Tag: Donnie Breeze

#HipHop4ThePeople: There’s A Mini Hip-Hop Museum Coming to Baltimore

Who’s a die-hard hip-hop fan? Everyone enjoys claiming the title. In reality, it’s rare to find the truth behind who can truly be labeled a fan because many so called fans lack the knowledge of hip-hop’s true origin or how it fits into society.

Hip-hop holds history. Enough that there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of books written about this art that emerged and continues to thrive since the early 1970s. Even in its birthplace there’s a grand opening scheduled possibly in 2018 for the country’s first ever hip-hop museum in the Bronx, NY. Now, Hip-hop is more than music that we dance to in our aunt’s basement celebrating birthdays. It’s a way of life.

Hip-hop does not stop at New York. All over the world, it has created a culture that people now eat, breathe, sleep and live by. Over the weekend, Baltimore artists exhibited a piece of what hip-hop consists of to them at the #HipHop4thePeople Cypher: A Mini Hip-Hop Museum fundraiser held at the SAND gallery, formerly known as the Incredible Little Art Gallery.

I attended the cypher expecting it to be like any other I’ve gone to in the art scene. But what made it different this time was majority it’s location, and that the event served a bigger purpose for the creative community.  

There has never been any platform in Baltimore created to solely pay homage to hip-hop. In fact, artists in Baltimore often nag about lack of support in the city from their peers. So when there’s a notion that a Mini Hip-Hop Museum is coming to town, local culture fanatics become excited because there is finally a place that will represent their way of living. Not only will we finally have somewhere that will represent the history of hip-hop, but also there will be a place to symbolize hip-hop from a Baltimorean’s perspective.

#HipHip4thePeople was exactly what it stated to be; for the people emerged in the culture of hip-hop. The atmosphere mimicked what hip-hoppers find familiar in a cypher’s circle. MCs took turns hopping in spitting their most vicious lyrics. Many were caught freestyling and others brought recycled hot 16 bars.  

President Karl Keels opens the evening.

Mini Hip-Hop Museum President and Creative Director Karl Keel, also known as Karlito Freeze, opened the night up as the host and DJ of the event. Event goers were queued in on where donations towards the cypher were being made. Partial proceeds were gifted to hurricane relief for Hurricane Harvey, Irma, and Maria to aid victims in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico. Other funding went towards the opening of the Mini Hip-Hop Museum expected to open in early 2018.

The cypher went for an hour and was followed up with another event sponsored by the SAND Gallery, Adult Game Night. To drop a few names of MCs who participated in the evening’s cypher were:

Kontrah Diction , Da’Rious, Donnie Breeze, Ollie Voso, Mobish Rico, and Tony Ray

All rappers are from Baltimore making a name for themselves in the “game.” Hopefully, we will find them on the walls of the Mini Hip-Hop Museum in the future. Thanks, guys, for your contribution to the culture over this weekend. I know I definitely enjoyed it.

See more photos of participants in the gallery below.

When the Mini Hip-Hop Museum opens in Baltimore, what local artist do you expect to be exhibited in its halls? Leave your comments below.

Have you seen photos from the 3rd Annual Madonnari Arts Festival? View awesome chalk work done on the Baltimore street here on Doc’s Castle Media. 

Whiskey’s Birthday Hip-hop Showcase at DC’s Art Gallery The Fridge (DCM Gallery and Recap)

People pour into a one room warehouse full of astounding art on a beautiful Saturday evening. The Fridge, a place where artists from DC gather to spread their inner creative abilities, whether it be through painting, poetry, singing, dancing, and any other art form a person can think of. It’s on this particular day, we all gathered to listen to spoken-word and a group of talented local hip-hop artists performs in celebration of DC blogger Whiskey Girl, owner of the Whiskey and Poetry Brand and also the host of the Embrace The Crazy Podcast, birthday celebration.

I don’t know what to make of the start of the event on whether it was good luck or bad luck. Outside of the venue, there was a fire that occurred at Capital Hill Tandoor & Grill, directly across the street from The Fridge. People crowded the streets to sneak a peak of the damage inside the restaurant. It’s uncertain whether there were any injuries during the time.

I have tunnel vision for the arts, I guess. Haha.

Otherwise, the evening was nothing but love once I entered the showcase. The host Rich Rocket opened the night telling peers to “give an energy that can be reflected by the audience.” So whenever an artist performed, they needed to give an energy that the audience could mirror. If the performance was worth a standing ovation, it’s what the artist got. That was what made the evening lit. Everyone was respectful to everyone’s art. Artist worked with what they deserved.

A few artists to name that were in attendance were Donnie Breeze, Rello, Starve Marv, Mike Evann, Young Mally, and DC Kash. Each artist came with their own individual swag representing where they come from. Some of these artists even came long distances to share their unique flair; Starve Marv from Florida, and Donnie Breeze and Rello from Baltimore city.

I was so proud to see Baltimore recording artists Donnie Breeze and Rello perform at the Fridge. I put on my proud parent smile as I watched them perform. Whenever I see people from Baltimore out of their element, I get super hyped to support them. It’s the idea that they don’t get that type of love in Baltimore. The love was abundantly overwhelming from DC event goers because, like the Rich Rocket told them to do, they came with an energy that demanded an equal response.

Again I found myself asking why can’t it always be like this?! Every time I leave Baltimore City hip-hop scene to experience another city’s hip-hop atmosphere I ponder what could it be that my city is doing wrong which is preventing artists from getting the recognition they deserve? First, it happened as I went to Rockview Entertainment’s hip-hop showcase in Queens, NY while I was in attendance for support of DMV artist Jae Ducketts. Now I’m in DC, and the love that their peers showed was phenomenal.

I want to bring the attention back to the promoter of the event, always. The power of support is always in the event thrower. In this case, it was Whiskey who’s birthday may have been the cause of such a great turn out. But such a turnout was worthy of being mentioned when comparing to the turnouts of open mic and showcases in my hometown.

What I notice about attending both the events in Washington, DC and Queens, NY is the hosts for each event reminded their audience the importance of showing others respect when they have the floor. It’s appalling that the majority of the audience were old enough to understand modest mannerisms. But maybe that’s what it is needed in Baltimore. Promoters in Baltimore should often push more participation from the audience at the start of their events? It’s something worth pondering.

Here are some moments captured during the show by Doc’s Castle Media.

What are some ways to show support for independent artists? Leave your feedback in the comments below.

Ever heard the difference between the #NewBaltimore and #OldBaltimore music beaf back in 2014? Read “#NewBaltimore vs. #OldBaltimore. We’re All Crabs” on Doc’s Castle Media.