The December 13 murders of four men in a Dorchester basement sent more than just ripples through the Boston hip-hop community. Three of the four were members of GRAVESIDE, a tough-talking rap act that seemed ready to blow up. For the local hip-hop community, though, the crime — and the inevitable wave of hysterical headlines in the mainstream media — became another obstacle to the creation of a cohesive scene in Boston. “They updated it to another level,” says MC/promoter CHAOS (a/k/a Chris Robinson). “Now people associate this stuff with hip-hop culture, they see it on the news and on the front page, and they are forced to see it as hip-hop-related.”
Chaos is assembling a network of artists to challenge those stereotypes. Tonight (Thursday February 2) his crew are throwing down at Club 58 in Quincy with the ace sounds of OMEGA RED, the duo ONE LOVE, and CONCISE AND K WORDS. “It’s a different kind of vibe there. It’s not like one of those places where you feel like you have to be something. There’s no dress code, which is huge.”
In fact, among the post-Graveside ripples, one of the most insidious is a renewed effort by clubs to implement dress codes at the door. “A dress code at a hip-hop show is ridiculous to me,” says MARLENE BOYETTE of Restless Entertainment, which has a residency at Hoffa’s Swiss Alps in Harvard Square. “I’m not sure what they’re saving themselves from by having people look a certain way. And no Timberlands and no hoodies? I mean, it is the winter and we do live in Boston!” She laughs. “This city is not very welcoming to hip-hop, and right now, if you didn’t have something in place for yourself, it’s not going to get easier anytime soon. You might need extra security at shows now, prices for rentals are being raised, guidelines like dress code are coming up. It might difficult to come up with $5000 up front like some clubs are asking.”
“I’ve been booking shows for three years and never had an incident [at the shows],” says Chaos. “And I’ve been to many rock shows and seen meatheads fighting. It’s the most misunderstood culture in America, hip-hop. Basically, we’re hip-hop and we’re like the foreigners trying to buy the apartment on Park Avenue.”
A few established promoters have been able to stay the course. LEEDZ EDUTAINMENT bills itself as the number one hip-hop promotions company in Boston; it has nine events scheduled in the next two months, including a bill at the Middle East this Saturday, February 4, with Watts native Ras Kass making his local debut with a strong local undercard including BRIX, MYSTER DL, XL, FREQUENCY 7, and super-buzzed-about SLAINE also performing. “The Middle East is basically the number one spot for independent hip-hop in Boston,” says Leedz. “It’s independently owned, they’re not dealing with ClearChannel, so you’re not dealing with all this political BS. They stuck with me through a lot of trial and error. What happened [with Graveside] was a horrible thing — my roommate [DJ Peter Parker] actually did their mix CD — but as long as you have a good working relationship with the club, you’ll be all right.”
