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Hip-Hop: Summer Shows It’s almost summer, summer, summertime. As quick as 2018 came, it’s already halfway over! Here are a few events to mark on your calendars for the upcoming sunny months. If you missed him before, don’t miss him this time! A Boogie is back at The Strand with Don Q on June 30. Speaking from personal experience, he puts on quite the show for his fans. Another concert to look out for is The Roots at Bold Point Park in East Providence on July 1. Celebrate the long-lasting career of the legendary and widely acclaimed group on a night that’s sure to excite any hip-hop head, especially since the group doesn’t come around often. Yet another legendary group to mark on the calendar are none other than Dipset, who will be at The Strand on August 3. Fans of the collective will see Cam’ron, Jim Jones, Freekey Zekey and hopefully, Juelz Santana performing all their classics. This is also a special summer for hip-hop and R&B as the billionaire couple Beyonce and Jay Z are on the run again … their “On The Run 2” tour, that is. On August 5, they’ll make their way to Gillette Stadium to combine their fans into one venue and rock their countless hits. Summer season also is Daytrill season! Daytrill is a day party organized by Stay Silent in which people of all kinds converge into one celebration to spread love the “PVD way.” To get a sense of what that means and learn more things Stay Silent, head over to staysilentpvd.com. Typically there are two Daytrill events per year (one at the start of summer and one at the end of summer), so follow them on social media to get the drop on dates. Hip-Hop: Culture Games The hip-hop scene in PVD continues to bubble away into a perfect cultural concoction, and the next ingredient to add is DirtyDurdie’s next event in their “Culture Games” series. It promises to be a remedy for the boogie-down blues some of us New Englanders may be experiencing. Dirty Durdie, a hip-hop group made up of two passionate artists, describe Culture Games as a jam where rappers and b-boys battle for prizes and bragging rights — and b-boying is one of the underrepresented pillars of hip-hop. Culture Games 4 also will include performances, and the whole thing will culminate in a dance party to celebrate hip-hop at its finest. Dirty Durdie was inspired to create this event series because of “the lack of hip-hop culture’s representation within the scene and the country as a whole.” It’s safe to say that things have changed for the better since the series inception! To get to this fourth event in the series, the members of DirtyDurdie have experienced some growing pains, but they’ve progressed properly and proudly into the position they’re in currently. One obstacle they’ve experienced is recruiting rap battlers because many believed the format would be two competitors ripping each other apart with insults and disses. This is not the case for Culture Games. Instead, rap battlers and attendees should expect is rappers showcasing their freestyling ability over beats with judges deciding who is the most skilled. This is an event for young hip-hop fans as well as hip-hop veterans who grew up watching the birth of the culture. Having both in one building to enjoy the roots of the genre will provide an energy only hip- hop truly can. When asked to describe the spirit of the event in one sentence DirtyDurdie replied, “The Culture Games is the flyest hip-hop jam in RI. Come support and experience the culture in its rarest form!” Head over to The Culture Games 4 on April 26 at Alchemy to get a taste of the dopest vibes DirtyDurdie and those involved have to offer! Hip-Hop: Warming Up This past winter has been a weird one; the weather has been both mild and cruel. But one thing that’s kept us moving through the cruel periods is music. Artists never stop touring, but spring is the most rewarding of the seasons as the temperatures trend upward, which only enhances the experience. To begin the season, southern legend Jeezy is heading to The Strand in PVD on March 1. Along with him is Tee Grizzley, an up-and-comer in the genre who will benefit from Jeezy’s crowd and attract an audience of his own. Should be an enjoyable show for those who enjoy trap music. March at The Strand is lit — another notable artist blazing the stage is R&B star Miguel, performing on March 17. He’ll be bringing along TDE’s SiR, as well as other artists to set the R&B vibes proper as they tour for Miguel’s recently released album War & Leisure. April hosts a couple dope shows as the season begins to bloom. A$AP Ferg heads over to the House of Blues Boston on April 12. And Joey Bada$$ makes his way to Boston’s Paradise Rock Club shortly after on April 17. Both concerts will be quite the experience as these artists and their fan base are rather unique in hip-hop. To close the season out with a bang before the summer transition, Big Sean will put on an incredible show at the Mohegan Sun arena on May 19. Hopefully the “Unfriendly Reminder” tour will make up for the lackluster album he recently released. Longtime fans will be satisfied, as he’s doing a tour performing the music his fans vote for him to perform! If all that wasn’t enough, there’s always the eclectic Boston Calling Festival in Cambridge, Mass, from May 25 to 27. Some notable hip-hop and R&B artists on the lineup are Eminem, Tyler, The Creator, Bryson Tiller, Khalid, BROCKHAMPTON, Daniel Caesar, Noname, Westside Gunn & Conway, Thundercat and STL GLD, as well as a few others. These are just a few shows happening, so look out for more concerts in your area. Part of the music experience is going to these live shows, and this spring is as good a time as any to start enjoying them! Hip-Hop: 20 Minutes to Logan Boston bubbles with energy, and there’s great music being dropped around every corner. A couple twists and turns lead us to Jackie Jones’ latest project, 20 Minutes to Logan. Jones’ hunger is apparent in his voice throughout all seven songs. His flows range well, the lyrics embody his theme and the sounds chosen support him without any turbulence. The intro, “First Class,” lays the foundation for the project and its theme. He raps about enjoying the fruits of his grind as he travels toward the next step to success in, you guessed it, first class seating. It’s very reflective with lines like “This is a business, man, friends is last on my mind.” After this one we land on “Way Up” with the only features of the project, Boston’s Kadeem and Darius Heywood from Brockton, Massachusetts. All three artists properly work the ambitious beat as the horns on the chorus keep them on their toes. The vibes from this one make it a standout every single listen. The rest of the project is full of even more clever and descriptive raps about where his dream could take him. The sounds up until the final song, “LAX,” create the feeling of descending to our destination until we touch down with justified applause. Jackie Jones excels at showcasing his talents on this one, and the energy presented through the music is impressive. He cares about his raps and makes great sounding songs. Listen to 20 Minutes to Logan on all available streaming services! Hip-Hop: MyCompiledThoughts MyCompiledThoughts, an artist from Boston, has a transcendent energy that makes him more of an anomaly than a musician. Nothing about him or his music is reminiscent of much that comes to mind. He is not a compilation of his musical inspirations, but an enigmatic soul who drops subtle nods to artists who motivate him. MyCompiled describes his style of music as ShoeGaze RnB that blends his voice and instruments into one dream-like presence while adding elements of contemporary R&B. MyCompiled recently dropped his debut project, Wonderlust, that invites listeners to travel into his realm. With just under 20 minutes of music it’s about the length of one REM sleep cycle, which is the dream stage of sleep. Sounds like a happy coincidence, right? “I’m so lost in beautiful thoughts of you,” croons MyCompiled as the first line of the project on the title track “Wonderlust.” It sets up the entire project very appropriately. The first few songs are only a minute or so long, but in the first sizable song, it becomes very clear that MyCompiled is aiming to get listeners lost in his thoughts. It’s very difficult not to get lost in the standout “Yours Pt. 1,” as he pleads for someone’s affection with the repeating melody as if we’re stuck skipping a few beats. Following is “Yours Pt. 2,” a somber continuation of the previous song. In this song he’s lost the someone he was fighting for in Pt. 1, but he’s struggling to let go of his feelings. The rest of the journey is full of peaks and valleys as MyCompiled travels varying emotions and sounds. “Before” adds an airy element led by great guitar strings and the echoes of his cheerful memories.

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