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Birds Flyin’ High: Weekend Playlist by Harsh World

RVA Staff | June 5, 2020

Topics: 757, harsh, hip hop, richmond, Richmond hip hop, richmond rap, richmond va, richmond va bands, RVA, rva magazine weekend playlist, rvamag playlist, VA beach, Virginia Beach, virginia beach music, Weekend Playlist

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

This weekend, we’re flying high and going hard with a playlist from Harsh World, a Virginia rapper with ties to 804 and 757. Also known as Chef Boyarbing, Harsh World, who has an EP coming soon called Smorgasbord, is all about the good life — good food, fine wine, and plenty of trap beats to keep the bass pumping. Spend your weekend bumping this collection of hard-hitting tracks from Dipset, Chief Keef, and plenty more — it’ll be a great soundtrack while you’re getting ready to hit the streets and peacefully protest.

Get fly, Virginia.

Open this playlist from mobile in your Spotify app HERE.

Guess Who’s Back: Weekend Playlist by Doe The Paperboy

RVA Staff | May 22, 2020

Topics: doe the paperboy, hip hop, richmond, Richmond hip hop, richmond rap, richmond va, richmond va bands, RVA, rva magazine weekend playlist, rvamag playlist, Weekend Playlist

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

This time around, we’ve got a great one from Doe The Paperboy, aka D.O.E., an independent hip hop artist hailing from Petersburg, who recently released his second album, The 2nd Harvest. It may have just come out, but the song “Vert” is one you might recognize — AEW wrestler Pineapple Pete, aka Sugar Dunkerton, has used it as entrance music, so you just might have heard this track on AEW Dynamite.

While you’re waiting for the next episode to come on, you should give Doe The Paperboy’s playlist a spin. Not only does it feature several D.O.E. tracks, including the aforementioned “Vert” and a couple of other tracks from the new album, it also features some of D.O.E.’s biggest influences and most-loved artists, from Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole to John Mayer and The Roots. He hopes RVA Mag’s readers will enjoy this arrangement of songs as much as he does.

Get loose, Virginia.

Open this playlist from mobile in your Spotify app HERE.

Illa Styles: The Hero Richmond Hip Hop Didn’t Know It Needed

Ethan Malamud | December 9, 2019

Topics: A Quarter Til A Mil, hip hop, Illa Styles, local music, local rappers, Michael Millions, music, rap, richmond events, richmond rap, richmond va, richmond va bands, RVA, RVA hip hop, rva music

The latest album by Richmond’s Illa Styles is a tale of love, personal growth, and navigating the ever-changing dynamics of life in America in 2019.

A Quarter Til A Mil by Richmond-based rapper Illa Styles is the latest in the River City scene. Pressing play on the album, listeners are greeted by the voice of the late Nipsey Hussle, and it becomes clear that this isn’t your average rap record.

With a gritty sound and life instruction manual-style lyrics, A Quarter Til A Mil finds Illa Styles rapping over high-energy jazz and carefully-crafted production from Michael Millions, with skits and features as versatile and well-made as the album itself.

Styles isn’t new to the game. Much like a carpenter goes to trade school to learn their craft, he graduated from the school of hard knocks in order to create this new record. It’s a refreshing guide to navigating street life while maintaining personal growth, and even when it comes to the dirty details, Styles doesn’t shy away. If anything, it is through his transparency that he finds his power.

“I am not glorifying this,” Styles said. “I am just documenting things that went down during the course of my time here.”

Styles has lived in Richmond for many years, yet it’s obvious he refers to more than just this area on the album. 

“I’ve lived through many dark fringes of society. I used to manage strippers… and some other things I’d rather not talk about. I was still a slime ball, bouncing from house to house every season depending on who I was dating at the time,” Styles said. “I wasn’t paying bills. Once I had my daughter, I fell back for a year.” 

Under pressure to provide for his newborn and her mother, Styles strove to live for her rather than continuing the life he had known before.

“She put the humanity in my music. She listens to it. I have to be a little more cautious about certain things I put in there, while still giving authentic highlights and certain pitfalls in life to avoid.”

In its sound, A Quarter Til A Mil is well-suited for the present. However, it’s clear that Styles found inspiration for his lyrical “fashion tips” from many different places and experiences unique to no decade.

“Everything in life inspires me,” Styles said. “I can ride down the street and see the clouds cascading over the sun in a certain way, and that inspires me. I try to take inspiration from everything in life. Never let it be wasted — what you consume is what should drive your inspiration.” 

Styles refuses to be limited. He notes that artists should continue to be versatile in all walks of life, acknowledging that there are many different ways to express yourself in the music industry. 

“Why limit it?” he said. “Why pigeon-hole yourself, put yourself in a box… Good music is just good music. It’s not even about a genre anymore. As long as it feels good to you, then it’s music.” 

Photo by Branden Wilson

Pulling from many different genres, Styles has found inspiration from artists over the years with various styles and sounds. He cites Snoop Dogg as the first rapper he found a real connection with. Doggystyle, released in 1993, was the first album Styles ever bought. Although he was always a fan of hip-hop, he was reluctant to dive straight into the culture.

“I didn’t always feel like I could do it, because there wasn’t a whole lot of new life being breathed into the music,” Styles said. “It just wasn’t my kind of vibe. When Snoop came in, even though he’s from California, it was something familiar — the stories he was telling, the music.” 

Across the continent in Philadelphia, Styles found a sense of familiarity in Snoop’s music. Growing up on opposite ends of the nation, the two artists lived different lives with similar battles while Styles navigated his days in West Philly. 

“Philly is a rough place,” Styles said. “I’ve seen a man get killed with a bat right in front of my house when I was just seven years old. That’s one of the reasons I got the tattoo ‘Life Is Priceless.’ You never know; you’ve got to treat your life with the utmost sincerity and respect… You’ve really got to put the time in to make sure you’re living life to the fullest.” 

Styles left Philadelphia to move to Richmond in his junior year of high school. It’s no surprise to hear that classic artists like Anita Baker, Luther Vandross, Donnie Hathaway, and Marvin Gaye were the songs playing in the background of his household growing up.

Today, Styles listens to a broad array of music, from hip hop and blues to Linkin Park and Creed. Noting John Mayer as a major inspiration of his artistic life, he is far more complicated than his laid-back exterior comes across. His blunt but confident inflection shows that Styles only raps about what he knows; and he’s waited years to finally load all of his experience and prowess into one album.

Styles worked through 60 original songs in the process of creating A Quarter Til A Mil‘s current track list of 16 hip-hop gems. Each track displays a different mood in hip-hop, but can all be tied together by jazz. Having lived in Richmond for most of his life, he felt it would be wrong not to pay homage to the city’s rich history of jazz talent.

“Richmond is all about live instrumentation,” Styles said. “A lot of stuff here has that soul, that grit… When you think of Richmond, it’s live jazz.”

But more than just jazz went into informing the live-instrument sound of A Quarter Til A Mil — and a lot of the inspiration for the album has a local basis.

“The rock scene is crazy here,” Styles said. “D’angelo — those sounds are akin to Richmond. They are married to Richmond. A lot of people try to chase that digital synth sound, but that’s not a Richmond sound.”

His reason behind wanting to use real instruments for the album was a practical one: he wants you to listen.

“For most people, just hearing [analog instruments] brings about an experience much larger than any sound waves moving around the air aimlessly,” Styles said. “Those sounds are emotional triggers that plant themselves in your head, like seeds tossed into reality; when they sprout, they combine the past and present, making what you’re listening to become attached to a specific feeling, smell, or idea.”

Photo by Branden Wilson

Although he possesses a very classic aura about him, Styles’ views of the world are modern. The more you hear his music, the more he shares his world and his perspective. One can’t help but resonate with him.

Styles is the new “classic man.” The man we need now — especially during this time of social change and battle for a mass enlightenment within America. As time goes on, the role of manhood encompasses more than its traditional roles, and brings in a new, nurturing scope of the world.

“I feel like the universe is a feminine energy,” Styles said. “The energy of creation, of motherhood. They hammer into our heads ‘The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost,’ but where’s the woman that’s present in that situation? Anything that comes to you after you start leading with love, that’s the universe bringing it to you.”

In his song “Long As The Villain Win,” Styles raps lyrics like “love leads and the universe follows.” His words are heroic coming from a man who claims to be the villain of his story, but perhaps Styles is onto something — perhaps the world is changing so much that our definition of a “hero” needs to accompany the new face of justice; one that is more representative of the people as a whole.

Styles is challenging old world perspectives with A Quarter Til A Mil, displaying the courageous message of a new generation of American men. His latest album is a jazzy self-reflection as much as it is a guide to self-actualization in the modern world. Underground voices often speak truth in a society of oppression, and Styles uses his words to express his thoughts during this era of American life. 

Top Photo by Branden Wilson

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. 

3WaySlim, via Facebook

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.” 

Monday Night, via Bandcamp

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

The Mesmeric Lyricism of Rapper Cole Hicks

Brianna Scott | October 15, 2018

Topics: Cole Hicks, female artists, May Day, new album, Rapper, richmond rap

Where Richmond rappers are concerned, Cole Hicks is in a league of her own. She established herself as an artist before she even set foot in high school, and she’s been proving her worth ever since.

Hicks’ first introduction to rapping started when she would listen to her cousins dropping cyphers (a form of freestyle rapping) at her grandmother’s house. After listening to her relatives, Hicks would go home to rewrite her cousins’ lines with her own lyrics. No one knew she had an interest in rapping, but Hicks’ hidden talent would soon be revealed when her mom caught her rapping one day in her room while she was grounded.

Bedroom raps molded into radio, when Hicks called into local hip hop/R&B station 106.5 The Beat to show off her skills. People could call in to The Beat and participate in on-air cypher battles — and Hicks was ready to take someone on. When she called in, host Zxulu was taken aback.

Cole Hicks, In the Studio

“He said I sounded like a little kid, and I was like, ‘Well, I am a kid, but I can rap.’ Then he was like, ‘This ain’t no kids thing,’ and he hung up,” Hicks said. “I called back, and as soon as he answered I started rapping. He was like, ‘Hold up, who is this?’”

Hicks cites Jay-Z as her source of inspiration, and used the NYC rapper’s lyrics as study material.

The first time Hicks performed in front of an audience was at Richmond’s former club, Mansion 534, which was originally called The Boss. Not even old enough to be allowed in the club legally, she opened for Lil Wayne, one of the biggest rappers in the 2000s, who was dropping songs like “Lollipop” and “A Milli.”

Barely 15 years old, Hicks developed connections with affiliates of Roc-A-Fella Records at the time, like Philly rapper Freeway and late Wu-Tang Clan member Ol’ Dirty Bastard. Even though she never signed with Roc-A-Fella, the opportunity to rap alongside prolific artists at such a young age put Hicks several leagues ahead of many rappers above her age.

From there, it was only a matter of time before people caught on to Hicks and her impeccable talent. Now 30 years old, Hicks released her debut album, entitled May Day, this year on May first — her birthday. It’s been a long time coming. 

“May Day” Album Cover

“I always had this thing where I would start projects but never complete them,” Hicks said. “I wanted this to be a thing where… it’s another year around the sun and I’m actually doing something that I said I was gonna do and completing it.”

Having taken a short hiatus from rapping, Hicks jumped back in the studio with some of Richmond’s finest, including Michael Millions and Joey Gallo.

May Day was originally just a mixtape. “[The album] became even more special because it wasn’t even intended to become a full album. The way I had created it, it was just going to be a mixtape to gift myself and gift people… to remind people that I still got bars,” Hicks joked. “Being able to collaborate with all these different artists and create a project out of the love for rap, it’s just an amazing thing.”

The 12-track album invites us into Hicks’ world as she delivers dope metaphors song after song, rapping about her life experiences. Being from Southside in Richmond plays an important part in Hicks’ music.

“It was just like this haven,” Hicks said of the neighborhood. “It was full of hate, but full of love — we all stuck together, it was just like a big family.”

As I sat down with Hicks in her home music studio, I asked her what sets her apart from other rappers in Richmond.

“I don’t know if that’s a question I can answer, that might be a question for the audience,” Hicks said. “But I can tell you that, the type of rapper that I am, I’m a true lyricist. I don’t like to make words rhyme just to make them rhyme. I take my time on different songs, different themes and different rhyme schemes. I challenge myself to become a better lyricist, as opposed to just making a song for the club.” 

Hicks’ mesmeric lyricism captures your attention the moment she grabs a mic, letting you know all eyes should be on her. 

But despite how far successful women like Hicks can go, there’s always a guy out there to remind them “you’re good, for a girl” — as if women can’t stand alone in their endeavors without being validated by men. Hicks proves herself as the best, regardless of gender, every time she hits the stage. 

“If I’m kicking ass on these instrumentals like your favorite rappers are, then naw, I’m the best rapper! I have to carry myself like I’m the best rapper — I don’t like to brag or boast about my lyricism, I just like to show it off,” Hicks laughed. “I challenge myself every time I put a pen to a piece of paper… I put it in my mind that people are already going to say that. We have to aim to be better than who they think the better man is.” 

The Mighty Cole Hicks

Hicks has some music projects in the works, and has also been collaborating with other RVA rappers on a podcast called The Late Bloomer Podcast, which you can listen to on SoundCloud. It may be some time before we get another album, but when it comes, people should be prepared for another album full of intoxicating songs to fall in love with. 

Folks, keep your eyes on Richmond’s rap scene, because it isn’t slowing down anytime soon. 

“We’re at a beautiful space right now, and I can’t wait to see how much more we’ll grow within a short period of time. We need to stick together with this music stuff. More collaborations and less allegations,” Hicks says, throwing in a bar to show that, even when she’s offstage and out of the studio, her flow never stops. 

You can stream May Day on Soundcloud or Spotify. Follow Hicks on Instagram @iam_nicolehicks to keep up with her latest ventures. 

 

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

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