world of hip-hop.

“I’m kinda showing them how the DIY label works and I’m actually finding out that a lot of these dudes have released records for themselves but they didn’t have the network to distribute it,” Egger said. “I think the DIY deal is very good deal for artists, especially if you’re not on that next level yet.”

The combination of hardcore and hip-hop has had sporadic success at both the national and underground level, but that hasn’t necessarily been the case in Richmond. Yet both scenes have up-and-coming, well-known artists in their ranks.

“The two scenes aren’t very aware of each other,” said Egger, “but I think that there’s a certain level of interest on both sides that hasn’t been tapped into.”

Several mixed bill concerts featuring local Richmond hardcore bands playing alongside hip-hop artists like Lil Ugly Mane, Nickelus F, and Mutant Academy have created some crossover buzz in the city.

Egger, a long-time fan of hip hop, said that the energy and enthusiasm of those shows were pivotal in his decision to start the new label.

“I just want to work with artists who I find interesting that don’t have a deal yet,” he said. “I think bringing stuff to the physical format is only going to make Richmond seem bigger on the music map.” 

Catch up with Vinyl Conflict and follow more

“Awareness” by Bigal Harrison feat. Michael Millions Needs Your Attention

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Here’s the new clip from VCU Track Star and RVA rhyme kicker, Bigal Harrison, for his buzzing single “Awareness,” off of the forthcoming album Bintage. Joined on the track by veteran emcee Michael Millions, the two take a trip down Grace Street and wax poetics. With a vintage production feel to match the street vibe of the visuals, the young gunner and the man with the mural are setting the fall season off correctly.

“A Peace of Cake” with Sunny & Gabe

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If there is one stream from the Virginia music ecosystem that needs listening to this week, it is Sunny & Gabe’s new drop, Peace of Cake. Back at it with their first album in five years, the talented duo from the 757 are as on form as they have ever been. Gabe Niles, one of the regions best known producers, and singer Sunny Moonshine have a storied Hampton Roads history, having worked with big name artists and appeared in commercials from Coke and Toyota.

RVA Mag reached out to the duo to talk about the album. “This album is for everyone,” they said before letting us know that there is no intended genre or target audience. “We really want to bring people together with our music, and inspire others to be themselves and not worry about what people are going to think.” They admitted that they are opposites, but that approach is embraced. “Anything goes with us. This is the more easygoing and lighthearted collection of work from the past few years.”

Listeners can take in the atmosphere for that easygoing feeling on songs like “Hadouken,” which is all at once spirited and poignant. The delicate remembrance brings you into a soundscape known only known to Sunny and the layered verses which link her universe together. On “Last December,” DRAM makes an appearance, bringing the track to a ten-minute soulful crescendo that is both ethereal and accessible. It’s a journey into the inner reaches of our musical id, a place where Sunny & Gabe are always willing to journey with you.

Known for his work with DRAM, RBLE, Erykah Badu, and even legendary producer Rick Rubin, Niles remains on the forefront of the scene that makes the 757 one of the country’s best known regions for music. And Peace of Cake puts the lexicon exactly where it should be – a coalescing of everything that is right in the world.

 

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

The Best of Ohbliv

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Ohbliv’s “Retrospective” is an authoritative collection of the Richmond beatmaker’s best instrumental tracks. The record was curated by Ohbliv and Paxico records owner/operator Chris Hund, who selected the standout songs from his monolithic discography.

Hund said that he was introduced to Ohbliv’s music years ago by Paxico co-runner Josh Hey.

“Something about his music seemed intensely personal and authentic, which is increasingly rare,” says Hund. “As a curator for Paxico I put out things I believe the world needs, and I have no doubt the world needs Ohbliv retrospective. No one can create a groove like Ohbliv, period. He’s on a spiritual level.”

Ohbliv has released countless beat tapes and records since he started putting out music in 2009, and has been influential both nationally and in Richmond’s emerging hip-hop scene. According to Ohbliv, he started making pause tapes when he was in high school in the late 90s using records from his father’s collection, mostly jazz, soul and R&B deep cuts.

“The records in his collection were ridiculous,” he said. “I basically built off of his collection.”

Ohbliv’s first proper release, “Rugged Tranquility,” set the tone for his future output, borrowing heavily from ’70s and ’80s soul, funk, and R&B artists like Johnny “Guitar” Watson and Junie Morrison to make hypnotic instrumental tracks.

Since then, he’s released over 20 tapes and records and has collaborated with a growing list of performers in the Richmond area including Nickelus F, Fly Anakin, Michael Millions, and Radio B. In 2018 alone he released two beat-tapes, “Ohblends II” and “Ohblends Vol. 3,” two collaborative albums, and a full-length remix record, “Southern Blend.”

Many Richmond hip-hop artists credit Ohbliv with bringing the community out of a period of stagnation in the late 2000s. Nickelus F, a veteran of the Richmond scene, collaborated with Ohbliv for the “Yellow Gold” mixtape in 2011, and “Yellow Gold 2“ in 2013.

“He’s an architect of an entire sound and wave,” said F. “At a time when everything sounded clean and digitized he had dirt under his nails digging through dusty crates of records, chopping by hand and making pause tapes. He Marty McFly’d the internet and came back to the future with the essence of true hip-hop.”

Ohbliv has also been involved with several projects with up-and-coming Richmond hip-hop crew Mutant Academy. Earlier this year, he produced the full-length record “Backyard Boogie” with Mutant Academy’s Fly Anakin, who has begun to receive national attention in recent years.

“He single-handedly changed underground hip-hop with that Southside groovy shit. He’s the reason a lot of us in this community are even known. Everybody and they mama made an Ohbliv type beat,” says Anakin.  

Although “Retrospective” is a best-of collection, Ohbliv has no plans to slow down his musical output. “I’m always recording,” he said. “I have three or four albums already done. It’s all about timing for me though as to when I’ll release them.”

The “Retrospective” anthology is a testimony to Ohbliv’s production capabilities, but also to the perfection of his process over the years.

“It’s the refinement of a style,” he said. “Same old process though: find a sample, chop it up, add some drums, flip it, mix it… Boom.”

Cover Photo by Marc Cheatham of The Cheats Movement. 

 

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

 

Portsmouth Commonwealth’s Attorney Drops Rap Track, Becomes a Legend

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Stephanie Morales, the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Portsmouth, Virginia, just released a music video called “Sundress Season” and it is legend. The video, filmed with her husband and kids, is a rap track produced by their 14 year old son who is an aspiring music producer. Morales released the video into the wild on Monday and promoted it to her Facebook page, adding, “Storytime: At the end of last school year our son, the producer lost a bet to his dad Luis Morales and had to give him one of his beats (that he was going to discard) and engineer a song for his dad. 😂 Fast forward, the WHOLE family jumped on the track.”

While the video is just a family having fun and being silly, the song lyrics are what really makes the track next level. “It is sundress seasons and I don’t know how to act…that booty bouncing…I love the way the dress crease careens around that booty crack…it is sundress season…you need to go and get you some.” In the post Morales described the video, saying, “Our little music video chronicles some of our summer family fun together.”

The video has now been viewed six-thousand times on Facebook and 30,000 times on YouTube. While there has been some outcry over a senior official making a video using the phrase, “booty popping,” people were quick to rush to her defense; proving that sometimes people are still pretty great. However, a former candidate for city council and civic activist, Barry Randall, has called for her to step down. Randall told Wavy TV 10, “Turn on our computer and watch our commonwealth’s attorney do the booty pop… I have a problem with the whole gist of the video.” He went on to say that Morales exercised poor judgment and that “our city’s top cop [shouldn’t] exploit and display her body in that matter.”

For her part Morales responded to the accusations by saying she was proud of the video, her son, and her family for creating the track from the “ground up.” Equally great, she said she also wrote her own lyrics. To her detractors she said this, “To suggest that women are disrespecting themselves by having a positive body image as I do in that video, where I discuss my fitness goals, also talk about my intellect, on a track produced by my son needs to do a little bit of soul searching.”

 

 

Segga Spiccoli Drops New Album, “Skinny V”

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If there is one stream to check out this week it is Segga Spiccoli’s, “Skinny V”.

“It’s been a year since I’ve released a body of work. In that year I took time to think about my life, my art, the things I’ve experienced these 25 years, and where I want to be in the future,” wrote the Richmond rapper, who released his project on Sept. 7. On his Soundcloud promoting the new album, Spiccoli said he views his work as a memoir that “will live forever” and that “Skinny V” is his most complete work to date.

The album, equal parts smooth and introspective, delves into the contemporary struggles faced by young people in these complex times. On the track, “Velvet Pillows in my Casket,” produced by Bandolero, the rapper poses a simple metaphor which speaks to what 2018 has become, asking the listener: “The plot thickens, do you want the red or blue pill, its the prescription.” On another track, “Lost in Translation,” he declares proudly, “I’m tired of hearing old heads talking about my generation, its a shame you complaining ain’t your life still where it was back in the 80s,” a sentiment shared by those suffering through the insanity of this reality TV age bestowed upon us by an older generation who lost its way – prescient.

Spiccioli also collabs with fellow Richmond rappers and producers, such as Young Felxico, Trademark, Fan Ran, and Bandolero, making “Skinny V” a powerful addition to the growing lexicon of musicians and artists taking the River City’s reputation for cutting-edge rap and hip-hop to new levels.

 

 

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond