The Union Bar & Grille was a home for the monthly Hip Hop Shops located in Athens. Now that it’s gone, members fear for the loss of hip hop culture in Athens.
Jacob “61ack4eart” Midkiff and Peter “MC Freeman” Vilardi were endlessly promoting the next Hip-Hop Shop that would be held Nov. 20, 2014 at The Union Bar & Grille, 18 W. Union St.
“Hip-Hop Shop was scheduled for that Thursday and we were promoting extensively because we were suppose to headline,” Vilardi, a senior studying music production, said. “Then that Sunday before (the show) it ended up burning down.”
Hip-Hop Shop, once located at The Union, was a monthly showcase dedicated to local emcees and artists to gather and share their creative spirit for hip-hop and hip-hop culture.
But for Vilardi and Midkiff, performing hasn’t been the same since the fire in November 2014, and shops have been less frequent.
After the fire, both scrambled to find another venue to host the show, Midkiff and Vilardi said. Luckily, their friend, a member of Ohio University's chapter of the Theta Chi Fraternity offered his house, 117 E. State St., for them to use as a spare space.
“So we got people together,” said Midkiff, a senior studying integrated media, said. “We got friends and other artists and organized to do the Hip-Hop Shop at the Theta Chi house and we ran it as a charity and benefits concert for The Union.”
The benefit show raised over $100 dollars in donations.
Midkiff said The Union was more than just a space for socializing and partying, it was the home for local musicians and artists in Athens.
Vilardi and Midkiff met their freshman year during Welcome weekend and both ended up performing and attending the first Hip-Hop Shop of that year at The Union.
“That’s kind of how we both got started in the (hip hop music) scene,” Vilardi said. “Everybody hung out there.”
Through attending Hip-Hop Shops at The Union and connecting with other rappers, emcees and artists both became part of the last stage of the Athens hip hop scene.
The Hip-Hop Shop encompassed numerous styles, genres and people but shared a common interest in remaining true to the roots of early hip hop.
“We all just loved Old School Hip-Hop,”Vilardi said. “The boom-bap stuff, the very soulful sound … it wasn’t always conscious but (it contained) all kinds of different sounds.”
Midkiff’s most memorable moments at the “shop” were when all the styles and elements came together.
“The (Hip-Hop) Shop was especially amazing because it didn’t just capture emceeing,” Midkiff said. “It captured the entire Hip-Hop culture within it… there were never any feuds, it was just always this beautiful thing that people celebrated.”
Midkiff said when the news broke that The Union burned down, so many artist who performed at the shows were concerned over social media and reconnecting to find ways to help.
“So the day it went public that The Union burned down, everyone was kind of talking to each other like ‘Oh man. what are we going to do?’,” Midkiff said. “It kind of seemed like everyone was talking together, trying to figure out ways to keep hip-hop going in Athens.”
Jéan “Jean P The MC” Johnson, host of the Hip-Hop Shop during his time at OU and frequent performer, said it felt crazy to hear about the destruction of the Union.
“I was at home, getting ready to start my day,” Johnson said, who currently lives in Canton. “I turned on Fox 8 News and they said that there was a fire in Athens at a local bar. I saw the chicken n waffles place behind it and was like “Oh No! That can't be the Union.”
Michael “Sto” Stover, a frequent performer, said that when all the regular Hip-Hop Shop emcees found out about the fire, many were saddened about the all the memories built there.
“We were just shocked,” Stover said. “That was where we all got started. That's where we would battle each other and showcase what we had cooking in the lab.”
Johnson and Stover both said that if The Union is built again, they would happily travel back to Athens for another show.
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“Until then...my memories are just with the spot and the people who believe in what we were doing.”
Vilardi said he still feels the pain since the fire, and many places uptown have had to pick up shows and overbook more spots than usual.
“We’re still feeling a lot of the loss,” Vilardi said. “The reason why Hip-Hop Shop has struggled so much since the fire is because we haven’t really been able to find a venue. All the other places in Athens with stages ... have had to pick up the slack...booking more shows than they’ve ever use to.”
He also said many places currently aren't interested in hosting hip-hop shows.
“A lot of places don’t host hip-hop shows or hip hop nights in general because they see it as like a negative thing,” Vilardi said. “They would just rather have like a guitar, bass, drums they would rather have a band up there than like a hip hop act.”
Midkiff said it’s because of the stigma attached to hip hop and the stereotypes of guns, gangs and violence.
Both Midkiff and Vilardi said that they have found venues to host Hip-Hop Shops after the fire, but it's been a lot less frequent than usual.
“There have been subsequent Hip-Hop Shops, but it has been a lot less frequently and it really started when the Union burned down,” said Vilardi.
Vilardi and Midkiff said that last semester, they hosted the first Hip-Hop Shop after the fire at Club Underground, in the bottom basement of Red Brick Tavern, 14 N. Court St.
“It was cool and a success, but it just seemed to not really give that vibe Union had,” Midkiff said.
Since then, they have performed at multiple house parties during Fest season, but still find something missing.
“For now, hip-hop is kind of homeless,” Midkiff said. “It's crashing on couches, it's performing at obscure venues and house parties ... I don't think hip-hop in Athens will rekindle unless The Union is rebuilt or something like The Union becomes the arena for musicians again.”
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