Charlottetown Tribe — Quests for an Island

Hip Hop Scene

. By Stephan MacLeod STAFF WRITER

The lack of variety in Charlottetown's music scene has alienated people who crave breakbeats and rhymes. But, a group of Island hip hop artists is trying to change that by putting on a show April 1st with just two turntables and a microphone. The Busted Mic Connection (BMC), The Dicemob,

and Tech Thai (formerly of

Bassmint)

ae page 17

ave gotten together to expose people

to PEI's hip hop community and show off their talents.

They are proud to point out that this will be the first all hip hop show in Charlottetown, but they are also frustrated with the lack of support for any rap scene in the area. Jarren Richards (BMC's producer) explained the reason for putting on the show, "There's never been a good place for BMC to play.

They could play punk shows, but then you

got to compete with the punk rock

bands."

Since the Island rappers began working together, the hip hop scene has gotten more organized than it used to be. Tech Thai (Tyler Gallant)

expects

to release an album in May. And BMC has some shows coming up in Halifax.

They made

some connections with Halifax's hip hop community and were able to book the , Weather Modification Crew for the upcoming show at the Barn. Tech Thai thinks that the

Halifax rappers will challenge BMC to some freestyle battles. In hip hop MC's compete to see who has the most talent. Freestyling involves rhyme improvisations, usually making fun of other MC's. BMC is not afraid to accept the challenge. They have the experience of rapping and battling people at parties. Eric Broadbent pointed out that, "Anyone who has the balls to battle usually sucks, they end up just saying ‘Fuck Fuck Fuck.” Broadbent thinks the best MC's are the ones with the most originality. "Rap music is all about who brings the newest and most creative shit to the table." Tech Thai has similar views on hip hop, “Other rap bands are like teachers,and you're the student and you got to listen to all the raps and hear all the styles. You got to step above the rest of the students and come out totally original and come ahead of the teacher."

Charlottetown's hip

--hop community -

has the opportunity to grow if more shows are put on. Hopefully artists like Tech Thai

If you're interested in DJ's, freestyling, battles, and drink specials, be

and the Dicemob will sure to check out the influence younger hip Bam on April 1st.

hop artists to step upto Advance tickets are the mic and contribute _— available at something the Bam.

original to the Island's

music scene. oO

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