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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/

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: June 27 – July 3

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FEATURED SHOW
Sunday, July 1, 12 PM
Williamsfest (In Memory of Kyle Trax), feat. Earthling, Gnarcave, Slump, Cruzer, Nightcreature, Naked Baby, Weird Tears, Big No, Craig Perry, Mindy Alexander, Matt Carter, Buttafly Vazquez @ En Su Boca – Free!
All-day music fests are always a great time, but sometimes they are bittersweet. Such is the case with this one celebrating the life of Kyle Trax, who passed away a couple of months ago due to complications from Type 1 diabetes. Kyle worked at En Su Boca, played drums in local rock n’ roll groups The Cherry Pits and Benderheads among others, and had a ton of friends around town. I didn’t know him well, but he was always nice to me, and I had a blast when his band played my living room for a Valentine’s Day party a few years ago. To say he will be missed is an understatement.

Kyle loved music, and this all-day outdoor festival in his memory is an appropriate occasion on which to celebrate his life. Earthling are the headliners, and this VA metal band has grabbed a lot of attention with their Spinning In The Void LP, released last year on Forcefield Records. If brutal metal crunch mingled with blazing solos and thrashing riffage sounds like fun to you, you need to get on this band’s level. Also on the bill is Gnarcave, an atmospheric black metal band that Kyle was in years ago. Co-founder Craig Perry, now a classical guitarist, will join up with Earthling bassist Sean Weber and Kyle’s childhood friend Ryan Nottingham (filling in for Kyle on drums) to recreate Gnarcave’s ripping black metal rage one last time. Perry will also perform one of his classical guitar compositions as an introduction to Gnarcave’s set — so you fans of technical guitar playing should get up front for this one.

A ton of other things will be happening as part of this all-day festival; performances from a ton of local hardcore, punk, and garage-rock bands including Slump, Cruzer, Nightcreature, Naked Baby, and a bunch more. There will be acoustic sets from several of Kyle’s friends, including local soul singer Buttafly Vasquez (Crucial Elements/Flavor Project). You’ll also get to see the premiere of a Cherry Pits video, indulge in some delicious En Su Boca tacos, and more! The whole thing is free to attend, but Kyle’s family is currently collecting donations to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, so if you have cash to spare, please donate to help find a cure. And then come rock out in memory of an awesome dude who left this world way too soon.

Thursday, June 28, 8 PM
Blac Rabbit, Sun Parade @ Strange Matter – $10 in advance/$12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Here’s an interesting gig for y’all to check out, especially if you’ve seen these guys on Ellen. Yeah, seriously, twin brothers Amiri and Rahiem Taylor, who founded Blac Rabbit, got onto Ellen due to their day job of sorts, busking on New York subways with some killer Beatles covers. This is a pretty excellent story, but it might sound like nothing more than a novelty to you — until you hear the originals Blac Rabbit create when they’re not busking for cash in Times Square.

Their self-titled debut EP, released late last year, brings together psych-rock touchstones from past eras, including The Beatles and Love, as well as modern groups like Tame Impala and MGMT. On songs like “Closer To The Sun,” the group paints hazy dayglo mind pictures that will be a big hit with fans of Dungen or Unknown Mortal Orchestra. It’s really incredible stuff, and it’s sure to shine that much brighter in the live setting. You’ll have a blast when these guys take the stage, even if they don’t play a single Beatles cover. And while Massachusetts’ Sun Parade has a somewhat different sound, they’re still an apt pairing for Blac Rabbit due to the group’s similar origins as buskers. These days they’re making colorful pop music that brings in equal influence from folk music and psychedelia, to excellent effect. These two groups will be the perfect vehicle with which to drift away across the stratosphere… at least for a few hours.

Friday, June 29, 9 PM
Imaginary Sons, Leach @ City Dogs – Free!
Damn — in certain segments of the local scene, this is bound to be the news of the year. Not only are the Imaginary Sons back for a one-time-only reunion show, they’ve reunited the original four-piece lineup that brought us all the irreverent, excellent Let It Beer LP back in 2015. With a ridiculous Beatles parody cover and some truly unforgettable costumes, these guys led with goofy spirit, then pulled you in with the absolute power of their rock n’ roll tunes. Equal parts Cheap Trick and Weezer, plus a dose of AC/DC for sheer power, the Imaginary Sons were a band you weren’t going to overlook.

First slimming down to a trio lineup, then breaking up in early 2017, Imaginary Sons left a gaping void in the RVA music scene. It’s no surprise that, when they announced this reunion earlier this year, people were stoked. And now the payoff to all that anticipation will finally arrive this Friday night when Imaginary Sons rage at City Dogs once again. They’ll be joined by Leach, the current project of former Sons Mike Cruz and Russell Redmond, and DJ Frontyard will be spinning tunes to kick off the night, but we all know the main attraction: the opportunity to hear all the hits — “Kicking The Cup,” “Never There,” etc — in a live environment once again. Eat your hot dogs early, because the mustard’s gonna fly when these guys take the stage.

Saturday, June 30, 7 PM
RVA Lyricist Lounge, Episode 5; feat. Nickelus F, Cole Hicks, IGB vs Swerve 360, Robalu vs Leek Bucks, Southpaw Battle Coalition cypher, and more @ Strange Matter – $15
There is, as always, a lot of great hip hop happening in this town, and you sleep on any of it at your peril. However, I must urge you to make specific effort to be at RVA Lyricist Lounge Saturday at Strange Matter if you care about hip hop at all. These ongoing events, presented by Southpaw Battle Coalition, have been putting cyphers and battles back into the scene in a big way over the past year or two, and are pushing the local scene forward in obvious ways. Most importantly this time around, though, is that Nickelus F will be performing his newest album, Stuck. Nick F shouldn’t need any introduction to hip hop fans around here by now — his 15 years of consistently excellent releases proves the quality he’ll deliver every single time you hand him a mic, and we’re seeing that same quality on his latest release. The sluggish beats and dazed lyrical flow that set the mood on the album help bring the title to life, and the man also known as Sweet Petey will make it hit hard when he hits the Strange Matter stage Saturday night.

But that’s just the beginning of what this show has to offer. Also on tap is a performance from up-and-coming local rapper Cole Hicks, who’ll be bringing us selections from her buzzworthy new release, May Day. Then there are the two battles on the card, pitting IGB against Swerve 360 and Robalu against Leek Bucks. Southpaw Battle Coalition will hit us with a cypher, as will a variety of local MCs you know and love. Plus, there’ll be room for new faces — 30 open cypher slots means that if you feel like you’ve got rhymes to deliver, there’s room for you to get on the mic and show your stuff. And if you just want to see some high-quality rhyming and keep up with the genre as it moves forward here in RVA, you’re definitely going to want to be here to watch. Mark your calendar.

Sunday, July 1, 8 PM
To Live And Shave In LA, New Ting Ting Loft, Oozing Meat, Fuk U / Idiot, DJ Rat Ward @ Strange Matter – $5
This one’s gonna be weird — and a whole lot of fun. To Live And Shave In LA, whose name certainly appears to be a joking reference to a William Friedkin movie, have a 25 year career behind them and are still going strong. The group primarily arises out of the collaboration between early Pussy Galore member Tom Smith and Florida noise legend Rat Bastard — though it’s involved a ton of other people over the years, from Thurston Moore to Andrew WK. Listening to To Live And Shave In LA is a challenging experience. Beginning from the proposition that “genre is obsolete,” Messrs. Smith, Bastard, and co. combine all sorts of experimental insanity, from ambient tape loops to metal-bashing harsh noise and untraceable electronic weirdness.

How does that translate live? Hard to say… a quick spin through their extensive discography will demonstrate to you that it’s pretty much different every time. But it’ll certainly be worth seeing, even if you have no idea what you’ll get — if there’s one term that does not describe To Live And Shave In LA, it’s “boring.” The local acts on this bill will keep things interesting as well; New Ting Ting Loft is a totally maniacal improvised-music ensemble who takes experimental jazz as a point of departure and ends up in all kinds of ludicrous places. The results are always fascinating. Oozing Meat is a collaboration between Eric Tomillon (Fake Object) and Jason Hodges (Suppression/Bermuda Triangles/etc) that, at least on last year’s Splatter High, leaps dramatically from ambient noise weirdness to shit-fi grindcore, then back again. Who knows how that’ll translate live, but it’s sure to keep your attention. Which is really the story for this entire show — there’s no way to know exactly what you’re gonna get, but you can be sure that it won’t bore you.

Monday, July 2, 8 PM
Late Bloomer, Lovelorn, Teen Death, Sea of Storms @ Strange Matter – $10 (order tickets HERE)
Here we are at the end of a trio of Strange Matter shows, all completely different, and all completely awesome. This one’s for the fans of straight-up rock n’ roll with a melodic edge and some killer hooks; Late Bloomer brings all of that to us with their brand new LP Waiting, out on 6131 Records this Friday. It’s so brand new, it isn’t even out yet — but it will be on Monday night, so bring some cash and pick yourself up a copy! Then enjoy the bushel of killer tunes this North Carolina trio will be bringing with them, both from their latest ripper and excellent earlier LPs, such as 2014’s Things Change.

They’ll also be bringing Lovelorn with them, and if you’re a little unfamiliar with this Philadelphia trio — who’ve only released one song so far — it might help you recognize them if I tell you that they are three of the four members of the unfortunately departed Philly psych project Creepoid. That band was really hitting their peak with their third and final LP, 2015’s Cemetery Highrise Slum. Lovelorn’s sole demo release thus far has more of an ominous, spaced-out vibe reminiscent of Mazzy Star than the fuzzy, garage-damaged sound Creepoid were perfecting towards the end, but it’s close enough to make it really incredible in its own right. And hey, it’s only one song — getting to hear a full set is sure to leave us with a much stronger impression of where these excellent musicians are taking things next. Opening sets from awesome locals, including hard-rockin’ punk n’ rollers Teen Death and melodic, emotionally-driven rockers Sea Of Storms, will make for a bill full of highlights. Don’t miss a moment.

Tuesday, July 3, 6:30 PM
Have Mercy, Kississippi, Super American, Downhaul, Warrington @ The Camel – $14 in advance/$16 at the door (order tickets HERE)
Here’s something I didn’t expect at all; directly on the heels of their third LP, 2017’s excellent Make The Best Of It, Have Mercy are returning to town with a tour celebrating the five-year anniversary of their debut LP, 2013’s The Earth Pushed Back. What makes this unexpected is the fact that frontman Brian Swindle pretty much acquired a completely new backing band around the time of Make The Best Of It. This means the band that’ll be celebrating the anniversary of their debut album is mostly made up of members who weren’t in the band at the time of its release.

That’s all right, though; if there’s one thing Make The Best Of It proved, it’s that Swindle’s current compatriots are totally capable of delivering top-quality Have Mercy material that is capable of standing alongside the best work of their original lineup. And since The Earth Pushed Back is every bit as good as their latest album, the current incarnation of Have Mercy should have no problem doing it justice. I can’t help but hope they’ll play at least one or two new songs, though. They’ll be ably accompanied by Kississippi, a goofily named but excellent emo-pop group from Philly whose latest LP, Sunset Blush, is a real standout in the world of passionate melodies and evocative lyrics from which they ascend. Upbeat pop-rockers Super American will round out the trio of touring groups on this bill, which will be joined by locals Downhaul and Warrington. This is one to look forward to.

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Email me if you’ve got any tips for me about upcoming shows (that take place after the week this column covers–this week’s column has obviously already been written): [email protected] [and yeah, in case you’re wondering, more awesomeness from my cracked and bleeding fingertips is available at GayRVA — come say hey.]

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Hip Hop Fight Club

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When the Ultimate Rap League brought their Survivor Series to Richmond this past January, it marked the first time that a national battle rap group established a platform for the talented emcees of my hometown.

The group, known as SMACK/URL, has an international following for their battles, which they usually host in New York City and Los Angeles. Their venue for this event was The Top, promoter EJ Lewter’s club in Shockoe Bottom, and it was packed with rap fans of all ages for the battle, which was streamed live over Pay-Per-View for the folks at home.

Originally printed in RVA #32 Spring 2018, you can check out the issue HERE or pick it up around Richmond now. 

When I stopped in to catch the action on Jan. 20, Lewter introduced me to Smack White, the owner of URL. “It’s my pleasure,” White said of hosting a battle in Richmond. “Richmond has been the city that’s been supporting me throughout my whole career, [from] the DVD era all the way to the battle rap culture. We got like 15-16 years of support from the city of Richmond so I wanted to come back and show the city some love.”

Battle rap has a place right at the heart of hip hop, said Radio B, a Richmond artist and one of the owners of the local Southpaw Battle Coalition.

It is the true sport of hip hop, and the original essence of rap. It’s really high-level lyricism — rap, spoken word, stand-up comedy, and debate, all rolled into one.

If battle rap is the sport of hip hop, Survivor Series DMV is the major leagues of emcee sparring. This event brought out almost all of battle rap’s heavy hitters in the region; Baltimore’s Tay Roc, soon-to-be top-tier performers Chess of New York City, T-Top from North Carolina, and arguably the most exciting newcomer to URL, Nu Jerzey Twork, who has performed in RVA and moved up the ranks in Northern Virginia’s Showtime Battle Arena.

The DMV area is home to a lot of talent, but often overlooked, White said. “I don’t think they get enough light. That’s why I’m here, to show the city some love and to establish a presence in the city. Hopefully, this can be one of many events that I do out here.”

Some of the DMV-area artists included the Goonies Crew, comprised of Twork, League of Champions-member Ryda, Richmond’s own Jakkboy Maine, Young X from Portsmouth, and one of the most anticipated rappers, veteran battle emcee and Black Money Mobb head Moon.

Middle: Moon

Originally from Paterson NJ, Moon has been a Richmond resident since the ‘90s. He has an impressive resume for a rapper, including a feature in MTV’s Fight Klub and a famous rumored battle between him, Wu-Tang’s RZA, and Juice Crew member Craig G.

When I asked him if really happened, he answered, “I got a $30,000 watch from it.” Battle rap is about building legends, and Moon has legends for everybody in the club.

He’s one of the top performers in the Survivor Series, and the word survivor suits him well; the night before the battle, a fire consumed his Southside home. Just like my question about the battle, it didn’t phase him.

After the battle, I met up with Moon outside his temporary apartment to talk battle rap and RVA in general. “It’s a different time of battle rap from what I come from. What I come from, we didn’t even write your battle raps. When you battled somebody, you ran up on they ass,” he said, comparing the calculated approach in today’s game to the more free-form early bouts.

“Back in the day, it was, ‘Let’s bet some money,’ or just bragging rights for your ‘hood. You didn’t have time to prepare for a nigga, you didn’t know his grandmother… It wasn’t about how much information you had on the nigga. You had to be nice, you had to be lyrical.”

One factor that makes Moon a rising star in the battle world is his honest approach to rapping; he still sticks to his rhyming principles. “That’s the difference,” he said. “I respect what they do now. I’ve had to grow into some of the things they do. But I don’t change what the fuck I do, because that’s what makes me me.”

He’s one of the older battlers active on the scene today — something he doesn’t try to hide onstage — and he’s fiercely loyal to the Richmond music scene. Whether it’s a Southpaw Battle or League of Champions (LOC) battle around town, you’ll find Moon and some of his Mobb brothers in attendance. He’s a hardened veteran of the scene, and he’s not afraid of any challenge. He referenced two house fires he’s survived when he joked, “I’ve survived some wilder shit than [a battle].”

As a touring battle rapper who’s been on MTV, Pay-Per-View, and had recent bouts in Ohio and New York City, Moon described the impact Richmond hip hop has had on him. “Richmond Virginia brought me back to life, man. I had really left battle rap, rap period, alone. I wasn’t really doing rap like that, but I was dibbling and dabbling.”

In particular, he credits a few local folks with his return. “Shout out to Rocstagis, LOC, that’s where it all started. Me and Bravo had the city on fire, you can go look at our first battle. We actually brought battle rap back, me and Bravo. That brought my career back.”

Battle rap might be new to some, but hip hop has always had a competitive edge. Everybody talks about who has the best crew or DJ, but it all comes down to skill. This was established in the early days of hip hop, when Coke La Rock and Keith Cowboy became celebrities for their skill with the mic.

There have been hundreds of rap battles on tapes and TV recently, but they’re the tip of an iceberg. Most battles are face to face, held wherever, from the street outside a concert to a quick confrontation in a studio. It’s rare that these get recorded, and they’re almost never caught on video, especially in the early days. But those that are watched 20 to 30 years later and the winners are still subject to debate.

One of the most legendary crew battles caught on tape was between the Cold Crush Brothers and the Fantastic Romantic Five, recorded live in 1981 at the Harlem World Battle of the Heavyweights. The audio is all over YouTube, where commentators argue over who should have won.

For emcees, the most famous is probably one of the earliest recorded, a battle between Chief Rocker Busy Bee and Kool Moe Dee from the Treacherous Three, also taped in 1981. For many hip hop fans, this was the first time we heard one rapper go after another face to face on the same stage.

Since then, the battle has been the proving ground for many up and coming rappers, but many of their early matches have become legends, passed on only by word of mouth. No tape exists showing the DMX versus Jay-Z battle in the early 90s, but every serious emcee has heard the tale.

The new wave of rap aggression in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s brought high profile rappers like Nas, Jay-Z, Mobb Deep, Beanie Sigel, and Jadakiss into rap beefs with each other, and the conflicts drove a spike in sales from consumers wanting to hear more battle rap.

As a college-aged hip-hop fan, I came of age with Fight Klub battles on MTV2, and seeing RVA’s own Nickelus F as the Hall of Fame champion on 106th & Park’s Freestyle Friday. These battles kept it clean for TV, but there were rawer, uncensored battles which we picked up from the neighborhood DVD seller. Floor-to-floor and door-to-door, they’d deliver the latest movies, albums, and plenty of rap battles recorded on DVD for an underground audience of diehard fans.

This is where Queens, NY native Troy Mitchell, alias Smack White, made his debut. His pre-YouTube-era series SMACK (Streets Music Art Culture Knowledge) was a touring show that visited different cities to show street life from the perspectives of local hip-hop royalty and more. In 2003, those videos first introduced me to Big Meech and Black Mafia Family (BMF), with club scenes and even a segment where Bleu DaVinci and the crew hang out in a Miami hotel lobby with the city’s mayor.

The local culture was fascinating, but not the main attraction. Somewhere in the middle of the DVD would be a battle or two. Sometimes they were set up at the park, sometimes a clothing store or a project hallway in NYC. These weren’t the battles in movies like 8 Mile or The Shelter. There were no beats, no backing tracks, no famous actors. They’re just two rappers, mostly unknown outside their city limits, standing across from each other, ready for lyrical war.

Early DVDs showed a three or six-round battle, but as the series progressed, you’d see a lot more trash talk between rappers, some who weren’t even in the battle. The conflicts sparked anticipation, and we all looked forward to the next SMACK DVD as the battles and conflicts took center stage.

Still pre-YouTube, we’d meet up outside Foster Hall at Virginia State University, and argue over whether Murda Mook beat Jae Millz or vice-versa. Every emcee wanted to make it to a SMACK DVD; this inspired White’s creation of the Ultimate Rap League, which took off immediately.

Today, URL’s artist roster features the best rappers from all over the country, from different leagues in every region, and they all head up to New York City or Los Angeles to battle.

As battle rap has grown, other leagues have sprung up, especially here in Richmond. The two prominent leagues in the city now are the long-standing League of Champions, owned by Sonny Kolfax, and the upstart, Radio B and Bravo’s Southpaw Battle Coalition, who count Chance Fischer as a member.

Left: Smack White

During the photoshoot, I sat down with Kolfax to talk battle rap and what it’s like to be live on stage during the battle. “You can’t buy [the feeling] nowhere,” he said. “It’s so easy to have a concert and people rock with the music, the lyrics don’t necessarily have to be there. But when you’re battling, there is no music. Everything you say counts. If you on stage and there’s no music and you’re giving everything to your opponent and the crowd is rocking with you, that energy transfer is a high almost.”

He noted Richmond’s place in the history of battle rap, and the impact of SMACK coming down I-95.  “You look at the DMV area and you look at the URL and it’s heavy here now, it’s prominent…and people never realize that those guys started out here,” he said. “Ryda came up through LOC, Jakkboy Maine’s first battle was on SRL [the Southern Rap League].”

Kolfax noted that it’s just getting bigger here. “The growth that I’ve seen in the scene from 2014 to present has been tremendous,” he said. “Because now battle rap is almost synonymous with hip hop in the city. When I started out battle rap wasn’t that big, like, ‘You’re a battle rapper? OK’.”

Kolfax thought URL’s battle was a good sign for the city. “It’s a blessing to see where it’s at now, because this is only a precursor to what can happen — and we showed the city what can happen.”

But more important, he said, will be Richmond capitalizing on the newfound attention from the rest of the battle world. “Don’t think just because Smack came that’s the end of battle rap,” he said. “No, we still have leagues out here. Pack our events now. Because URL already took notice, now it’s up to us. Even if you never been to a battle rap event, [you’re] just a fan of music, check it out.”

Gigi Broadway, from Kolfax’s LOC, shared his sentiments regarding hip-hop in RVA and battle rap in general. “Battle rap in this region is exploding,” she said. “URL is invested in the battlers here, and are always looking for talent out here. The music scene is really growing as well. The industry hasn’t quite set their eyes here yet like battle rap has, but it’s definitely turning in our direction.”

Broadway gave shoutouts to some local talent that’s been in the news lately. “Artists like Michael Millions, Mutant Academy, Noah O, and more have gotten a lot of national coverage last year, so it’s coming. I would say now is the time to get involved, because they are looking at how the city responds to and supports the artists. The time is now,” she said. “Once battle rap becomes more mainstream here, it will open the door for RVA to get more respect in the hip hop culture in general.”

Every person I spoke to about the future of battle rap and hip-hop in Richmond agreed; the time is now. When the #1 battle league in the world shows you this type of love, it’s time for the whole city to take notice of the crews, the leagues, and the venues like Lewter’s The Top.

Battle rap may have started underground, but it’s driven hip hop for decades, and with this type of buzz, it’s time for the form to take its place at the front of the scene.

Photos by Branden Wilson. Art Direction by Natalie Jackson

 

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Radio B Drops New Album, ‘Jesus Never Wore A Suit’

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Tired with the glorification of mumble rap? Well if you are like me and grew up listening to godfathers like Jay Z, Nas, and more, this empowering new album may just be right up your alley.

Up-and-coming Richmond rapper Radio B released his 16-track concept album, Jesus Never Wore a Suit (JWNAS) early last month with producer JL Hodges (formerly of Richmond band Avers) in collaboration with Purple Republic, a local audio production company.  

With his latest release, Radio B, whose real name is Greg Carden II, aims to address social and political issues, as well as his viewpoints on religion and how the trust in God’s plan will create a more positive outlook on life given harsh societal conditions. Carden also speaks up for victims of oppression, and urges the community to stop the violence among one another.

“I am honest to my music almost to a fault because I am a very introspective type of artist which means whatever is going on in my life at that moment in time is what you are going to hear, as transparent as possible,” said Carden.

I find this sense of individuality incredibly inspiring especially nowadays considering the fact that aspiring rappers are almost scared to address these kinds of topics in their music because they try to appeal to everyone and not get bashed as they attempt to make a name for themselves. Because he is venting and not simply making party tracks, that same substance is exactly what builds cult followings from people who listen due to the depth of inspiration that the rapper has to offer rather than the sound of a beat.

“We are constantly taking things in and being receptive to the world around us. Everything you experience in life is either good for you or bad for you and I want people to take my music and live with it without it poisoning them. I aim to be respected by my peers and inspire other rappers to either get better or give up,” said Carden.

Carden has carved out a serious name for himself in the Richmond rap scene, pioneering the regular RVA Lyricist Lounge, around town and creating platforms for emerging emcees like Virginia’s rap battle league The Southpaw Battle Coalition to help propel local artists’ careers.

Fly Anakin, Radio B, and Nickelus F at a recent RVA Lyricist Lounge

For this release, Carden recruited a cadre of Richmond’s finest acts from rappers to singers, with features from Fly Anakin, Breeze the Poet, Angelica Baylor, DJ skip, Easalio, Henny L.O., Sam Reed, Nickelus F, and Michael Millions who appears on the song “Grace.” Millions, along with Nickelus F, grew up with Carden on Richmond’s Southside.

“{He’s] one of the best lyrical geniuses in the city with a tremendous work ethic,” Millions said of Radio B. 

Instead of some party tracks and mindless bangers, this project is designed to challenge the way listeners think about the world around them. 

“It doesn’t always appeal to everyone nor is it designed to, but sometimes we just need more music like that. Music doesn’t evoke thinking like it used to anymore, that type of artwork is now limited in a mumble rap dominated industry,” said Millions.

Image may contain: one or more people, people on stage, people playing musical instruments, people sitting, night and indoor
Photo Credit: Fisher C. Reaves

After listening to the album a couple of times, I see it more as a story, with every track resembling a different chapter rather than a compilation of individual bangers. “Cursing in Church” and “Village Proverbs” are some of the stand-out tracks given their poetic transitions, and if you ask me, “God Lives” and “Once or Twice” will be on the radio any minute.

As for the group’s creative processes, their chemistry most simply stems from similar visions, according to Hodges. “The listening sessions and sampling of songs didn’t feel like work at all which made us realize that we were doing it right,” he said.

This was the producer’s first time working solely on hip hop. Since leaving Avers, Hodges has since been running Overcoast, a company specializing in music and sound primarily for commercials and other forms of media with studios in Richmond and London.

Using Cubase as his production software, Jesus Never Wore a Suit was Hodges’ first album that he produced using samples. With this project, Hodges said he wanted to “force people to have an opinion and evoke feeling and emotion through a mix of different energies.”

“It could have easily taken just a month to churn out if we wanted, but it would not have been thought-provoking nor multilayered. We are not just rapping on a beat, we are storytelling,” he said.

It didn’t surprise me at all that Carden was a New York native after listening to him rap. His rhyme scheme reminds me of the old Pro Era cyphers that we all know and love.

Personally, I always find it refreshing to see artists who stick to their roots and deliver thought-provoking poetry which is exactly what we are seeing with Radio B.

He will be leading a lecture on his album as a keynote speaker for Virginia Union University on April 12, and you can catch him at the next RVA Lyricist Lounge event May 26 at Strange Matter. His pride for his city is incomparable and his plans to bring it into the spotlight are just getting started.

 

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