Kentucky stand up!!! You should be proud of yourself. We just had an eventful evening with NO VIOLENCE (Thank the LORD) and got some real insight and knowledge on how the game works. The 1st Annual State of the Union of Hip Hop In Kentucky panel discussion was amazing and the venue was packed out with
people wanting the real info. We had a panel discussion with some of the best representing KY in da house!
The first panel was dedicated to the victims of violence and featured Christopher 2X and the victims of violence. Christopher 2X skillfully guided the panelist through painful memories and nightmarish recollections of some of the worst moments of their young lives. The panelist included the young man who was shot during a disagreement at City Block a few weeks ago at the Koch Records/B96 FM Open Mic showcase. However, the most moving account was given by a 17 year old Fern Creek High School student who is the caretaker for her 28 year old uncle, who after being shot several times now has the functional capacity of a 2 year old. Her tears reminded everyone that the world is a vicious place and that tomorrow, if not snatched away from you, can be drastically changed in an instant.
The second panel was a historian's panel and featured people who have been at the forefront of the Kentucky hip-hop scene for years. Father Jah, John Doe, Herlon Robinson, Divine the Liaison and several others were part of the panel and really guided the crowd through the history of Kentucky Hip-Hop albeit from a Louisville point of view, seeing as Louisville was really ahead of the rest of the state when it came to Hip-Hop back in the day. Early studios, early groups, rap demos on cassette tape and other topics became the main points of discussion. The discussion did, however, draw real interest from the crowd and was highly informative.
The third panel of the night seemed to liven up the crowd. This panel and the rest to follow had a Q & A session at the end of each session. This panel was the Promoter's panel. Some of the panelists included Chris Robinson from Playboi Ent., and DJ Deuce, President of College Party Kingz. The Q & A session lit things up during this panel because the number one question became "Why do local artists have to pay to open concerts for National Acts that come through Kentucky?" This ended up being one of those, "Let agree to disagree" type of moments. Many artists posed the question, however, several promoters had their own rendition of answers.
The fourth panel featured producers and artists and included Buckshot, K.D., Amore tha King, Father Jah, 12 Da 1, D'Mawl, Dred from Code Red and John Wu. This panel was pretty informative and controversial as well because it led into the next panel. The main question of the night seemed to be,"Do artists need the radio to be successful?" After a myriad of answers, it remained a "Let's agree to disagree" moment as well but set up the stage for the finale of the night which was the final panel.
The final panel of the night was the DJ's and Radio Personalities panel. This panel included DJ Tae and DJ LB from Mo Bounce Ent. and Street Muzic DJ's as well as DJ Teflon Don from Street Muzic DJ's and also DJ Deuce, DJ Choice, DJ Slikk and DJ Marlei Mar from Kymp Kamp DJ's and a few other DJ's. The Q & A session provided the real heat of the night and even in the wee hours of the morning, the crowd grew extremely animated. Artists questions ranged from "How do I get my music out?" to the most controversial topic of the night, radio play. One DJ's absence, DJ E-Feezy, was very obvious and since just about all of the questions about radio were directed towards him, it became a point where his input was needed. Many artists were upset that they didn't hear anyone but Nova on the air and since Nova was Feezy's "boy", it became a point of aggression and resentment from many artists. This caused Deuce Leader to get DJ E-Feezy on the telephone and put the phone on speaker so he could directly answer some of the questions and accusations.
All in all, the night was a tremendous success and we at Da Show plan to hold two of these a year, so we will return in April. We hope to see you there and in the mean time and in between time, tune into "Da Show", with Season 2 starting November 16th at Midnight on the CW network. Make sure you check out our other blogs and stories and keep checking back with us.
Big Goldie, the "fluffy puffy", mogul in the making - COO of Urban Multimedia Group, Inc, "Da Show"
