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Hip Hop, Battle Rap, and Surviving COVID: Talking Rap Elite 2022 With Radio B

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Hip hop is the only genre of music you will ever hear described as a game. The way people talk about “running the rap game,” you’d almost think it was a sport. Here’s the thing: it is, kind of. Or at least, it kind of started out as one. And here in Richmond, some of the most talented artists, creatives, movers and shakers are working together to keep the competitive side of hip hop alive and well in the central Virginia rap scene.

Radio B is the founder of RVA Rap Elite. The group, which started a few years ago under the name Lyricist Lounge, includes a whole passel of Richmond rap leaders. They all come together to put on events that feature the most talented emcees and producers in the city, competing through things like ciphers and rap battles to impress a tough crowd and prove who has the skills necessary to get the acclaim as the best in the city.

The first big event of RVA Rap Elite’s 2022 season will be taking place this Sunday, January 23, at Tang & Biscuit. Not only will it feature a headlining set from Norfolk-based hip hop collective Geau Lagoon, it will see teams led by local hip hop luminaries — in this case, Ant The Symbol and Skinny Hendrixx — battle it out in a team cipher. Plus, there’ll be an open cipher featuring over 20 emcees, and a producer’s lounge hosted by Radio B’s AGM compatriot, NameBrand.

But let’s say not all these terms are familiar to you. Let’s say you’re not even sure what is going to be happening at this show on Sunday. If so, don’t worry — you’re not alone. That’s why RVA Mag’s John Reinhold sat down with Radio B for an extended conversation recently, to learn all the ins and outs of RVA Rap Elite, from the basic rules of the game to the intricacies of keeping what amounts to a citywide sports league made up entirely of musicians on track in the midst of a global pandemic. Read on and get informed.

John Reinhold: You’re a busy man, I know you have your hands in a lot of different things and moving parts. I figure let’s start at the beginning. How did RVA Rap Elite start? 

Radio B: Rap Elite originated at Strange Matter, I believe in 2017. It started out as RVA Lyricists Lounge, in honor of the elements of the original Lyricist Lounge, started by [Anthony] Marshall and company in New York. [It] was created to honor MCs, lyricists, and people that really cared about bars and the elements of rap that we came up on: the cypher and the battles. The competitive aspect and spirit of hip hop. Wanting to not only give a voice to those MCs, but also reinvigorate that element and that energy.

I felt that we had gotten to a point in hip hop, as a whole but especially locally, where artists, just because of social media, the internet, artists were taking a quicker route to becoming rappers. The title of MC was just not relevant. And that bothered me. There was a time when I was coming up that you really had to  go out in public to prove yourself. It wasn’t just image. You couldn’t just create a persona or social media handle, take some pictures, shoot a video, record a song in your house, and say, “Hey, I have a SoundCloud, I’m an artist now. I’m a rapper now.” That was impossible then. That’s just not how you did that.

You had to first establish the fact that you could rap. You had to go out in front of someone who would be typically critical of you, if you were not good. You had to impress upon them that you, in fact, can rap. And then they would validate that. That could be the barbershop, it could be the school cafeteria, it could be the football game. It could be a cipher, an open mic. It could be anything where hip hop was, where the culture was. You would have to go out there and brave that insecurity, have your voice heard. And in that process, something would happen within you, as you got that validation from the people.

John: So you wanted to bring it back to almost like a workshop. 

Radio B: Yeah, to the grassroots element of it all. And I say all of that to say that is how we got the biggest superstars in rap that we’ve ever gotten. The Jay-Zs, the Nas’s, the Eminem’s, the DMX’s. The reason we got those artists was because they came up in that environment, where you had to repeatedly go out in public and impress crowds, groups of people that were not easy to impress! And win them over, and make them react to your bars. What you wrote, how you rapped it, how confident you were when you rapped it, what you looked like when you were rapping it. All of that mattered.

Every time that you went out and did that, your confidence grew, your chip on your shoulder grew; you were becoming somebody, as far as the craft is concerned. That’s what you took into the studio as you began to become a recording artist, that level of confidence. That you knew, like, “I’m that guy.” That’s what being a rapper, being an MC, was. Once these artists got into the studio, they started to make these incredible songs, they had this longevity, and such layered amounts of talent in the music. It was because they went through that process. It’s a hardening, it’s a crystallization of the craft. I wanted to bring it back to having to go through those rites of passage, go through those trials, go through that criticism. Having the determination to come out and prove yourself. 

Photo by Till Infinity

John: So it started at Strange Matter in 2017, and then evolved into Rap Elite?  

Radio B: Well, it probably would still be at Strange Matter if it never closed. We have become a gypsy platform — not by choice. We’re pretty loyal; as long as you’re loyal to us and you’re open, we’re gonna be there. If you’re good to us, we’re going to stay. We brought something valuable to every venue, but we had to move around. I would say if anything, we’ve had tough luck, but we’ve been pretty resilient. One thing that I knew about trying to create a platform like this in 2017 was that you couldn’t just have an open mic, like back in the day.

John: It needed some more structure in order to move it forward? 

Radio B: It needed to be modern. There was a reason why that type of rap wasn’t being preferred. You weren’t going to say, “Hey, come over here and rap now.” How do you make this appealing to a newer generation that never experienced this? That was one of the things with Southpaw Battle Coalition, [which] preceded RVA Rap Elite [and] RVA Lyricists Lounge — everything gets filmed. All the battles get filmed, [and] you distribute them on YouTube to promote them. So having gone through that process repeatedly through Southpaw, it was like, “Oh, if we add that element to the ciphers, to the live performances, we can provide that video content.” When people need to see themselves perform, have that footage to do with as they please through their social media. Everybody wants content in 20-whatever, right? So that was kind of my hook for this generation, to bring the old to the new. I think that’s one of the things that has helped us be able to bridge that gap.

John: Can you tell me a bit more about Southpaw Battle Coalition, and the difference between Rap Elite and Southpaw?

Radio B: Yes. They are two different platforms. Southpaw Battle Coalition started in 2016. It is a traditional battle rap platform: no beats, just like you would see on Smack/URL: one MC versus another, head up, for one or three rounds. It’s pure battle rap: no ciphers, no music, just bars. Just straight “I’m at you, you’re at me” dog bite type of situation.

We’ve had some of the biggest battle rappers in the world grace our platform. We’ve done hundreds of thousands of views on that, on [the Southpaw Battle Coalition] channel. It’s definitely been culturally impacting; it’s changed battle rap culture in Richmond. It’s exposed it and bridged it to the music scene. When I first came upon the battle rap scene in Richmond, I was kinda astounded by the fact that the hip hop scene and the battle rap scene really knew nothing of each other. A lot of the battle MCs really weren’t involved in the hip hop scene, and they didn’t really know many people, even myself, moving around in those events. And no one in the hip hop scene knew that these battles were even happening.  I’m just like, “Wow — this is not something that should be.”

John: So how do you even bridge the gap between them, to get them in the same room and exposed to each other?

Radio B: The first thing that I did… Well, I wasn’t going to start a league. I had an itch to battle in this format. When I used to battle back in the days, it could happen any time. Like, you rapped, I rapped; somebody is going to be like, “Yo, y’all should battle.” It wasn’t planned, it wasn’t filmed. You didn’t prepare for that. You rap with what you had, or you freestyle, you know what I’m saying? Whoever was there to see it saw it. That’s how battle rap went when I was coming up. I really wanted to try my hand at that element of battle rap, because I’m a very competitive rapper. I started rapping because of the competitive aspect of it. So I’m like, all right, I’m in — shout out to LOC, League of Champions. They were the league that was going on originally in Richmond battle rap. I was going to the events and I was just like, who is “the guy” over here? The guy, the man, you know. Whoever that is, that’s who I want to battle. That was my thought process at the time. I wanted to be that one time, but it needed to be the best guy. 

John: So you’re going to the top, and you’re pinpointing the top. You’re like, “I’m gonna take the head off the top.” 

Radio B: And [then] I’m out! That’s that. “I’ll help y’all bridge this gap to the hip hop scene, because I feel like you all should know each other.” That was my goal. But when I got there, there wasn’t somebody specifically that was that person. Everybody was good, but there wasn’t somebody that was head and shoulders [above the rest]. You know, battle rap is just getting to a point where we’re doing a lot of judged battles. Back at that time, MCs battled, and the audience, or whoever watched your video, decided for [themselves]. You could tell who won by reactions, but it wasn’t a “crowned-winner” type of thing. You couldn’t go by a champion or anything like that. It didn’t exist.

The league owner, though, was Bravo, and Bravo is a legendary MC from our city as well. I was very familiar with him. I knew that he had the chops to probably be the best guy over there, but he wasn’t an active battler. He was the Vince McMahon, so to speak. But when I was at the event, he put a challenge out: he wanted to battle.

John: That’s like the sensei. The sensei goes, “Who’s stepping up? Who’s going to step on the mat and do this? Who wants to be the first?”

Radio B: And it wasn’t like he was saying that day or anything. He was just saying, in general, he’s ready to come back. And no one seemed to be the first, right? No one seemed to be too antsy about that. That struck me as, “Oh, that‘s ‘the guy’.” So I set my sights on Bravo, and I let him know that that’s what I wanted to do. And we’re friendly, you know. He’s like, “I don’t know, do you want to do that?” I’m like, “I am so sure of this.” But it took a lot to convince them to do it.

We ended up doing it. We ended up calling it Legends Never Die. We didn’t have an undercard, anything like that. It was literally the biggest battle in Richmond history. I mean, we probably put like 300 people in there in one battle, you know what I mean? We ended up putting a couple other battles on it, but we didn’t promote them. It was literally one battle promoted: just me and him. But it was promoted for a good eight, nine months.

John: There’s a lot of lead-in time for that one, then. 

Radio B: A lot of lead-in time. it was huge. It was an amazing battle. Definitely go check that out. Ultimately he ended up leaving LOC, and I was still very focused on wanting to make battle rap, and Richmond, better. We decided to come together — myself, him, Nickelus F — and create The Southpaw Battle Coalition. So our first event was Legends Never Die Two, in which I battled a super legend in this game named JC. Nickelus F had his return battle to battle rap with Danja Zone at the Broadberry. That was the beginning of what is the Southpaw Battle Coalition. And RVA Rap Elite rapidly came down the line.

John: So Rap Elite is much different; it’s not based on the battle, it’s based on the ciphers and the judging, correct? 

Radio B: Yeah, it’s more cipher-focused. The live events are a mixture of the group cipher battles and one-on-one battles. We do have one-on-one battles.. 

John: But those events have music with the cipher? 

Radio B: The cipher battles do have music. Sometimes we do have Southpaw battles at those leagues. It’s the same culture. We also have live performances, where people come in.

John: Yeah, I noticed you have an element of the live performances mixed in with the ciphers to make it a full event. 

Radio B: We have the Producer’s Lounge and all of that. We consider Rap Elite a live, variety hip hop event. You’re going to get a little bit of everything from the culture. 

John: So what year are we on now? 

Radio B: We are on Season Five, starting January 23rd. 

John: How did COVID affect it last year? 

Radio B: When COVID hit, we were coming out of season two. We just got into The Dark Room [at the Hofheimer Building] towards the end of season two. We were selling out The Dark Room every month, faster and faster. Our show would start at 6:30, and like by 7:30, you’ve got people on Facebook like, “I can’t get in.” We were in the conversations about moving to the larger room at that point, The Loft. My whole thing was, “Just let it keep packing out for a couple months, and then we’ll move to the larger room. Because we were really enjoying it.” 

John: There’s like an intimacy in that room. Like, you’re a part of it. 

Radio B: Yeah, the intimacy. I love the aesthetic inside the Dark Room. And also, it’s supply and demand. You want that demand.

John: Yeah, I get it. You’d rather have a room that can fit a hundred people packed out than a thousand-person venue with a hundred people.

Radio B: And you’re like, “By the time we move in there, everybody will be ready.” That was what I was looking for. And the shows were getting crazy. The energy was just unlike anything that we had experienced up until that point. We were just coming into a new space with that, and COVID hit. Shut everything down, just like everyone else.

We were one of the first people. I was probably the first promoter to shut the show down for COVID. When we canceled our first show, I think there was only, like, one person in Virginia that had COVID. I could see the writing on the wall, and at that point, it was so scary. We didn’t… 

John: Yeah, we didn’t know. Like, is this the end of the world?

Radio B: Literally! I didn’t want nobody getting sick and dying because they came to my shit. That was my thought process.  I knew people were having events for weeks and weeks after me shutting my event down, but that just wasn’t… you know, it wasn’t all going to be on my conscience. So that was very, very difficult. 

John: It’s like, you built up a head of steam, and then here we are.  

Radio B: We worked hard for that.  We were already on our fourth venue by the time that happened, so for us to build that momentum and go through the closing of two venues and one not working out, and still being able to maintain momentum.

And a name change, mind you. Because we changed the name in the second season, that stunted our brand for a second. I didn’t think it was going to be that… you know, it’s the same Instagram. I didn’t get it. People didn’t automatically transition to it. It was interesting. We had to clear up some confusion around that.

So between the venue changes, the brand changes, to get to that point of that momentum and then to have it halted at that particular moment? Because there were some other opportunities that were coming around at time with Something in the Water — a lot of things were going on. Yeah, it was tough.

We did this thing called Rap Elite Madness. Right as COVID was kicking up, maybe the first month, this was the first show we were going to have when we started the first event back. [It] was an online battle tournament. We did a signup for 64 MCs to do video submissions.

John: Well that’s pretty cool. It’s interesting, the way that COVID made you switch gears, and then find new elements by need.  

Radio B: Right? The social media behind it, the video content. Zoom. There was no fucking Zoom we knew of. We didn’t use it. It was like, Twitch and all that. 

John: Twitch went through the roof. It became a thing for many. 

Radio B: And IG live, you know. It took the surge in those things, and we’re like, “Damn, if we already used some of these tools, wow!” Shit was still live. It would have been crazy to have, promotion-wise. But it was like hindsight is 20/20, you know? A lot of the things that came about, even Producer’s Lounge, because we started this Rap Elite Live, and we were doing different types of content every day. But man, it gave a huge energy. It saved us, you know? We would’ve been like every other platform. Nothing would have been going on.

John: Do you think COVID forced anybody, artistically, to be better? How do you think that affected the art for people? 

Radio B: I don’t know, man. There was so much jarring shit that occurred in that space. There was a lot of spiritual shit that went on with folks. Emotional reckoning and identity crises.

John: And of course we had the monuments and the marches and everything as well. 

Radio B: Yeah, and then we went right into that. It just was one of those times. It got real. It was real crazy.

John: It felt to me like a reckoning, where it’s like, “We’re going to deal with this.”

Radio B: Yeah, because there was never, ever anything that affected everyone at the same time. There had never been in my lifetime. Nothing that made everyone sit down. I don’t care if you’re rich, you’re poor, if you own the planes or you fly on the planes. All of you guys sit down. You gotta deal with it. It’s affecting you. Not something you know about, this shit. We all knew about 9/11. We might’ve been emotionally affected; some people weren’t. Some people were like, “Fuck it. I went to work today. Damn, that sucks that happened.” And they went about their business. They could do that. This? You couldn’t do that. You can’t just go about your business. That was impossible. That’s dead. A lot of things had to stop.

So it definitely simplified life. And those that could adjust to that simplification found peace. Those that were running from that stillness had the biggest problems. I was used to stillness. I was my mom’s caretaker. So what I realized was, I had already become a recluse. You know, for me and my mom, that was like, oh shit… 

John: Yeah, we have that in common with moms. We’re in this already, we’re just going to have to change a couple things.

Radio B: Everyone else is having this crisis. It’s like, “Shit, I want to go outside.” I’m used to only going outside for events. Like, my shit, the work, every now and then I got out, but it was difficult. I always had to make reservations to get out. So it was jarring, because I’m like, “Damn, my life has not changed that much.”

John: For me, it was almost like a realization: maybe I’m not as social as I act like I am. I can be social at the right moments, I already kind of knew that about myself, but COVID made it more real. 

Getting back to Rap Elite: can you explain the way that the ratings for individual hip hop artists’ ciphers are done? Also how are rankings calculated month to month heading into the final, to the top 20? 

Radio B: We have what is called The Road to MVP. All the tracking is done using Stat Central, which is tracking stats for MCs month by month, as they progress through each particular season. Those numbers come from their individual scores each time they perform in a cipher. For instance, in episode 35 an MC is Mila Mansa. So she goes up and she  wraps her two minutes in the cipher. At the end of her performance, she gets a score from three judges: myself, Nickelus F, and either Easalio or Spielburg, depending upon who our third judge is at that particular moment. That score is between one to 10, with the option of point fives in between, or whole numbers. The collective score of the three judges is what is that MC scores for that episode.

The MC with the highest score for that episode is that episode’s champion, [unless] an MC is less than a full point ahead of any MCs behind them. A 0.5 or less difference sends them to a sudden death. That sudden death round is a one-minute a capella verse from each MC. They get scored again. And any difference from the top point, that top MC wins. Whether it’s 0.5 or anything, if their ahead there, they win. If there happens to be a tie again, they rap again and get judged. 

John: Where did you get the point system from? How did that get decided?

Radio B: The concept of the scoring came from myself and my cousin Frank, who runs Stat Central. What we’re looking for is something that’s been generated between myself, Nickelus F, and the other judges. That’s really based on all around performance from that particular MC. We will take into account things like moments. So for instance, if an MC does have a freestyle moment where they capture something that occurs and it really moves the room, those are things we take into account. But overall: lyricism, cleverness, performance, uniqueness, style, confidence. Everything that you’re looking for from an MC, everything that you’re looking for from a dope verse. You know what I’m saying? How did you command that cipher? That’s the framework of what we’re looking for when we give those scores.

John: So how many months does a season last?

Radio B: Most of our seasons are somewhere between 8-10 episodes. This season, season five, will be from January to October, so it’ll be a 10 episode season. It might be our longest.  

John: So at the end, you tally the scores and start announcing your placements? 

Radio B: Yeah. So each episode, there’s a champion, and that champion receives a custom hoodie with their name and the number of the episode that they won. They also receive a free item of their choice from Mama Jo’s Collection. Then they also receive a free studio session with Michael Millions, where he records, mixes and masters one song for them. They also get a free pass to the cipher for the rest of that season. And of course, a win tally in the season so far. The first element of who would be the MVP would be who has the most wins, if those wins are close, and there’s other [related] stats. Then we started to look at other statistics and rankings…

John: I watched that full video and it was fascinating to me because I watch fantasy football articles out the wazoo. I hear people discussing placement of athletes and why they’re ranked here and it’s because, well, they did this well. I already geek out on that kind of stuff, so watching you guys go over the ciphers and talking about moments, I thought that was really dope. I didn’t necessarily understand the point system, but I thought it was cool to see the discussion of it.

So wins is obviously the most important statistic, but the content and moments also matter.

Photo by Till Infinity

Radio B: Right, right. We have point average. What was your point average for the season, per cipher. [There’s] your total points, but then also things like how many ciphers were you in. Someone’s point average could be high [but] if they were in three ciphers, you were in nine, your degree of difficulty and ability to maintain that average is probably a lot more challenging than someone did three times. We take all of those different things into account, different moments, and impact. Impact is a big piece of where your placement is. Like, how does it impact the platform? How long did we talk about that particular performance? Stuff like that.

John: It’s 2022 and the new season is starting. Tell me a bit about the kickoff show on Sunday. Give me a quick rundown for people.

Radio B: You brought the fantasy football thing up, so it’s a good segue to talk about the draft. [We had] our draft live at Brewer’s Cafe on January 18th. We basically have 10 influencers from the Richmond hip hop community, those are the team’s GM’s [general managers]. We have seven returning GMs and three new ones. The GM’s draft different MCs for every episode. So therefore, you know, sometimes you may have the champion on their team, or may not. 

John: So they draft for every episode. Gotcha. Who gets the first pick? 

Radio B: We do a lottery, because different MCs sign up every month. So they’re pulling from the 30 MCs that have signed up, once the cipher maxes out. In the past, the cypher was maxed out usually within a matter of days. This one’s taken a little long, but I think it’s just so much going on slowing people down. We got about five slots left as it stands right now, [but] by the time this airs, it’ll be maxed out.

This first event is going to be on January 23rd. We have our open cipher, the Producer’s Lounge segment with NameBrand and the different producers that are highlighted for that particular month. Also our season finale champion — not our MVP, but our returning champion from the last episode that we had last year — his group will be performing live. We’ll go from there to the cipher. Before it was like five on five MCs. One thing that is different about this one is the captains of these teams are actually producers. So the producers themselves will be producing with that cipher, assembled their own team of MCs to basically rap over their production. We have Ant the Symbol vs. Skinny Hendrixx, and they’ll produce their ciphers. I’m extremely excited about adding that element to the cipher. Ciphers usually are captain MCs picking other MCs, and other characters. [This] gives the producers an opportunity to show their range. Not only their production, but in going head to head, how they pick the MCs and what pull they have with artists to be able to come out and represent them. It’s a very stylistic thing, because everybody’s gonna have their own style, and each producer is going to like a certain style.

RVA Rap Elite’s Season Five premiere, featuring a performance by Geau Lagoon, cipher vs. cipher competition between Team Ant The Symbol and Team Skinny Hendrixx, and an open cipher featuring over two dozen rappers, will take place on Sunday, January 23 at Tang and Biscuit, located at 3406 W. Moore St in Scott’s Addition. Tickets for the event are $15 and can be purchased here or by going to rvarapelite.com.

Interview by John Reinhold. Intro by Marilyn Drew Necci.

Photo’s by https://www.tillinfinitymultimedia.com/

Everyone’s Got A Price

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On Time Is The Price, Blackliq’s first release for Sage Francis’s Strange Famous Records, the veteran Richmond MC lays out his dark history, his bright future, and his methods for hacking life — all overtop of the best production he’s received in his career thus far.

I’ve always enjoyed the work Blackliq, aka Black Liquid, does as an MC. I’ve been following his work since he was dropping 16 albums in the space of three or four years — and he’s made some incredible music over that time. I loved Anti and Title in particular. But listen: I have never heard Blackliq sound this good on any of his previous releases. Time Is The Price is the dawn of a new era for Richmond’s hardest-working MC, and all it takes is one listen to know that.

The production is pretty clearly part of that. Time Is The Price is a collaborative release between Blackliq and Mopes, both of whom signed to Sage Francis’s label, Strange Famous, during 2021. Mopes was previously known as Prolyphic, and under that name he was part of a duo called Stick Figures and made records with Sage Francis, as well as producers Buddy Peace and Reanimator, among others. So like Blackliq, Mopes is a veteran of the hip hop grind, and he’s picked up a few tricks of the trade, which show through not just in his beats but also in how good Blackliq’s voice sounds here. He’s always had a harsh, throaty edge to his sound, and some productions in the past haven’t exactly showcased it in its ideal light. Here on Time Is the Price, though, Liq sounds better than he ever has before, and the edge in his voice is a scalpel, slicing through the layers of scratchy soul samples Mopes layers over it to drop lyrics that cut your throat.

Case in point: this record starts with “Endtro,” and the very first thing you hear Blackliq say is “I write rhymes for the reasons that you don’t, you fuck. I did shows with major artists and realized that they suck.” Overtop of an ominous beat featuring wah-wah guitar samples reminiscent of classic Blaxploitation film soundtracks, Liq drops other gems like “I know a whole lot of bitches, and ain’t none of them women” and “God don’t make mistakes — but I do, and I wouldn’t have it no other way,” before finishing the track with a spoken passage that sounds like it was lifted from a live performance, in which he declares that all of the adversity he’s faced in the past just gives him more strength to keep moving forward.

You hear both sides of that statement — the adversity and the strength — over the next seven songs. On “Don’t Ask Me,” Liq talks about how in order to survive, he has to look out for himself. “There’s a long list of people I knew and outgrew… and that might be you. If it is, what it is, if it ain’t, what it ain’t. If it was what it was, then it may need to change. You don’t even know my name… so fuck ‘back in the day’.” At other points in the album, he shows vulnerability. At the beginning of “I’m Not Right,” Liq tells a story of his drunken father cooking dinner for him when he was a child, and pouring beer into the sauce — followed by another story from a few years later of his dad being arrested on his front porch while he watched.

Indeed, dark stories of Liq’s past proliferate on this album, and the soundtrack Mopes sets to them are perfect, keeping the hard-hitting, soul-inflected boom-bap sound of classic New York hip hop while updating it for the 21st century with wavering drones that at times border on wavy — but instead of sounding high and blissed-out, these tracks sound spooky. They’re clearly intended to be the sound of shit going down, and BlackLiq delivers on that possibility in his lyrics, especially on “Guilty.” It’s the tale of his father’s jail sentence, what it was like to see that happen, and the effect it’s had on him throughout his adult life. “The hardest part was looking into his eyes knowing that, where he sat, we didn’t stand no chance,” he raps. “He said, ‘I’m not guilty’… but why am I?”

“Take Your Time” ends the entire records with a lyrical summation that acts as a manifesto for the next phase of Blackliq’s career. He talks about a woman confronting him, asking if the reason he’s still putting all his time into being a hip hop MC and generally creative person means he has a Peter Pan complex. Over Mopes’ most uplifting, vibed-out beat on the whole album, he gives his answer. “First off, I’m not broke, I’m not unemployed. I work hard to afford the things that I enjoy,” he explains. “I quit the drugs, quit the drinks — I’m on my shit. And most of my friends wish they could live like this.”

Photo via Blackliq/Facebook

Your answer in this life might be the same as Blackliq’s — putting everything you’ve got into defeating your demons and creating a better future for yourself through art. Or it might be something completely different. What’s inspirational, in the end, about this album full of dark beats and hard stories, is the way Blackliq lives his truth. He’s a writer, an MC, and a storyteller, and we’re all able to benefit from the way he tells his stories. All you’ve got to do is listen.

Time Is The Price is out now and available on all streaming services, and as an mp3 download and merch package from Strange Famous Records.

Keeping It Gritty

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Johnny Ciggs may regret the goofy name he gave himself at the start of his hip hop career, but with his new album, Lighters and Lightbulbs, the Gritty City Records label head shows that his talent is no joke.

Before Johnny Ciggs became a rapper and owner of Gritty City Records, the inspiration for a potential stage name came during a night out at Sticky Rice.

“There was a bunch of soft-ass rap playing up there, and I was just like ‘Man, this is soft as shit.’ So to my friends, I was like, ‘If I was gonna be a rapper, I’d be raw. I’d name myself MC Cigarettes,’” said Ciggs. “And then when I started rapping, I was like ‘I guess I gotta call myself that,’ because, you know, I said that I was gonna.”

The name didn’t last for long, and he decided to change it after referring to himself as Johnny Ciggs in a song.

“I hate the fuckin’ name. I wish I had a different name, but it is what it is,” said Ciggs. “It just doesn’t do anything for me, but other people say it’s dope, so that’s great.”

Ten years and ten releases as Johnny Ciggs later, Gritty City is promoting his newest full-length, Lighters and Lightbulbs, with producer D.R.U.G.S. Beats.

Originally from Alexandria, Ciggs first came to Richmond from Burke, where he grew up in 2002 as a student at VCU. Years later, he was tired of his job in sales and decided to do an internship at Da Spot Recording Studio.

“I learned a ton of stuff from them. I mean, the way that I go about recording sessions to this day is all based on what they taught me,” said Ciggs. “How to set up sessions and how to record in general, all those things I learned from there.”

As part of his homework for the internship, Ciggs was tasked with recording a song, which would become his first rap project. At the time, he was listening to classic East coast hip-hop from artists like Mobb Deep and Nas, which would continue to influence his work. Much of the subject matter in Ciggs’ lyrics is similar as well, what he would call “braggadocious rappity-rap,” but it also addresses his struggles with alcoholism and mental health issues.

“A lot of my music is more fun if you really listen to what I’m saying. I’m just making fun of myself and the ridiculous and crazy way I used to live,” said Ciggs. “Some days I wanted to die, other days I thought I was living the dream. But really, nothing changed, it was all nonsense.”

Lighters and Lightbulbs features many other artists, many of which are long-time friends of Ciggs and members of the Gritty City circle. However, some are new to working with the group, like Brooklyn rapper Agallah, who appears on the album’s opening track. Ciggs has collaborated with Agallah once before, but at first he was just a fan of his.

“I had always been a fan of Agallah’s music, he makes some really hard shit,” said Ciggs. “One day I was out drinking with [Gritty City artist Fan Ran], and he was like ‘You know, I bet if you hollered at that dude you could work with him.’ I was like ‘You think so?’” 

Timbo King, who appears on the album’s second track, is an affiliate of Wu-Tang Clan who now lives in Richmond. He came to know Ciggs when he was looking for a recording studio in Richmond, and the two were introduced by mutual friends. “Top Tens,” the seventh track on the album, featuring rapper Ben FM, is an ode to the Top Ten, a classic hi-top Adidas basketball shoe that’s worn by Ciggs almost every day. Ben FM, a Richmond rapper who has worked with Gritty City on multiple occasions, wears Top Tens while rapping.

“I wanted to make a song about Top Ten Adidas because they’re my favorite shoe, and he was the only dude I knew who wore them. He also happens to be a nasty rapper, so it’s just how it had to be,” said Ciggs. “Me and Ben have been talking about doing that song for years, and we finally got it done.”

In addition to his own rap career, Ciggs produces and engineers many of the releases put out by Gritty City, as well as booking many of their shows. The group used to perform at house parties regularly, but have more recently frequented The Camel and the now-closed Emilio’s, both on Broad Street near VCU. Gritty City has been doing an annual show for charity since 2014; the sixth Gritty City for the Kids show will be on December 18, and will be live-streamed on their Twitch channel, @grittycityrecs.

The material on his new album was written a few years ago and recorded last year, and Ciggs is already moving towards the release of his next album. “Moonlight Pt. 5,” the final track on Lighters and Lightbulbs, is somewhat of a setup for it.

“The next album I have coming in a few months is an extremely serious album,” said Ciggs. “Because it’s about when, finally, everything came crumbling down.”

Stay tuned.

Lighters and Lightbulbs, as well as all of the Gritty City releases, can be found on the label’s bandcamp or website.

Photos via Johnny Ciggs/Facebook

Faced With A Pandemic, RVA Rap Elite Takes The Show Online

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In January, the RVA Rap Elite started their third season of cyphers and rap battles at The Dark Room in Scott’s Addition. In the small venue within the Hofheimer Building, the hip-hop based platform had established a consistent home after spending 2019 going from one venue to another. Then in March, the coronavirus pandemic stopped the world as we knew it. Gyms were closed, some people worked from home, while others were laid workers off or furloughed. And in the local music world, live events came to a sudden and complete stop.

As venues closed, artists lost their traditional way of connecting with fans, and the income they derived from tours and shows went away. In the darkness that the pandemic brought to the music culture, social media interaction between artists, fans, and platforms reached a new level. RVA Rap Elite evolved.

With their venue gone, they replaced their March cypher with a virtual March Madness bracket called Rap Elite Madness, featuring 64 emcees spitting to see who would come out on top. Followers watched videos of each head-to-head matchup and picked the winners in the comments. In addition to the virtual tournament, a weekly schedule of different live events were posted on their Instagram page each week. 

The usual schedule would go like this: 

  • Mondays were for interviews with an artist or battle rapper
  • Tuesdays featured live playlists hosted by Spielburg
  • Wednesday presented a recap of the previous week’s worth of Rap Elite Madness action
  • Thursdays focused on an open beat cypher hosted by producer NameBrand
  • Fridays brought Freestyle Fridays hosted by Radio B

I checked in with one of the RVA Rap Elite staff members and several of the emcees involved in Rap Elite Madness bracket to get the inside information about how the platform has worked to elevate its influence during an unprecedented time. 

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Big B. Photo via @bigb81dreaming on Instagram

Big B was one of the artists featured in the Rap Elite Madness tourney. I had a chance to chat with him on the platform. 

Jay Guevara: Tell me about your take on the March Madness bracket that RVA Rap Elite did. Did you think that it was beneficial for everybody, or just the winners of the later rounds?

Big B: I thought it was a great way to keep the platform going. Rap Elite was at an all-time high before COVID hit. I think they did a great job of still providing a way for artists to get recognized and [get] exposure. It also gave an opportunity for those who might not have been ready to cypher on stage to have access to the platform and be seen.

Jay: How did this push your pen to do better in the later rounds?

Big B: I had to really study my opponents. I couldn’t just write a verse and throw some bars in and expect to advance, so it added another element to the process.

Jay: If the pandemic didn’t happen, do you think the platform could’ve expanded the way it did, via social media with their weekday calendar of IG Live exclusive events?

Big B: I think it was a learning curve that I’m sure they will implement going forward.  These events during the week will keep people focused on Rap Elite for the whole month leading up to the big event. In a sense, that is a good thing that came out of a bad situation. These guys work hard to make the platform what it is, and I know it was devastating for this to happen right when everything was at a peak.

Jay: Who were some of your favorite emcees or surprise contestants in the March Madness bracket?

Big B: I had a lot of favorites.  Loved how O-Z added the visual element. Synse was dope the whole. My sleepers were Jason and Zo the poet!  They came through and did their thing.

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King Fizzle. Photo via @kingfizzle on Instagram

King Fizzle was the champion on Episode 7 of the RVA Rap Elite and was a competitor in the Rap Elite Madness Tourney.

Jay: Please give me your take on March Madness. Do you think it was beneficial for everybody, or just the winners?

King Fizzle: I can only answer that for myself. Emcees will have different goals and expectations for the competitions. If your intention was to build your fanbase or your domain, then can you demonstrate a measurable conversion in follower count or engagement on your platform? What metrics have you decided to use to determine your success?

But what if you went in with the intention to train yourself for combat? How do you anticipate your enemy’s offense? How does the presentation of offense differ from the stage platform? That requires a different set of skills. If your intention was to play the game, and you didn’t make it into your expected bracket, by your predetermined metric of success, the competition was not beneficial for you.

For myself, I had several intentions: learn basic video editing techniques, train my audience on how to listen to my style of writing with the use of subtitles and typography, and among other things, to stay consistently writing. Under that criteria, it was highly beneficial for me.

Jay: How did you push your pen during the tourney and pandemic?

Fizzle: These one-minute raps are great for me to demonstrate how I stretch multis, without the subject of the scheme becoming abstract. If you notice when I stretch a rhyme pattern, I never have any repeating vocabulary. In a competition cypher setting, I don’t get to display the different rap forms I can deliver because certain forms are not appropriate for a given instrumental. For example, in my first round I used this as an opportunity to inject comedy, or I misdirect the audience by hitting them with something they didn’t expect me to say. The deliberate pacing of breath and motor expressions assist in landing that punch.

But this competition ain’t a measure of who really got techniques, fundamentals, or even bars on lock. Strategy for this competition will take you farther than good writing, in my opinion. My success criteria were different, so I didn’t play with strategy, and bad strategy can make even good writing sound like filler. And that’s what happened in my losing round. Out of context, as a stand-alone piece, the verse is alright, but with me and my opponent both being battle rappers, the verse was lacking. And you can tell I wasn’t trying to be savage. I used the word “brethren” in a rhyme against a woman. I clearly wasn’t writing for Zoe, and that was the wrong play.

It’s even deeper when you consider the format of presentation. O-Z done proved that Rap Elite as a platform tests every aspect of being an emcee, and it’s all considered. You could have everything flawless on paper as pun intended, but what overall impression you left on the voter weighs more than what you did with your pen.

Jay: If the pandemic didn’t happen, do you think the platform could’ve expanded more with social media?

Fizzle: The platform did expand as a result of the pandemic. Even purely quantitatively you had something like over sixty artists in the same event, versus a max of thirty we can do for a one night on a stage. Then those sixty people spread it to their domains, and Rap Elite got big looks for that. From an emcee’s perspective, Rap Elite is expanding when emcees are fighting just to make it to the platform/competition. When the competition becomes prestigious.

Like how we talk about how Juice and Eminem came out of the Rap Olympics — Rap Elite is going to do that for our emcees. Selective restriction doesn’t imply expansion, but with standards and a higher barrier of entry comes notoriety, and in that sense, there will be expansion in both the digital space and as a community event. We see all this happening already.

Jay: Who were some of your favorite emcees or surprise contestants?

Fizzle: It’s great to see other oratory artists play the brackets. We have some of the highest caliber poets, so shout-outs to Roscoe. It’s always a dope to see the intersectionality of arts and elements. I watched Synse open for KRS-ONE the year we had that big snowstorm, so when I saw him spit again, I said “Wait, this the same guy?” And it was. Quick follow. Big ups to all the performers who stay on their deen. That’s Jason and CGoss. Love to my homie Robalu, because this is the closest you would see us battle. There were some ill verses in the brackets. Kilroy’s verse stood out to me. I always award points to emcees who can present words differently, and he did that. And you know the emcees who stay consistent on Rap Elite are always a crowd favorite.

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Spielburg. Photo via @spielburg on Instagram

Spielburg is the social media contributor for the RVA Rap Elite platform. His responsibilities range from IG Live/On Site interviews to hosting a weekly IG Live Playlist, on which he plays music by artists from Virginia and the DMV. 

Jay: Was the March Madness bracket successful to you? And what rounds stood out the most to you?

Spielburg: Extremely successful; it drove much warranted traffic towards the platform. Plus, the engagement from the MCs who participated gave RVA Rap Elite a broader audience. The rounds I enjoyed the most were the Sweet 16 rounds and Final 4. The showman and penmanship rose as the competition stiffened.

Jay: If the pandemic didn’t happen, what would’ve been the direction that the platform went next in elevating their influence?

Spielburg: Radio B is constantly seeking ways to expand the reach of RVA Rap Elite. If COVID-19 never happened, there would have been a strong presence from us, not only on IG but on other streaming platforms. 

Jay: When you get submissions in the playlists, what’s a common pattern you hear that artists can improve on?

Spielburg: For the most part, every submission has been well received, but if I’m looking for areas of improvement, I would say sound quality, delivery and content. That’s relative to most of the MCs starting out.

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Synse. Photo via @iamsynse on Instagram

For my last two interviews, I spoke with the two emcees that faced off in the final battle of Rap Elite Madness. First up: Synse.

Jay: How did the tourney push your pen to do better in the later rounds?

Synse: For me it didn’t have anything to do with rounds. It had everything to do with being an emcee. The fact I participated in the tournament itself was all I needed to continue to push myself and my pen. I had at that point already been doing weekly rap drops on my IG; I called them #SynseSundays. I challenged myself to them every Sunday for a year straight.

Jay: If the pandemic didn’t happen, do you think the platform could’ve expanded more the way it did via social media, with their weekday calendar of IG Live exclusive events?

Synse: Anything is possible. I think anyone with great ideas always bumps into the “Now how do I get this to the people” stage. I guess it was a bound-to-happen kind of thing, the pandemic just sped it up.

Jay: With the return of the open cyphers taking place outdoors, how do you see the outside aspect affecting the performers? Do you see it affecting some artists in a way that affected battle rappers when empty room battles became a norm? Some artists and performers thrive from a small or large room crowd, so do you feel like that’s going to affect the emcees and battle rappers at all?

Snyse: Crowd or no crowd always affects an artist. In my opinion, whether it helps or hurts, I believe it depends on the artist’s familiarity to surroundings/settings. It also could depend on what stage of the career that artist is in. Any given night can be a bad night or a good night.

Jay: If you had to formulate a COVID RVA Rap Elite starting five, who would be on the squad? Who would you call the most improved emcee during all this?

Synse: I’m a newcomer so I wouldn’t. I’m still learning the scene and the artists, so I don’t think I know them well enough to begin grouping people. Salute to all those who participated and even bothered to check out the work that I’ve done. Continue to grind, continue to shine. I’m Just Here To Rap.

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O-Z. Photo via @odashz on Instagram

Finally, the emcee who won it all in the Rap Elite Madness tourney: O-Z.

Jay: How did the tourney push your pen to do better in the later rounds?

O-Z: First, I want to shout out RVA Rap Elite. Thanks for having me. Shoutout to @ogmelrose, @rich_homie_rheese, @willjungmusic, @killroyg, @_c_slick, and @iamsynse. These were the guys that inspired me and pushed me. All dope artist and def should be tapped into. 

Honestly, initially, I didn’t know what to expect. For the first two rounds, I used recycled verses. At the time the verses felt comfortable and they fit well with the beats. In my mind, which was the wrong approach totally, I assumed everyone would use recycled verses. I’m sure some did; however, it was very clear to see those that did not. Further along, or more specifically with round 3, the sweet 16, the production inspired me, and I instantly wrote my verse the night it was sent. Ironically, during the very next Rap Elite live recap discussion, they made remarks about artists recycling verses. From then on, I wrote every bar for every round. The competition demanded it.

Jay: If the pandemic didn’t happen, do you think the platform could’ve expanded more the way it did via social media, with their weekday calendar of IG Live exclusive events?

O-Z: Absolutely. With zero doubts. There isn’t much to say besides the simple fact that prior to shutting down we were selling out the Dark Room the past few events. The trajectory was extreme, when you really think about it. I’m talking, the venue is at capacity by 7:30. I haven’t seen that before here in Richmond on a consistent basis. The expansion is still happening. I can promise you that.

Jay: As the champion of the Rap Elite Madness tourney, how does this influence you going forward?

O-Z: Winning the tournament was beyond inspiring. You’d be surprised how many new people you meet when we were all isolated. That was our first time experiencing the kind of environment we were exposed to and being able to come together for such a great experience. You couldn’t ask for better. These kinds of things can’t be written. It’s a story to tell when time passes us all and we look back and say, “Oh yeah!” Or even when we are possibly put in that predicament again.

Going forward, it has allowed me to open up in a way, to where now I’m living outside of my comfort zone. Before I was just stepping outside of it. I’m influenced to live outside of it now, because the idea is to never be comfortable, and to always keep climbing. 

Jay: RVA Rap Elite has been recording private cyphers at the Dark Room to continue with this season’s team battles they’ve been keeping points for. Do you think this is something we’ll see in the following seasons to come? And if so, has this been a justifiable substitute in a time where events in small spaces are restricted due to the pandemic?

O-Z: I think we will continue to see this going forward, and I also expect to see new things added as well. There is always something new going on at Rap Elite. As far as the justification of the events and where [they’re held] due to restrictions… maybe so, but in reality, a lot was implemented prior to the pandemic. So if anything, not being able to have the events with conviction, it will be hard to look at numbers and stats with that same level if we aren’t even able to know specifically when and where the events will take place. That comes with understanding that this is a very unpredictable year we are forced to rely on. Most things we have going on now were things we already had planned prior, and are trying to implement to the best of our abilities. Whether I’m involved or not, I can see the work being done and the measures being made to continue the movement. Big love.

In addition to continuing with weekly Instagram Live events, RVA Rap Elite has recently begun hosting socially-distanced outdoor rap battles around the city. To keep up with what they have going on, stay tuned to their Instagram @rvarap.elite.

Ant The Symbol Teams With Eliturite To Remind Us That The World Carries On With “Sometimes”

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There’s a ton of music coming out of Richmond all the time, and while RVA Mag attempts to celebrate it all, we’re human, and we’ve got our favorites. Where Richmond hip hop is concerned, certain of my fellow staffers seem to favor the AGM posse (Nickelus F, Radio B, Michael Millions, NameBrand) above all others. And that’s fair — but for me, the guy who’s most consistently got my ear is Ant The Symbol.

Ant’s been a talented, hard-working producer on the Richmond scene for a solid decade now, cranking out beat tapes, instrumental soundscapes, and full-length projects that find him teaming his rock-solid beats with one murderer’s row of local rappers after another. He’s been grinding particularly hard over the past 12-month period, beginning with last November’s collaborative magnum opus, The What?!, released by Gritty City and featuring Johnny Ciggs, Michael Millions, Fan Ran, Graphic Melee, Chance Fischer, and a ton of other super-talented Richmond MCs. In March, just as the pandemic was hitting, he followed it up with Holyfield, a full-length reinterpretation that was somewhere between a remix album and a whole new project.

Now, in the same way that a lot of us spent April fucking around with sourdough starter, Ant is using using the pandemic as an opportunity to try something different. For the past few months, he’s been doing a project called Days Of Distance, in which he releases a new collaborative single every Friday. There are 15 so far, enough to count as an entire new album — and meanwhile, he also dropped a new instrumental project, Nowhere In Particular, in May. Like I said, the man’s staying busy.

Today, we’re concerning ourselves with “Sometimes,” one of the Days Of Distance singles, this one featuring rhymes from veteran Ant The Symbol collaborator Eliturite. Its smooth, introspective sound blends well with the moody visuals of the city going on with life amid a pandemic. At points, we see Ant The Symbol (rocking a Smashing Pumpkins shirt — love it) and Eliturite hanging out together on a rock by the river, drinking beers and watching the world go by. Halfway through the song, as Eliturite raps about trying to find a positive approach to life, the video suddenly transforms from black and white to color, and despite everything, we find a way to go on. “This is a real, optimistic, and necessary song right now,” Ant The Symbol says of this song. “I think everyone needs it.” Sounds about right to me.

Skillz for a New Generation: Q & A with Richmond Rap Royalty Mad Skillz

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In the midst of big changes in the local landscape, RVA Mag caught up with Richmond hip hop legend (Mad) Skillz to talk monuments, music, and making real change in the Commonwealth.

Skillz has the wisdom of experience, having worked with everyone from The Roots and Nas to Jay-Z and Nicki Minaj. A veteran of the game, Skillz has not only presaged current events, but laid the foundation for generations of artists to come. During this time of protest, unrest, and political upheaval, who better to help navigate the many complex realities of life in the commonwealth?

RVA Mag caught up with Skillz and Richmond rapper Michael Millions one rainy day last week at the (soon to be removed) statue of Robert E. Lee to chat about the movement, Richmond, and how rap and hip hop has accelerated our consciousness.

RVA Mag: You’re a Richmond hero, rap legend, you have national prominence: With all of your experience, what’s this movement mean to you right now, where we at? 

Skillz: I’m proud to see the city take a stand. Some of these objects have been here for as long as I can remember [points to the statue of Robert E. Lee]. For people to take a stand against systematic oppression and racism, I knew it was a bubble that was going to burst at some point — I’m just glad that I’m here to see it. 

Michael Millions [to Skillz]: Prior to the civil unrest, have you ever been this close to this monument?

Skillz: No, not this close. 

Michael Millions: Driving through the city or utilizing this roundabout, have you ever even intentionally looked up at this statue? 

Skillz: I’ve been in Richmond since 1987 and I have never looked to the top of this monument. During the VCU days when I was living a block away, I never looked up going around this corner. 

Michael Millions: And you’ve never steeped foot on this soil in this city? 

Skillz: I have never stepped on this soil. 

RVA Mag: When you guys saw this statue in its current form, what was the first thing that popped into your mind?

Michael Millions: When I think of structures going up, I look at structure and shapes, everything they laid down, the foundations — there is a lot of intention to raise this, this high. And on top of all this, there is this statue on top. 

Everything returns to the earth. Even if they left it up in this form, the people have reclaimed the land. We like this now — it is definitely an art piece. 

Skillz: I have talked to plenty of people from out of town who had to come down here and take photos, and let their children see it before they take it down. 

RVA Mag: Skillz, coming up in the 90s, what’s it like to see this transitional moment, not just in Richmond but also in the US. Is Richmond playing a deeper role than most people think? 

Skillz: The difference between the 90s and now is about moving around the city — we chose to ignore these [Confederate statues], because they were never speaking to us. We never saw ourselves. They have way more of these than we had any representation. Now, for this to be a space that the oppressed feels to have taken over and reclaimed, it feels good. I believe this generation can be the generation to push forward for real change, because it is different now. A lot of things that used to fly can’t fly anymore; not without question, revolt, or repercussions. 

RVA Mag: Did you ever expect to see this in your lifetime? 

Skillz: In Virginia, in the Commonwealth? No, never. Whatever this is going to be, it needs to represent all people, not just some people. 

RVA Mag: What does this movement look like to you as a man of conscience, a creator? You have also been the artist-in-residence at University of Richmond. You sit at the nexus of all these things. 

Skillz: You might feel as if there is no change you can make, but what I want to say is that you can make that change. People at my age, not all, but some, have become complacent. I’m proud of all the young people stepping forward to make change. Now, when these cops stand in front of the protest groups and they see these people standing in front of them, it’s not just black people; it’s also gay people, Latino people, trans people. The army of “you’re not going to oppress us” is way bigger than just Black people. 

Sooner or later they’re going to have to realize that this is a whole new thing. 

RVA Mag: As someone who has articulated the Black experience in the 90s through their music, does this movement feel different?

Skillz: Yes. This is at my front door. I came back from LA to buildings burning and buses burning on Broad St. I’ve never seen that shit in my life. To see that, I can’t even imagine these people living here and seeing this thinking, “this shit is really happening outside my window.” And that’s how change happens. You almost don’t believe it is right at your front door, but it is. It is uncomfortable and uneasy, but that is what change is. 

RVA Mag: It seems like the boundaries of American culture have shifted quite rapidly in the past two weeks. The NFL, NASCAR, major corporations — even if its disingenuous, it’s still happening. What role has rap and hip hop culture played in pushing this national consciousness over the past 20 to 30 years?

Skillz: It has shown that it can’t be ignored. From day one people always thought it was a fad and it would fade away. No one saw this coming — that it would be a major global trillion-dollar business. Black culture is culture; this shit ain’t cool until we do it. And then when everyone else starts doing it, we stop and start doing something else. It is a transition, a cycle. These voices will be heard one way or another. This is the most popular music in the world — it is so prevalent in today’s society that you almost overlook it, because it is in everything. 

RVA Mag: From a certain perspective, it is America’s number one cultural export. 

Skillz: Without a doubt. I’ve been to places where they don’t even speak English and they know the words to 50 Cent, “In The Club” — some people have learned English through hip hop. 

RVA Mag: Do you feel Virginia ever really took ownership of its rap and hip hop scene? Given the sheer number of national and international acts that have come out of Virginia, it has always seemed strange to not represent that the way New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and other places would have. Do you think Virginia has come full circle in terms of national rap and hip hop culture? 

Skillz: No I don’t think we have. It takes perseverance, more soldiers, more cracks in the armor. When you look at some things that you never thought would happen, they have happened. So you can’t say that the history has to be absorbed and respected, because amazing things have happened here, and there are more amazing things to come. 

RVA Mag: Michael, let me ask you something. Based on what Skillz said, what is the next step for Richmond rap and hip hop? 

Michael Millions: More perseverance. Richmond is such a special place, our awareness in music is what makes artists from Richmond so special. If we could get in front of the curve, in terms of bringing that craftsmanship back to music. Look at where we live, there is not an artist here that is not impacted by this city. Where we live makes our writing and thoughts very special. I don’t think anything is going to stop us coming out of this area. 

RVA Mag: Skillz, as the artist-in-residence at University of Richmond — given that the students which go to that school are quite privileged and it’s one of the most expensive schools in the US — what was your main takeaway from there?

Skillz: In the midst of being there and seeing the diverse students, our class was one of the most popular on campus — it was definitely something that took me to a place where I could acknowledge that this music [rap and hip hop] was the voice of America. I worked at VCU too, so I can’t say that I want to be exclusive to [University of] Richmond. I think it would be dope to teach all across the city. I would teach this class at all schools if I could, because I feel like everyone can absorb something from that. When they take my class on the first day, I ask, “Why did you take this class?” A lot of them come and think it is going to be an easy A, but it’s not; they have to do the work. 

The big takeaway is that you never stop learning. You’re always going to be a student. 

RVA Mag:

Great seeing you guys. Thanks for the lessons.