December 22, 2020 by CheatsMovement No CommentsHip-hop

“WHAT HAD HAPPENED WAS” THE ULTIMATE YEAR-END RVA HIP-HOP RANT

Views From The Couch…By Hip Hop Henry

When that ball dropped on January 1st, we had NO idea that it was a ball of trash. We lost Kobe, Covid-19 hit and most of us haven’t been to a concert or live show in 10 months. With that said, musically, it was a pretty great year (art-wise, not sales).

For the first time in a long time, a lot of relevant artists used their platforms to talk about what has been going on in the world, and the Capital City was in the middle and at the forefront of all things cultural this year.

Certain things are always constant no matter the year…racism and police brutality are definitely the stars of the show; but then throw COVID-19 into the mix, and these three factors — along with quarantine, the closing of venues, and uprisings in the streets (sheesh). OG Illa chopped Robert E Lee’s head off for the Richmond Renegade album cover (eff those statues). And this is happening all during an election year. All of that elevated the hip-hop scene in Richmond to a new level.

Despite the obstacles of no live shows or the ability to tour during the past 10 months; artists had time to talk about America’s real national past time and bring awareness to not only what has been going on here in the city but nationwide as well (i.e., Radio B – Arrest The Killers, which aired on BET Jams). Don’t get it confused however, there was more to the Richmond hip-hop scene than just rapping about what was happening in the news. We’ve always had a great balance around the city, and 2020 was just another step forward in the national recognition our scene deserves.

A favorite moment of mine was the hip-hop/jazz outfit Butcher Brown putting out their Concord Records debut album #KingButch and also working on a remix of a Little Richard classic which is being used for Monday Night Football, get that NFL money fellas. Shout outs to the whole crew, my man Tennishu and my guy DJ Harrison, who is working on his next Stones Throw release at the time of this writing.

Scheme Team were once again making moves in and out of the city. Big Kahuna OG dropped four projects and the super dope “Shark Food 2 Freestyle” produced by Madlib. If you’re not on Instagram you may have missed out on seeing the homie Monday Night in the studio with The Alchemist, Evidence, and Earl Sweatshirt, prior to hitting the West Coast. Though he was busy dropping FIRE with the likes of Kahuna, Foisey, Fan Ran, or Henny L.O. Monday kind of came into his own this year and created a nice buzz for himself with one of my top 5, not just local, projects S. Block Carter and then following up with the ill Swarvy produced joint “2nd Scheme.”

Graymatter has been busy on the production scene this year. He has produced for the Mutant Academy crew, dropped instrumental albums, and even worked with Brooklyn’s/Pro-Era’s own Chuck Strangers.

The homie 3waySlim didn’t drop a full project in 2020, but his pen game was still on point. He dropped a couple of loose joints during the spring and killed every feature he was on this year.

Fly Anakin’s star continues to rise as well. He might not be in Richmond as much as he used to, but the presence is definitely felt. The mural is still up, and Mural Talk morphed into At the End of the Day, which still had mural talk in it. You can also catch Fly on the new Statik Selektah album, and legendary DITC producer Buckwild’s album as well. These features were just the warmup to the collabo album with the always dope Pink Siifu for FlySiffu’s, an album that we got to see premiered in Carytown at Plan 9 records the day it was released. FlySiffu’s is definitely in the year-end reviews beyond Richmond publications as it should be. Peace to the fellas on Holly Block for the dope year, but the fans are still waiting for the Madlib collab, The Alchemist collab too.

In the theme of Richmond making noise outside of Virginia, we can’t forget one of the city’s finest (and Stalley’s Blue Collar Gang member), Joey Gallo. His project Vantage Points is produced by Ill Maestro, who’s definitely on the come up on the production scene.

Noah-O dropped a thousand Deadstock albums this year. The series had some of my favorite artwork (shout outs to the grey and orange Nike box). Then dropped a banger, Culture Shock, with JL Hodges. (Shout out to Overcoast.)

Shout out to Ciggs and the crew at Gritty City. The homie Squeak has been killing it on the art scene. The homie Fan Ran was on a tear this year with the beats (laced Rah Scrilla and Monday Night) and Johnny Ciggs. (Johnny Ciggs still sucks.)

Radio B continued being the hardest working man in RVA. He’s the latest member of the RVA Hip-hop scene to receive a mural by Nils. He followed that by dropping All Art Ain’t Pretty. He has loose joints with the likes of Sycho Sid, Andrew Hypes, Cole Hicks, and Chiveer, along with the aforementioned “Arrest The Killers” tribute to Breonna Taylor. He also re-releasing the classic Whole Foods. Radio B dropped music as well as continued the platforms for Southpaw Battle Coalition and RVA Rap Elite, despite losing venues due to the pandemic. He managed to keep the show rolling by using the spot that his mural is located on Broad Street. RVA Rap Elite allows up and coming artists from all over to continue to create and connect with others looking for an outlet. RVA Rap Elite also collaborated with World Emcee, formerly known as Team Backpack, which has a nationwide following. The Rap Elite X World Emcee collab shined more light on the lyrical skill of Richmond emcees.

The veterans weren’t the only ones in the city who caught my ear, Troy (JR da Rappr) came out with the Dope Highway To Hell produced by Namebrand, and featured heavy-hitters Michael Millions, Nickelus F & Young Flexico. DJ/Producer/Now Rapper Melodic came from behind the tables to drop his Kobe tribute project Kayobi this year. Smyth Knight dropped a very impressive album this year North Chesterfield, and a Brewer’s Session performance to go along with it. (shout out to Kidz at Play.)

Bigal Harrison may have moved back to NYC but his RVA sound is very much intact with his release Big. Sneeze dropped his self-titled album which featured production from the slept on Reppa Ton (who has fire too). PT Vell & Skinnyy Hendrixx’s Case Closed EP was also a favorite of mine, one of the rare times I actually got to see a live performance, not on Twitch or IG. Speaking of Skinny, shout out to Skinny V for that “Gettin It” single, super dope.

So….there it is, my 2020 I guess. Honestly, for me, this year was over after March 14th. The shows stopped. The DJing slowed down for LOTS of us and I haven’t left the state in 9 months. Thank you for the music Richmond. I know I’m missing a lot of you guys, but when you’re literally sitting on the couch for MONTHS, it becomes a blur, also you can blame Cheats (always blame Cheats). The need to be in the mix is real for me because that’s what my career depends on and it has been tough. Being a part of this music scene, I’ve seen how it has hit us all differently, and let’s hope for equally if not better 2021 for the Richmond hip-hop scene.

Props go to everyone who’s been hustling merch, doing virtual concerts, and still pushing the true culture forward. Props to all the artists who made music about the times and those who recognized the current events and made the music for the ones who wanted to get their mind off of what was going on. Shout out to everyone who came out to the circle for the Richmond Hip-Hop pic (for RVA Mag), that was definitely a highlight of this year because I know that actually took place in 2020.