"Hillmatic" Showcase in Chapel Hill

When it comes to the HipHop History of North Carolina, Chapel Hill is one of the foundation landmarks. With venues such as The Local 506, Cats Cradle and the now closed Jack Sprat, the town is rich with monumental events. In the forefront of this history is Kevin "Kaze" Thomas, as one of the few OGs still pushing and repping the HipHop Culture of this predominately college run town. 

The 1st Annual "Hillmatic" Showcase promises to deliver a peek into the past, present & future of Chapel Hill's talent.  20+ years of HipHop in the Hill! Most emcees I've met and/or worked with reminisce about "Microphone Mondays", the legendary beat battles with Apple Juice Kid, Erv Ford, Khrysis and Skaz, the HipHop Nation TV show and Sunday Night Sessions. Everybody who was anybody emerging from North Carolina's Underground scene came through the Hill at some point in time... J.Cole, TYFU, King Mez, Jozeemo, JGunn, K-Hill, 9th Wonder, Little Brother, Kaze and many more. This "Hillmatic" event promises to deliver a major celebratory night of good music, undeniable talent and unforgettable history. Performers include JSwiss, No9to5, Well$, Fluent, Kaze, and special performances by SkyBlew & The Digidestined Band and J Rowdy & The Nightshift band.

In the words of Kaze:

Wow. The city with so many contributions, hosted moments, and talent instrumental in the Carolina#HipHop Movement its unreal. UNC HipHopNation. TYFU. Sankofa. Haxoba. Underbrush. Dj Pez. Birthplace of the ORIGINAL Apple Chill.The many shows Shaw and Uzi did at Cats Cradle that brought stars within reach. They put us on those shows. L in Japanese. Phonetic. A Typical. LowKey. The MC battles w/ me, Phonte, JGunn, and Jozeemo. HipHopNationTV. Microphone Monday. The legendary Beat Battles. Who gonna win? Erv, Slack, Apple Juice, Dirty, Khrysis or Skaz? Dj Flash and Izzy Nice killing shit. 9th was there. BigDaddyKane. ButtaTeam too. Fayettenam and Durham in the house. But they'll let you know that for sure. Cole was there. So was Nerv. SundayNightSessions. Mez was there. We all were. Every week. Bishop holding it down. Big Darrian at the door. Dr. Katz establishing HipHop curriculum at UNC-CH. Freestyling in The Pit continues til this day. Pierce Freelon and Apple Juice taking BeatLab worldwide. Damn homie I could keep going on and on. But that's what AUG. 22 is for. #HILLMATIC. 

Don't miss out on is looking to be a yearly festival of North Carolina's music history!

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Tickets for Hillmatic

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"Hardcore" by The Jake feat. Sonyae & Jordan

Okay, so I'm a few days late on this...it's hard to catch everything, but this is something I definitely had to share! I'm very familiar with The Jake from his work with one of my North Carolina favorites, J.Gunn. Jacob Hirata was raised in a military family, whose travels introduced him to a variety of music genre's. What he noticed was music all shared one common element that stuck with The Jake, "Good music makes you feel something" and that's what the goal behind his music is...to make you "feel" something, whether good or bad, through his music. 

Sonyae is an instant favorite to anyone that hears her. Still a newcomer to the scene, but she hasn't wasted any time showing what talent she has to offer to HipHop. Also laying bars on this track is Ohio emcee Jordan. "Hardcore" is the 1st single from The Jake's upcoming Mixtape titled "The Black Hibiscus Tape".

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Swayze Jones "SwayzeNation: The Mixtape"

Swayze Jones has been top of the list of my favorite female North Carolina emcee's for a few years now. She has this unstoppable drive in her that refuses to let her give up, on anything! "SwayzeNation: The Mixtape" has been evolving since she first started working on it well over a year ago, and as trials entered her life, she put them into her music. Born in D.C. and raised in Maryland, Swayze found her way to Greensboro, North Carolina and went to work! Most recently, earning her Business Degree from NC A&T. She's not "just another rapper", she's known to pull out her keyboard and beat machine while live on stage, and don't be surprised when she jumps on the tables and starts deejaying during her live sets either. Swayze's lyrics are educated, life-lived and honest. 

"SwayzeNation: The Mixtape" includes her in house producers, The Graduates and Blahzae Beats (who also features on a few tracks), Lonestar Beatz, Boonie Mayfield and Flight 125. Features include Poet Dasan Ahanu (on both the Mixtape Intro and Outro), Young Dirt (GHSL founder, on "My Way" and "Strip Club Muzik"), Durham bred J. Gunn ("Rocket Ship"), King Kun, Ashley Alexander, Raheem Kashon ("Love Jones") and singer Chantaul Williams ("Hustla"). This project is solid from beginning to end with Swayze's aggressive and confident delivery on the club sounding tracks, the smooth flow and instrumentals in "Love Jones" and the vulnerable side exposed on the "Tribute To Cordelia Ross" (Swayze's Grandmother who passed away a few months ago). "SwayzeNation: The Mixtape" released today to iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and all other music outlets. 

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Defacto Thezpian "Chicks & Rhymes Vol. 3"

Durham Emcee, Defacto Thezpian, released his newest project "Chicks and Rhymes Vol. 3" today and I've already played it through a few times. It's dope!! I'm one of those listeners that enjoys really hearing the lyrical content of a song and how it flows with the production. Defacto has an ear for beats that match his personality perfectly. Just over a year ago, I would've said Defacto, like most "local" rappers, was struggling to figure out how to get recognized for his talent, but in the past year he has truly been making his mark on the North Carolina scene. Sharing stages with J.Gunn, Pac Div, Young Dirt and Toon & Laww. Defacto has been steady with his progression and grabbing the attention he deserves. 

Production credits on "Chicks and Rhymes" include Dre Rubio and Ron BurGndy for the majority of the tracks with features by Kourvioisier, Kay Monet, Paco Jiggins and CoolMoe Steve. Make sure you check out the video for the single "Self Proclaimed King" featuring Kay Monet. Enjoy! And come out to the Official Release Show tonight at The Chapel Hill Underground (157 E. Rosemary St. Chapel Hill)!! 

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Joshua Gunn...Victory

Joshua Gunn, working under his own label, Red Eye Lifestyle, released his "Faithful Struggle" album earlier this year and it was applauded by J.Gunn fans everywhere. Taking us, musically, through his beginnings and triumphs in the industry, and now using his birth name (Joshua Gunn), we are given the 1st video release from the project. "Victory" takes us visually through several events that impacted us all over the world. Gunn reminds that with each step he's taken, he's conquered his own personal struggle. Find more about Joshua Gunn and Red Eye Lifestyle at www.jgunnmusic.com 

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@jgunnisbetter

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@RedEyeLifestyle

J. Gunn..."The Faithful Struggle"

It's been an amazing couple of years for Bull City's (Durham, NC) rising star, J. Gunn. He started singing and rhyming even before he entered his "school years" and seemed well beyond his age when he started rapping. At age 7, he wrote his 1st rhyme, by 9 he was performing and at age 13 he won his first major freestyle battle (Dual of the Iron Mics). With opportunities coming so early for Gunn, he experienced a few setbacks. He enrolled in North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University and graduated in 2008. Even though music was his life, he took on the Corporate World for awhile. J. Gunn continued to build a huge following locally with freestyle battle wins and performances. As part of the group, THETHYRDAY, with close friends K. Slack and Killa K, the 1st installment of 9th Wonder's "Mr. Dream Merchant: Vol 1" began. After touring under the Indie Label "Street Flava Entertainment" and releasing an album titled "The Perfection Xperiment 2", the Internet and international fans flooded in. Unfortunately, THETHYRDAY disbanded in 2006.