A Flourishing Hip-Hop Scene
By Josh Harrell, The Fayetteville Observer, N.C.
Jul. 20–It’s a common story found in smaller cities across the country: There are talented musicians who can’t make it big. But in Fayetteville, young hip-hop artists are finding their own ways to grab exposure.
Club owners, radio DJs, promoters and rappers are working independently — and together — to break through a barrier they have found impenetrable in recent years.
While an occasional rapper has discovered marginal crossover success and branched out after winning local open-mic nights, Fayetteville is still searching for the artsist who will makes it big and carry the rest of the city with him or her.
But the area’s hip-hop leaders have banded together to elevate Fayetteville’s hip-hop scene to attract a national spotlight.
They will have a major shot at doing so at Saturday’s Summer Jam at the Fort Bragg Fairgrounds. Hip-hop radio station Foxy 99 will pair five of Fayetteville’s most talented rap artists with chart-topping national acts such as Lil’ Kim, Plies and Mario.
But once the thousands of hip-hop fans have left the concert, there will still be work to do. These hip-hop supporters will still confront a stigma against hip-hop culture. They will still strive to showcase the region’s talent while using their connections to give talented artists their break.
“Fayetteville’s hip-hop scene is really still in its developmental stages,” says Foxy 99 DJ Terrance “Big Abe” Abraham. “I look at the future and see how it’s growing, and we all want to be a part of that.”
Here is a look at some of those people behind Fayetteville’s burgeoning hip-hop scene:
Mike Tech
It’s 4 p.m., and everyone in the hip-hop community knows where Mike Tech is.
Stationed in front of his microphone at Foxy 99′s studio, Mike scarfs down bananas and milk — his diet food — in between seemingly constant calls. Listeners call for song requests, to ask questions or just to chat.
“We like to have fun with our listeners,” Mike says after playing a trick on a caller with the wrong number.
Most insiders see Mike as the key figure in Fayetteville’s hip-hop scene. After living in New York City, Mike tried his hand in the promotions business in Myrtle Beach, S.C., before moving to Fayetteville. Now as program director at Foxy, which is consistently the No. 1 rated radio station in the region, Mike doesn’t let his position get to his head. He still focuses on his mission of “staying in the streets” by being out in the community and making himself accessible to the public.
“I put on the suit and tie for work, kiss my baby, put my wife to bed and then go shoot pool and rub elbows,” Mike said. “I don’t want people to think I’m bigger and better than them.”
To give area artists a shot at fame, Mike started Iron Mic Tuesdays in 2004. Rappers from across the area flock to Club Palace on Bragg Boulevard late Tuesday nights to show off their lyrical flow, hoping to catch an agent or promoter’s eye, and thus a big break. Through Iron Mic Tuesdays, Mike has given out money prizes, opening acts at major shows, even record deals — all for artists who capture Club Palace’s crown at Iron Mic. Five of Saturday’s winners qualify for a spot at Summer Jam.
“Guys come to me and say, ‘Can you play my music on the radio?,’ and I tell them to come to the club on Tuesday nights,” Mike said. “They have to cross a hump, and I want to see what they’ve really got.”
But even if a rapper wins on a given night, Mike needs more to convince him to put the artist’s music on his Sunday night independent music show. He looks for people who not only have the on-stage presence and lyrical skills that get the crowd pumped, but also the ability to network and make themselves known.
“A lot of people don’t hit the mark,” Mike said. “Even if they’ve won that night, I still need more.”
Big Abe
It’s Tuesday night, and rappers are flowing from one end of Club Palace’s stage to the other, shelling out their best lyrics and trying to impress a cast of judges just off-stage.
Terrance “Big Abe” Abraham observes it all, usually from the club’s DJ booth, as he makes sure the night is running smoothly and that every rapper gets his or her fair shot.
Abraham sees the talent in Fayetteville and wants people outside of the town to do the same. He serves as Beasley Broadcasting’s production assistant and has been invested in Fayetteville’s hip-hop scene since his days at Methodist College.
Now that he has established his own open-mic nights on Saturday at Jam Rock on Murchison Road, he helps Mike Tech run Iron Mic Tuesdays, hoping to showcase the area’s most talented hip-hop artists.
“There’s talent everywhere, and I’m just trying to help them where I can,” Abraham said. “If I was in Tupelo, Miss., I’d be doing the same thing.”
Abraham started his open-mic sessions in 2006, not as competition for Iron Mic Tuesdays, but rather for those who can only get out on Saturdays. The sessions are held twice a week and groups pay $20 per night to compete. The routine of getting on stage and making themselves known is Abraham’s key piece of advice to aspiring rappers.
“I tell them to treat it like a gym,” Abraham said. “You can pay $40 a month to perform in front of a crowd twice a month. You have to practice and then promote yourself like politicians do.”
Mike enlisted Abraham to help organize the Iron Mic competition that will send five local hip-hop artists to Summer Jam. Abraham serves as the main resource for budding artists, dishing out advice and a helping hand when they need him.
“I’m more of the social bug that people can come to for help,” Abraham says. “I can play host, but it’s Mike who gets their stuff on the airwaves.”
The Clarks
Lamont and Freddie Clark own City Limits, on Raeford Road, and Club Palace, on Bragg Boulevard, two venues that have hosted a number of hip-hop acts in the past five years, including the open-mic nights run by Mike Tech and Big Abe.
The uncle-nephew combo jumped into the club scene in 2001, after working in Fayetteville’s hip-hop promotions business for two years.
And after nearly 10 years on the scene, the problem they see is that none of the rappers are working together. Aspiring hip-hop artists compete against each other, making progress difficult, says Lamont, the nephew.
“They’re all trying to make it on their own, and they don’t want to see each other make it,” he says. “But you know once one guy gets through, there’s going to be a whole lot more that make it out, because he’s going to have the talent pool to pull from.”
The Clarks see that talent firsthand. While bringing major acts such as Lil’ Wayne and Young Jeezy to City Limits and Club Palace, they arrange for local artists to open those shows. At the open-mic nights, the Clarks are trying to give the local guys a shot at fame.
The Clarks believe they’ve found the right mix of live music — both nationally known and local — and dance-club fare. And after spending several years working at Kelly-Springfield Tires before jumping into the hip-hop scene, they’re not taking their positions for granted.
“People look at the club business like they’re scared of it,” Lamont says. “But you just have to treat it like a business and nothing else.”
Glock Stylez
Glock Stylez, whose real name is Travis McLaughlin, has performed in front of thousands with national acts such as D-Block and Juvenile. It was quite a platform for someone coming from the humble beginnings of pep-rally performances at Rockingham’s Richmond Senior High School.
“I love that adrenaline,” McLaughlin says. “It’s those little butterflies when you get on stage and everyone is screaming and treating you like you’re somebody.”
But the rap game is tough. Despite hitting the stage with some of the nation’s best and laying down tracks in the plushest of studios, McLaughlin still hasn’t broken through. It’s the same problem many of the area’s most talented rappers are facing: dominance on the scene and on stage does not automatically translate to record deals. And even when you work with big-name artists, appearing on songs and occasionally joining them on tour, it’s not a free ticket.
“When you’re under an artist, that artist is looking out for himself No. 1,” McLaughlin says.
But that hasn’t stopped him from racking up the contest wins. Whether it’s at local clubs such as the Palace, or the major clubs in hip-hop meccas such as Atlanta, McLaughlin has had no shortage of success on the stage. Now, as a finalist competing for a spot on the Summer Jam stage, he is counting on his experience to seal the deal.
“There’s competition here, but I’ve been doing this for a minute,” he says.
After Summer Jam, McLaughlin is off to New York with his promoter, hoping to connect with the people that could give him his big break. It’s not easy, he says, to make it in North Carolina.
“It’s like a crab pot,” McLaughlin says. “When the crab gets halfway out, they snatch him right back down.”
Coast 2 Coast Media
Tucked under Edith’s Styling Salon on Murchison Road is a budding business that’s ready to explode. DX Muhammad, owner of Coast 2 Coast Media, has pulled together some of Fayetteville’s most seasoned music insiders to form the media group that already boasts a model-management group and a video-recording studio.
Soon it will incorporate a recording studio and a marketing team that Muhammad hopes will catapult the media group, which began in June of 2007, from its cavernous studios onto the regional hip-hop scene.
The group includes brothers Tony and Markus Davis, who own Davis Entertainment Productions and Recording. It includes Vic Frost, who brings his long history in the Fayetteville hip-hop scene from radio and putting together shows and block parties. Coast 2 Coast will use Frost’s connections and his marketing tools to expand the group.
Vivian “Lady Vye” Baldwin runs the modeling group, while photographer Trae Edwards and videographer Terry Williams handle the group’s cameras.
The Davis brothers are putting the finishing touches on Coast 2 Coast’s studio, and artists have already been scheduled to lay down tracks in the studio. Muhahammad believes pooling the resources will convince artists to stop at Coast 2 Coast when they’re looking for their shot at fame.
In the mean time, Muhammad and Williams are filming a documentary on Fayetteville’s hip-hop scene and its history. And while they continue research and look for support, they hope to premiere the film by the end of the year.
The group’s members are regulars in the scene and are known at the clubs, radio stations and everywhere in between, ready to discover Fayetteville’s talent.
“We’re always trying to be out on the scene to do video and interview local talent that’s out there,” DX said. “We keep track of what’s going on in the city.”
Staff writer Josh Harrell can be reached at harellj@fayobserver.com or 323-4848, ext 651.
Foxy 99 Summer Jam
Who: Lil’ Kim, Plies, Pleasure P, Dem Franchize Boyz, Young Berg, Shawty Lo, Mario, Lloyd, Lil Will, Hot Syles, DJ Khaled, Ace Hood, Maino
When: Saturday, 5 p.m.
Where: Fort Bragg Fairgrounds
Tickets: $20 at the gate. Tickets are also available at the Beasley Broadcasting building at 508 Person St.
Information: Go to www.foxy99.com or call 486-4991.
To contribute to Coast 2 Coast’s documentary, call DX Muhammad at 919-665-2134.
—–
To see more of The Fayetteville Observer, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.fayettevillenc.com/.
Copyright (c) 2008, The Fayetteville Observer, N.C.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.