MUSIC
BY KELSEY ANNE RANKIN
THE SOUL
OF EUGENE
HIP HOP
Leaving Chicago behind,
Kevin Hustle wants to
use hip hop to create
strong communities
in Eugene
PHOTO BY TODD COOPER
I
f you’ve spent time in a city, even little Eugene, you
know the main characters on the sidewalk: the kid
looking to bum a cigarette; the person staked out on
a corner trying to convince you that the world is
doomed; and the folks just angling to get you to buy
their stuff.
This is how I bumped into Kevin Hustle in downtown
Eugene. I’ll admit I was skeptical when he approached me
with something along the lines of, “Hey, check out my
demo.”
But holy shit, it was fantastic. His flow, his beats and his
messages — he has some for everyone. Perhaps that’s
because this is a man who eats, sleeps and breathes hip hop.
Hustle, aka KVN H$L, (né Kevin Caldwell, but soon
to be legally changed to Kevin Hustle because, yes, he is
that serious) honed his self-promotion techniques in his
hometown of Chicago, where hundreds of up-and-coming
artists work for the same goal: making it. And “making
it” doesn’t necessarily mean the stereotypes we’ve been
fed: Dudes with five Lamborghinis pouring expensive
bottles of booze over horny, naked chicks.
For Hustle, the focus is on the beautiful things that hip
hop does for its community, like bringing people together
for barbeques, getting to know your neighbors and
working towards common goals with one another. He
wants this for Eugene.
Hip hop traditionally has meant different things
depending on the person, Hustle says, and the genre has
grown into a whole lot of sub-genres. He sums up his
sound as hip-hop soul.
“I think in modern society people need to be able to
enjoy your music, feel something that’s real and vibe out,
that’s all,” Hustle says. “I put in a message and keep a
message in the music.
He adds: “If I feel it from my soul, I’m gonna make it
soul.”
His sound is also that of his own story — what the
roots of hip hop are all about. “You have to understand
culture and you have to be able to identify with your
culture,” he says. “I have a deep urge to express myself
and I have to express myself, especially my culture.”
After leaving Chicago, Hustle traveled to Memphis,
Ann Arbor and Atlanta, with more stops along the way,
all the while churning out three albums and a few music
videos. He says he’s shared his sound with folks from
every background under the sun.
“You have to understand so much politics,” he explains,
“’cause when you’re dealing with people in different
geographies, you really have to understand the social
politics of different places if you really wanna connect
with them.”
Hustle landed in Eugene by happenstance while
traveling and promoting his music (plus, he heard we have
awesome weed) and he stuck around once he saw how
much more comfortable — not to mention safe — people
are expressing identity here — gender expression, race
and even the “travelers,” too.
“There’s no problem with building a hip-hop
community here,” he says. “I already see all the evidence
that shows it’s fertile.”
The communities downtown and around the University
of Oregon campus, which he says are vital to succeeding
in the local music scene, have been snatching up his
demos and showing lots of encouragement through one-
on-one conversations.
“I think people [downtown] really appreciate the
hustle,” he explains, emphasizing the importance between
location and self-promotion. “And this is a college town. I
feel that if [Eugeneans] don’t incorporate more hip hop,
you’re going to experience cultural clashes.”
Now, there is something that comes to mind when “hip
hop” and “Eugene” are stacked together. This town has a
very large, very white middle and lower class with a
pretty homogenized music scene (among other things).
That doesn’t exactly scream “hip-hop mecca.”
Hustle says the hip-hop scene is different here
considering that people can make hip-hop for leisure
instead of by necessity.
“Hip hop came from a need, and now that it’s evolved,
people do it for fun,” he says. “Here, people don’t have
that thirst and hunger. It’s not in ’em ’cause it’s a little
easier to live in Eugene.”
The poverty in Eugene isn’t comparable to other parts
of the country, Hustle explains, so a drive for success is
not vital when the demand isn’t based on survival.
“The artists here do it for fun,” he says. “The thing that
makes an artist actually go out there is their need to. A lot
of people, that’s not their only option. Then, once it
becomes your only option, you have to commit to what it
means to be successful.”
Yet Hustle insists that the potential is here if people
— whether they’re involved with the hip-hop scene or not
— work together, though he does offer a caveat.
“Even when people want to work together, we haven’t
been taught how, so it’s just uncomfortable,” he says.
Hip hop is all about community, which means
introducing different cultures and being supportive of one
another. Hustle explains how that for hip hop to grow
here, people must partner up from different parts of town.
“I love creating systems that aren’t rigid, and hip hop
in its culture has to be fluid,” he says. “It’s the number-
one art — it forces you to paint, it forces you to see
colors.”
As far as local involvement is concerned, Hustle says that
he’s seen an amazing amount of enthusiasm from locals
about fundraising for his latest video for his song “Music.”
He’s performed at the Black Forest and The Boreal and
intends on doing two-plus shows a month from here on out.
Hustle has also been collaborating with Ife, a
videographer from Artistic Outlet Media, who is helping
him shoot the new video with scenes from around town.
Between performing and promotion, his next big
project in the works is designed to document Eugene
through the lens of hip hop (he’s calling it “Adventure Hip
Hop”) with fellow Eugene rappers — which rappers,
however, has yet to be decided.
More than anything, Hustle says that “at the end of the
day, all we can do is live and pray to inspire people. I can
allow people to see what they already know from a
different perspective.”
Kevin Hustle performs 9 pm Friday, July 29, at The Boreal, 450 W. 3rd
Ave; $2 suggested donation. Hustle says hip-hop artists are welcome to
join him on stage and have a hell of a time sharing flows. Hustle also
performs 8 pm Saturday, July 30, at The Barn Light downtown.
eugeneweekly.com • July 28, 2016
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