Everywhere you turn it seems hip-hop is in
your face; local artists hope to keep up the
pressure with more Eugene exposure
HERE TO STAY
All hip-hop photos by Azle Malinao-Alvarez Emerald
Approximately 400 people turned out last Friday night at Top of the Wordl to hear 14 hip-hop artists deliver their messages, The Hip-Hop Student Union at lane Community College sponsored the event.
By Jack Clifford
Oregon Daily Emerald
Like just about every other fad
and fashion, when it comes to
hip-hop, Eugene has been a bit
slow on the uptake. Local
artists involved in the musical
genre say you better get used to
this thought, however: The hip
hop world isn’t just a “craze” and
if you’re not a b-boy or b-girl, then
you’re literally and figuratively
just standing still.
“You cannot live in the United
States from the year 2000 on with
out hip-hop in your life,” local
hip-hop artist Jay Roberts says. “It
will be in a burger commercial, it
will be playing in a clothing store
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or you’ll hear it in elevators.”
Well, the day Grandmaster
Flash and the Furious Five’s “The
Message” cranks up in Muzak
style shouldn’t be wished for by
anyone, but Robert’s point is right
on the money. In fact, nine of the
top 30 albums in the most recent
Billboard 200 chart are injected
with hip-hip flavor.
Several students at Lane Commu
nity College and the University are
so immersed in the hip-hop culture
that they formed the Hip-Hop Stu
dent Union in December 1998.
Based on LCC’s campus, the group’s
founder, Lorenzo Fourmet, says that
after surveying the local scene, he
realized opportunities to perform
were slim and available venues
were practically non-existent.
Fill-in spots — maybe 10 min
utes between an opening act and
a headliner — came about at
places like Agate Hall, the WOW
Hall and the Wild Duck. Other
times, a local artist might get some
exposure on the KLCC or KWVA
radio stations.
“I think anything that has ever
become popular started at a small
base,” says University and LCC
business administration student
Gabriel Sechrist, a member of the
hip-hop group Logic. “Reggae [in
Eugene] is a big scene. You’ve got
the Grateful Dead type thing, and
you’ve got the big Seattle crowd
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with its thrasher music. They all
took root somewhere, they all had
ideas and they started out the
same way.”
Last Friday night, however, 14
acts snagged the spotlight at Top
of the World, located off 1-5 eight
miles north of Eugene. Although
technical glitches irked a few of
the artists, the 400 or so people in
attendance didn’t seem to notice
much. But unlike most all-ages
shows that are populated mostly
with 14 to 18-year-olds, this venue
attracted everyone from toddlers
to gray-hairs to, yes, even doting
mothers.
“That’s my boy,” said Cher Ma
jor, while watching her son Jacob
Bustamante strut on stage under
the name Evil. “He was scared
dining his first live show. Now he
makes love to the mic. ”
Bustamante began hip-hopping
with a Christian bent while at North
Eugene High School, but now he’s
rhyming swear words with the best
of them, a talent that no longer re
ceives his mom’s scorn.
Even so, the genre’s lyrics are
most likely the one factor that will
always attract detractors. Some
call the tone too misogynistic,
while others decry the violent
overtures.
“Hip-hop catches a lot of flak for
the lyrical content, but a lot of
Turn to Hip hop page 7B
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