rap

The Real MVP: Weekend Playlist by Big B

RVA Staff | August 30, 2019

Topics: Big B, brent butler, hip hop, local artists, local music, local playlist, local rap, Michael Millions, music, Nickelus F, Playlist, rap, shows, Weekend Playlist

Every Friday night, RVA Mag brings you an excellent and essential playlist curated by Virginia’s most influential artists, musicians, and institutions.

This week’s playlist comes to us from up-and-coming Richmond rapper Big B, who just released his second album, My Life In Words, on all major streaming platforms earlier this month. He’ll be celebrating both the album’s release and his birthday at Gallery 5 on Saturday, August 31 (that’s tomorrow night!), in an extravaganza of hip hop music and comedy featuring performers like Ghxst, Muff-Man, $y G, Reggy Steel, and quite a few more!

In the meantime, he’s given us a playlist jam-packed with hip hop sounds perfect for blasting out of your stereo speakers this late summer weekend. From long-gone legends (2Pac, Notorious BIG) to today’s biggest stars (Kanye West, Pusha T) to a heaping helping of Richmond-based rap heavyweights (Michael Millions, Cole Hicks, Illa Styles, and more), this playlist is a great way to walk through Big B’s personal hall of fame.

Get that head-nod going, Virginia.

Open this playlist from mobile in your Spotify app HERE.

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

Devil In My Veins: Weekend Playlist by BlackLiq

RVA Staff | August 23, 2019

Topics: black liq, black liquid, hip hop, local artists, metal, music, Playlist, rap, rock, rva magazine weekend playlist, Weekend Playlist

Every Friday night, RVA Mag brings you an excellent and essential playlist curated by Virginia’s most influential artists, musicians, and institutions.

This week’s comes to us from BlackLiq, a man who has been making his mark on this city’s hip hop scene for a decade, both with his extensive back catalog of albums, mixtapes, and live freestyles, but also with his hip hop-oriented local radio shows, on which he brings the best of Richmond’s vibrant hip hop scene to a wider audience. Recent releases include a video for his latest state-of-the-city address, “RVA,” and Now Vol. 7, a new compilation of freestyles recorded live on air at WRIR as part of his Saturday night radio show, Hip Hop For The Rest Of Us.

Liq’s got plenty of hip hop for us all on this playlist of bangers, from classic artists like Ice-T, 2Pac, and Ol’ Dirty Bastard to gone-too-soon Richmond legend The Honorable Sleaze, plus his favorite guilty pleasure, Gucci Mane. Along the way you’ll get occasional dips into metal, funk, and classic rock, but this mix is mostly about the boom-bap — which is perfect for a sunny summer weekend in August.

Go hard, Virginia.

Open this playlist from mobile in your Spotify app HERE.

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

The Scheme Team: The Next Generation of Richmond Rappers

Oliver Mendoza | August 22, 2019

Topics: 3wayslim, Big Kahuna OG, Divine Council, Fly Anakin, graymatter, hillboy, hip hop, holly block, Lil Ugly Mane, local hip hop, local music, local rap, monday night, music, Nickelus F, obhliv, producers, rap, rather vindictive, richmond rap, scheme team, strainman chronicles, The Cheats Movement, wardboyz

This Saturday, a showcase of several up-and-coming Richmond rappers comes to The Dark Room at the Hof, presented by The Cheats Movement.

The Richmond rap scene is alive and buzzing, and the next generation of RVA rappers is here to stake their claim.

Many who follow the illustrious Richmond rap scene are familiar with longtime local stars like Nickelus F, Ohbliv, and Lil Ugly Mane, who have been around and stamped their footprint across the country. 3WaySlim, Big Kahuna OG, Monday Night, and Graymatter are some newer faces in the scene, and with a familial bond and their arsenal of beats and bars, they’re going to remind everyone why the Richmond rap scene isn’t to be slept on.

The space at Holly Block, the studio where 3WaySlim, Big Kahuna OG, and Graymatter all record, is the epicenter of collaboration for the local rappers. Hanging out with the guys, we were graced with appearances from Monday Night, Fly Anakin, and Draco the Dog (who was featured on Big Kahuna OG & Graymatter’s 2017 album, Scooby Snax). Several dutches and Backwoods later, the hazy smoke gave life and inspiration to this new generation of Richmond heavy-hitters.

All of these rappers and producers are part of the Scheme Team, a heavily self-perpetuated group inspired by each other’s achievements, hard work ethic, and of course, style. Each rapper came into their own at different points, through different avenues of life; now they all collaborate together to release group mixtapes as well as solo projects.

“I started in high school… the older cats would throw me in different ciphers and shit, and you had to have your talent tested,” 3WaySlim said. “Once I grew a name for myself, the older cats from around the city started to invest in me, as far as putting me in the studio.”

While 3WaySlim started off jumping into ciphers (a freestyle or improvisation in which rappers jump in one after another), Monday Night credits the rest of the Scheme Team for pulling him into the game.

“My inspiration is them. They’re working hard, I’m trying to take their work ethic and mimic it,” Monday Night said. “When people know you’re nice, people wanna work with you.”

Being “nice” isn’t just generally being a nice person — it refers to the skill, the finesse, and the charisma one has when they rap.

Big Kahuna OG has been releasing music since around 2013, and now works a lot with producer Graymatter, who has also produced for Monday Night, 3WaySlim, and Fly Anakin on several different projects.

“Since I was in high school, I was recording shit with my brother and my close friends; that’s all we would do after school,” Big Kahuna OG said. “I really jumped into it when I moved back from Buffalo in 2015. I met Fly Anakin, and shit was way more poppin’ than when I left.”

If there is one thing all the guys can agree on, it’s the culture and rap scene in Richmond. Diversity between style, sound, and even geography is enough to create different sects of the scene in Richmond. Richmond is a small city though, and while some artists and sounds don’t always mesh, there does tend to be overlap.

“There’s a lot of hidden talent in Richmond… it’s kind of like a melting pot,” Big Kahuna OG said. “We’ve been doing it for a minute. I feel like I’ve worked with tons of people in Richmond.”

According to Monday Night, while there are differences in the culture, sometimes they overlap. Their differences are mostly based on peers and stylistic choices, as well as collaboration with each other (or lack thereof).

“There is a whole other side to the rap scene in Richmond… there is a trap scene, and we don’t really coexist too much,” Monday Night said. But, he adds, “Everybody respects work ethic. That’s the biggest thing in Richmond.”

The trap scene in Richmond features rappers like the group Divine Council, who had a viral hit with their 2016 single “P. Sherman,” as well as Hillboy, Wardboyz, and others. Those rappers are doing their own thing and have their own following — but that doesn’t mean there is any ill will. There aren’t any notable feuds or “beefs” within the community.

“The climate here is like, if you’re nice, you all pretty much know each other,” 3WaySlim said.

While Richmond is a relatively up-and-coming rap scene compared to other staples like New York, Atlanta, or Chicago, the crew at Holly Block are a constant inspiration to each other. Working hard, proving themselves, and collaborating to create a style of music that meshes together perfectly is their focus.

According to Graymatter, his biggest inspirations are local legends who have put Richmond on the map, and continue to push the envelope for style and creativity in the local rap scene.

“Personally, once I was already making beats, Nickelus F and Ohbliv were huge inspirations for me,” Graymatter said. “They made it seem like it was possible to make some crazy shit people really fuck with and respect, and still be in Richmond.”

“Other than the two [Nickelus F and Ohbliv], I’d say we inspire ourselves… and of course, we had industry artists,” 3WaySlim said. “But I remember running into Anakin a couple years ago. I thought I had the best bars, then I heard him spit some shit and I just took note of it.”

According to Monday Night, he had a harder go at his introduction into the game. As 3WaySlim and Monday Night made it very clear, being “nice” builds bridges within the community and opens avenues. Monday Night attributes his work ethic to being the reason he’s in on the hype train.

“When I first started, cuz [Fly Anakin] wouldn’t even get on a song with me because he didn’t think I took it seriously,” Monday Night said.

“I had to see it physically before I made a move on it,” Fly Anakin confirmed.

Everyone involved in the Scheme Team has been hard at work lately.

Monday Night’s album Rather Vindictive dropped earlier this summer, in July, on his Bandcamp page. Big Kahuna OG and Graymatter just dropped Strainman Chronicles this past week on the Scheme Team Bandcamp page. The album features Monday Night, 3WaySlim, Fly Anakin and other local Richmond rappers like Nickelus F and Henny L.O.

3WaySlim has his album Golden Child set to drop later on in the summer, with various producers involved, including Graymatter.

The Scheme Team will also be performing live in The Dark Room at The Hof on August 24 at 8pm, hosted by Nitty Blanco. The show, which is presented by The Cheats Movement, will feature 3WaySlim, Big Kahuna OG, Fly Anakin, Graymatter, Monday Night, and some special guests. The Hof holds just over 150 people, which is exactly what the Scheme Team is looking for.

“We’re trying to have that shit sold out, like at least 120-150 tickets,” Big Kahuna OG said.

The members of the Scheme Team each have different fan bases, so this show is going to be a great way for all the crowds to come together.

“We’re trying to have an intimate show so we can connect with our supporters, because they’re more than fans — the people that actually listen to the music and come out to the shows,” 3WaySlim said. “We’re all artists from different walks of life. We’re bringing different crowds together.”

The Scheme Team is on the up and up in Richmond, rising and grinding every day to produce quality rap music with a retro, lo-fi, gritty Richmond style. Each and every one of them is dedicated to their passion. The bars, the hooks, the beats, and everything that comes with it defines Scheme Team and their rise in the rap game.

Top Photo: Scheme Team All Stars, via Bandcamp

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

Chance the Rapper’s The Big Day Is an Album Worth Diving Into

Richie Kamtchoum | August 5, 2019

Topics: artist collaboration, Chance The Rapper, collaboration, hip hop, kirsten corley bennett, music, rap, the big day, the social experiment

Wedded bliss has brought the Chicago prodigy a bit of backlash, but this lengthy “debut” has frequent high points that are worth digging for.

Chance the Rapper returned last week after a 3-year hiatus, with a 22-track body of work entitled The Big Day. The project is being billed as his debut album, but the phrase could be considered a useless title in today’s era, when streaming-only mixtapes can clean up at the Grammys.

The album centers around his marriage to longtime partner Kirsten Corley Bennett, and feels as ceremonious as the title suggests. Aside from the semantics of naming this his debut album, Chance has slowly made what wrestling fans call a “heel turn” on the internet for the last two years, following a world-conquering year for his music in 2016. As others have pointed out, some of this has to do with over-saturation — in hindsight, this pushback was always going to come.

The dual lives of making TV appearances and popping up on several major commercials, while still firmly claiming independence, can eventually grow tiresome. There was also a period in which Chance entangled himself in Kanye West’s messy 2018; regardless of whether he was cosigning his mentor’s outspoken sentiments or not, he was tethered to it by sharing Kanye’s opinions and being named “Kanye’s best prodigy.” The backlash has undoubtedly affected the reception to his recent output, and to his overall brand.

After a batch of singles released in the back half of 2018, including the fiery “I Might Need Security” and the weary “The Man Who Has Everything,” it became clear that Chance’s new album would be extremely personal and insular. It makes sense, then, that the album is centered on his marriage — as each of Chance’s bodies of work revolve around seminal periods in his life.

His first mixtape, 10 Day, was the teenage angst they don’t take at banks after Chance’s suspension in high school. 2013’s Acid Rap created a bright and idiosyncratic world, focusing on a young man in the midst of a breakthrough amidst psychedelic trips. 2016’s Coloring Book saw the same young man eschew the path he was heading towards and embrace a renewed faith in God. Even Surf, a 2015 album billed to Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment but heavily featuring Chance’s vocals and production, credits inspiration to world teachings from a father, as Chance’s first child Kinsley Bennett was born shortly after.

As the cover art suggests, The Big Day is an ode to his official arrival — a diamond-encrusted disc for the golden child of hip-hop, with his wedding ring in plain sight to serve as a double meaning for his wedding day. While the record does run long, it sustains momentum throughout its runtime by embracing a festive spirit. After all, weddings, like graduations and birthday parties, can run a little long.

Narratively, the album executes the grandeur of a black wedding, with speeches from drunk uncles, advice from family friends, and grown folk asking, “What you know about this?”

Numerous songs lean into pop, with anthemic choruses and gleeful melodies. “Let’s Go On a Run” sounds like it could be plucked from the Hairspray soundtrack.

While Chance has since calmed the jittery style of rapping he featured throughout his earlier projects, his lyrics remain potent, with increasing utilization of punchlines. Take the spiritual “We Go High,” in which he raps “Kids proud like Penny is/ BeBe and CeCe, I need like 20 twins/ Got her in my family like Indian/ Feel it in your gut like when you uppercut Ballchinians.” This Men In Black-referencing set of bars comes in the middle of an impressively-concise third verse that sees Chance at his lyrical best.

Elsewhere on the album, Chance glides over modern trap production on “Handsome,” “Big Fish,” and “Slide Around,” employing the versatility required of major hip-hop acts today. He’s well-aware of the moment too, utilizing 2019 breakthrough artists DaBaby and Megan Thee Stallion to offset his whimsical musings.

Production wise, his collaborative group, The Social Experiment, does a lot of the heavy lifting, and gives Chance his most eclectic palette of sonics to date. Peter Cottontale lays the keys for “Do You Remember,” a slippery-smooth track that allows Chance and Death Cab for Cutie to bottle the warmth of summer and the nostalgia Chance specializes in. On “I Got You,” Ari Lennox and En Vogue combine for a New Jack Swing cut that finds Chance paying homage to 90s rap legend Twista in flow and delivery. “Town on a Hill” and the title track find Chance reuniting with Francis and the Lights, to cross into electronic synth-wave and showcase songwriting that feels transcendent, but personal, in nature.

The album closes with a literal fairy-tale in “Zanies and Fools,” where Nicki Minaj joins Chance to reminisce on their storybook endings, utilizing Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “It’s Possible,” from Cinderella. As Nicki closes the album with one of her best verses in recent memory, the ethos of the album becomes a bit more clear — and harkens back to a passage from Chance’s verse earlier in the outro.

“For every small increment liberated, our women waited/ And all they privacy been invaded/ Almost every trait I got through the slave owner/ Dark skin, brown, nose round, but the Bennett made it/ Now I wanna give it to her…”

The album belongs to his wife, first and foremost. A lot of the discourse regarding the album has to do with its jovial nature, but jokes aside, The Big Day is about Chance tying in the joy that is the DNA of all his projects to his newfound life with, yes, his wife.

Detractors have noted the album feels less commanding and gratifying than his previous works, while being a little too family-friendly. But this doesn’t necessarily ring true, considering that these elements have always been tenets of Chance’s music. “Sunday Candy,” “That’s Love,” “Wanna Be Cool,” and countless other songs affirm the core of Chance and his music: he’s devoted to God and his family, and he doesn’t care to conform.

If the hive-like nature of online discourse can diffuse for just a moment, perhaps they’d find an album worth diving into from Chance, the happily-married rapper.

Boogie Down Delta: Weekend Playlist by Reinhold

RVA Staff | July 25, 2019

Topics: hip hop, John Reinhold, metal, music, Playlist, punk, rap, rock, rva magazine weekend playlist, Weekend Playlist

Every Friday night, RVA Mag brings you an absolutely essential playlist curated by Virginia’s most influential artists, musicians, and institutions.

This week, we’ve got a homegrown celebration of Richmond’s musical legacy, put together by Reinhold, a celebrated local DJ who also happens to be our fearless leader here at RVA Magazine. His work with Party Liberation Front and his legendary annual Wintry Mix have made him the toast of the city’s electronic scene, but he’s branching quite a bit farther out with this mix for a perfect Richmond summer weekend.

Reinhold made this mix for long days by the James River, and all the bonfire parties for these Southern, swampy nights. It focuses heavily on Richmond artists, featuring everything from Lamb Of God’s celebrated metal rage to the off-kilter indie pop of Sparklehorse and the drum n’ bass beats of Will Miles. For the full spectrum of music from right here in the River City, look no further than this killer mix.

It’s Boogie Down Delta time, where we pass the whisky to the right. RVA all day, y’all.

Dig deep, Virginia!

Open this playlist from mobile in your Spotify app HERE.

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

Mac Miller’s Open Struggle With Depression and Addiction Made Him the Most Real

Deandrea Chavis | November 2, 2018

Topics: Childish Gambino, drug overdose, drugs, J Cole, Mac Miller, mental health, rap, Rapper, Substance Abuse

On Halloween night, thousands gathered at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles for a tribute concert dedicated to the life of artist Mac Miller, who passed away in September from a rumored overdose. Miller’s closest musician friends hit the stage to perform his favorite songs and the songs they’d made together. John Mayer, Chance the Rapper, Miguel, and many others spoke highly of Miller, sharing the memories they had of him with his grieving fans. This concert was the much-needed closure for family, friends, and fans of Mac Miller.

Miller’s death hit my generation hard. For us, rushing home off the bus in middle school to check out the latest music videos on YouTube and watch Wiz Khalifa’s DayToDay vlogs was the thing to do. Wiz Khalifa, Big Sean, Wale, Curren$y, Dom Kennedy, and Mac Miller were all in one class of artist. In another, you had A$AP Mob, Black Hippy (TDE), Flatbush Zombies, and The Underachievers. Yeats later, every single one of them still holds weight in the music industry.

While each of these artists were great, there was something different about Mac Miller. What was it that made his music so captivating? Besides the fact that he was a scrawny, witty, funny looking white kid, it was an undeniable fact that he had bars. He introduced us to “frat rap” and showed us how to “kick incredibly dope shit,” all while staying true to who he was. In the industry, a lot of artists get caught up in everything but the music and move away from their sound, chasing whatever is trending. Mac Miller never did.

This is why his death at 26 hit us so hard. At a concert in Chicago the night after Miller’s death was reported, Childish Gambino said, “This Mac Miller shit got me fucked up… we were both internet music kids, and a lot of critics were like, ‘This corny-ass white dude, this corny-ass black dude,’ and we used to talk. And this kid, he just loved music.”

Although the sounds Miller created from his classic 2010 mixtape, KIDS to his recently-released final album, Swimming, are extremely different, his music always felt like him. He perfected every sound he experimented with, which showcased his true artistry. Mac Miller made music that everyone could relate to, no matter where you were from. If you wanted to party, there was a song. If you wanted to cry, there was a song. If you were in love, there was a song. If you were heartbroken, there was a song.

Mac Miller brought my generation through all of these emotions as we faced middle school, high school, college, and finally adult life. We didn’t grow up on him, we grew up with him, and there are many people who thank him for being that long-lost friend they never even knew they needed.

And yet it was Mac Miller’s fight with depression and drug addiction, which was no secret, that made him the most real. Like millions of people, this was something he dealt with from the beginning. On his last album, Swimming, he dove deeper than ever before. Songs like “Self Care,” “Wings,” “Come Back to Earth,” and “Hurt Feelings” showed everyone just how in tune he was with these feelings. Music was his therapy, but so were the drugs which ultimately killed him.

Mac Miller, like many people, fell into unhealthy habits when going through something. And like many people, he had a very ugly break-up this past May. He turned to weed, pills, and other hard drugs in an attempt to erase the problem, but looking for that distraction killed him. The National Study on Drug Use and Health, conducted in 2016, found that “28.6 million Americans age 12 and over used illicit drugs during the month prior to the study.” This also means that one in ten people struggle with some form of substance abuse – including prescription drugs.

We have become content with drugs given their prevalence in our communities. Only when a situation like this happens do we realize how it could have been prevented if we just spoke up, instead of enabling. Mac Miller’s house was apparently “cleaned” by someone after his death, someone who enabled him. TMZ reported that a source close to Mac Miller even said it made no sense that someone who’d already taken a fatal overdose would then scrub the house clean of all drugs and paraphernalia in case they happened to die.

Drug addiction and mental health struggles are becoming all too common, in the entertainment industry as well as in everyday life. Recent celebrity deaths including Robin Williams, Anthony Bourdain, and Kate Spade prove that a better conversation about these taboo subjects needs to be had.

J. Cole said it best in his song “Friends,” “drug addiction and depression don’t blend.” And they never will. We have to speak up to our friends who we feel are coping with life the wrong way, before it is too late. Mac Miller waited until it was too late, and he will be added to the list of great influential artists who were taken away from us far too soon. Even as we mourn his loss, though, we thank him for everything he did while he was here. It will never be forgotten.

*Cover photo by Christian Weber