Kent Kimbrough’s Birthday Party at Junior’s Juke Joint #2 in Holly Springs

I had been at Duwayne Burnside’s birthday event at the Blues Shack earlier in the evening, and he had mentioned that drummer Kent Kimbrough was also having a birthday party at Junior’s Juke Joint #2 in Holly Springs, so when Duwayne’s event seemed to be calming down, I drove back to Holly Springs to check out the other event. Junior’s Juke Joint was clearly packed to the rafters, and I had trouble finding a place to park. A rather loud argument was going on in the parking lot when I arrived, but I went on inside, where a DJ was spinning blues and southern soul. At one point, a singer named Benny Moore got up to perform, and the club’s house band, known as the Holly Springs Rhythm Section, backed him up. Although I had not heard of him before, he was a decent singer. After his performance, with the DJ providing the music, a woman who said she was one of the late R. L. Burnside’s daughters pulled me onto the dance floor. I’m not a dancer by any means, but it was fun anyway.

An All-Star Memphis Turn-Out and Turn-Up for Frayser Boy’s New Album @FrayserBoy @Lil_Wyte @PhixieousEnt @Selectohits @Miscdaboss @DJBay

Wednesday night is not usually a big entertainment night in Memphis, but on October 29, many of Memphis’ best industry figures came together at Purple Haze downtown to celebrate the release of veteran rapper Frayser Boy’s new album Not No Moe on the Phixieous label. Frayser’s own DJ Bay was on the ones and twos, and Tune C, DJ Zirk, Miscellaneous,Carlos Sargent, DJ Care Bear, Lil Wyte, Snootie Wild, Jason Da Hater,Suavo J, Louis Goggins of the Memphis Flyer and Lawrence “Boo” Mitchell of the Recording Academy and Royal Studios were among the attendees. Frayser Boy, Lil Wyte and Miscellaneous performed a few songs from the album toward the end of the night, and the event was all love, fun and food.

Keep up with Frayser Boy:
https://twitter.com/frayserboy
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/frayser-boy/id7179992
https://myspace.com/frayserboy
https://www.facebook.com/frayserboy
http://wytestore.com/cds-c-13/frayser-boy-not-no-moe-p-96.html
http://instagram.com/frayserbizzle

Keep up with Miscellaneous:
https://twitter.com/Miscdaboss
http://www.reverbnation.com/miscellaneous
https://www.facebook.com/MISC.MOB?fref=ts&ref=br_tf

Keep up with Lil Wyte:
http://wytestore.com
https://twitter.com/lil_wyte_
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcP_XXXGysCH13clHPqnVdA
http://instagram.com/lilwyte
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/lil-wyte/id1889568
https://myspace.com/lilwyte
http://www.reverbnation.com/wytemusic

Keep up with Phixieous Entertainment:
https://twitter.com/PhixieousEnt
https://phixieous.com
http://instagram.com/phixieous

Keep up with DJ Bay:
http://djbaymusic.com
https://twitter.com/DJBay

Killer Mike and El-P Run The Jewels at Minglewood Hall in Memphis @KillerMikeGTO @therealelp @MinglewoodHall @RunJewels

Every once in awhile, a corporation does something worthwhile, and certainly Red Bull’s Sound Select tour with Run The Jewels fits the bill. Run the Jewels is a collaboration between Killer Mike and El-P, and when my homeboy Matt Sonzala told me to come out to Minglewood Hall in Memphis to check them out, I invited my homeboy Tune C and we headed down there. To my amazement, the place was absolutely packed, and many of the people there were like a who’s who of the Memphis recording industry, including rappers Ify, Tori WhoDat and Jason Da Hater, singer Tonya Dyson, and legendary engineer and producer Boo Mitchell. The opening act was a thoroughly gangsta crew from Dallas known as the Outfit, and for a gangsta-style group, they were decent. But it was the Run The Jewels performance that everyone came for, and it was very impressive indeed. Tune and I had hung out with Mike in Atlanta last year, and we got a brief chance to catch back up with him after the show. It was truly a momentous night for Memphis hip-hop.

Keep up with Run the Jewels:
http://www.runthejewels.net
https://www.facebook.com/therealrunthejewels
https://twitter.com/runjewels
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/run-the-jewels-2/id927052864
https://twitter.com/KillerMikeGTO
http://killermike.com
https://myspace.com/grindtimeonline
http://instagram.com/killermikegto
https://www.facebook.com/GrindTimeOfficial

http://killermike.bigcartel.com
http://killermike.bandcamp.com
https://twitter.com/therealelp
https://www.facebook.com/THEREALELP
https://myspace.com/elproducto
http://el-p.tumblr.com
http://instagram.com/thereallyrealelp
http://el-p.bandcamp.com

Commemorating the Late Pimp C at @A3C with @Doughbeezy @KillaKyleon @Twistagmg @TMoGoodie23 @TRAEABN @DAREAL_8Ball @pimptypemjg @BunBTrillOG

The second and final outdoor show at the A3c main stage on Saturday was billed as a Pimp C Memorial Concert. As such, it featured an all-star cast of rappers who had known Pimp C, worked with him, or been influenced by him, from relatively new Texas rappers like Doughbeezy and Killa Kyleon, to legendary artists like Twista, TMo Goodie, Bigg Gipp, Eightball & MJG, Trae The Truth and Bun B himself. Most of the artists performed their classic and well-known material, and that was especially true of Eightball & MJG, who did classic material from their first album Coming Out Hard. I also noticed that the DJ played Playa Fly’s “Getting’ It On” at the beginning of the event.

P. Dibiase Takes The Stage at @TheMusicRoomATL #FreshOutTheBox @A3C @pdibiase

P. Dibiase was the last artist to appear on the Fresh Out The Box showcase at A3C, and the only one on the lineup that I had ever heard of. That being said, there’s not a whole lot of biographical information out there about him, other than his being from Chicago, and a lot of videos, songs and mxtapes, the most recent of which is called the Steve Jobs Mixtape. Like all the performers I heard, Dibiase is extremely talented, and perhaps more lyrical than some of the previous artists, and has definitely garnered a little more attention from the blogs and websites. P. Dibiase may be positioned to be the next big thing from Chicago.

Keep up with P. Dibiase:
https://twitter.com/Pdibiase
https://www.facebook.com/pages/P-Dibiase/120588674644127

http://www.reverbnation.com/PDIBIASE

Weasel Sims and the RAN Nation @MusicRoomATL @A3C #FreshOutTheBox @WeaselSims

Weasel Sims has a famous (or infamous) name in Chicago, a name that belies his young years. His dad, Rufus “Weasel” Sims, also pursued a rap career, but was better known as one of the city’s most notorious drug lords, once allegedly purchasing a mansion with solid gold plumbing fixtures. Now the young Weasel Sims and his rap group the RAN Nation are poised to take Chicago’s rap scene by storm, and they certainly shook up the Fresh Out The Box showcase at the Music Room in Atlanta during A3C, showing more energy than just about any other act I witnessed on that stage. While I’m not always a fan of hardcore street rap, I couldn’t help but admire the stage command and level of enthusiasm they showed. Weasel Sims and the RAN Nation are definitely a group to watch in the future.

Keep up with Weasel Sims:
https://twitter.com/WeaselSims
http://www.reverbnation.com/weaselsims
https://www.facebook.com/weaselsimspho
https://www.facebook.com/RufusT.Sims
http://instagram.com/weaselsims

The Beatification of Saint Millie-Live at @TheMusicRoomATL @A3C @SaintMillie773 #FreshOutTheBox

Chicago’s Saint Millie began rapping at age 8 while living in a gritty West Side neighborhood and dealing with his mother having been sent to prison. Since he felt he was “living in hell”, he chose the name Saint Millie, and has proceeded to release two highly-acclaimed mixtapes. He has also performed at South By Southwest in 2013, and his style of rap shows a strong difference from other artists, even artists from Chicago. Millie places more emphasis on inspirational stories of struggle and success, and is definitely one of the Second City’s rising stars.

Keep up with Saint Millie:

https://twitter.com/SaintMillie773
https://www.facebook.com/stmillie
http://saintmillie.com

Chi-City Performing At The Fresh Out The Box showcase at @TheMusicRoom ATL @A3C @IAmChiCity

Young Chicago artist Chi City chose music as a way to avoid the gangs and drugs around the area where he grew up at 45th and Drexel. Beginning to write at 11, he eventually got an opportunity to tour with Freeway, contributed to songs by other artists, and has now for the last four years started getting the attention he deserves as an artist in his own right. His performance at A3C this year was definitely impressive.

Keep up with Chi City:
http://www.iamchicity.com
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdM1Bembb6invRYUmYM1pvQ
https://twitter.com/IAmChiCity
https://www.facebook.com/iamchicity

Fresh Out The Box With Chicago’s Best MC’s at @The MusicRoomATL @A3C @WeaselSims @IAmChiCity @pdibiase @SaintMillie773

I have left the event that my homeboy Fort Knox was hosting before it was over, because I had hoped to catch Juvenile’s performance on the A3C Main Stage on Edgewood Avenue, so I was surprised and disgusted to find that the stage had already shut down when I got there. So I made my way down Edgewood Avenue, checking out some of the venues where A3C showcases were going on, but most of them had horrendous lines waiting to get inside. I briefly peeked inside a hip-hop clothing boutique and mixtape shop called Tops Boutique, where a DJ was mixing in the shop, and then continued down the street. I ended up at The Music Room, where a showcase called Fresh Out The Box was taking place, which consisted strictly of Chicago artists. Few of the artists I saw were familiar to me (the exception was P. Dibiase), but I was impressed with Chi City and Saint Millie, and especially with Weasel Sims and the RAN Nation, a hard-core street rap group that would not be at all out of place in Memphis. Altogether, the showcase was a great introduction to the Windy City’s rap scene, and the artists chosen represented the highly diverse style of rap found in Chicago.

Witchdoctor Performing at @CenterStageATL For #TheRealATownExperience

Like CBone, the artist that proceeded him on The Real A-Town Experience line-up, Witchdoctor is a member of the Dungeon Family collective, and an artist with a large Atlanta following. He has released six albums since 1997, as well as a book of poetry. A seventh album is in the works.