Ohio University’s Hip-Hop Congress hip-hop awareness week is underway and, though there is no new material out for fans of the genre to enjoy from local groups, many mainstays of the area are hard at work on forthcoming albums, including Emcee Schwartz, MC Freeman and The hip-hop Tribe.
Fans of live performance can still catch Freeman play Friday’s hip-hop showcase alongside a number of other acts. And anyone can step up to the plate on April 10 for the semester’s last Hip-Hop Shop at The Union.
Emcee Schwartz
Hil Hackworth has been booking and running the Hip-Hop Shop for years, but when a nearly fatal car accident last fall took him off the mic, there was only one person who could take up the shop’s duties — Ryan Schwartz.
The two artists make up the core of Athens long-lasting hip-hop conglomerate Dysfunktional Family. That project, though, has been set aside, providing Schwartz the opportunity to pour all of his time and heart into what is effectively his first solo project ever.
“I hope (Hackworth) recovers fast so we can get back in the studio again, but I told myself it’s now or never to do a solo album because I’m just doing stuff with so many groups,” Schwartz said.
The duo had been working on a number of tracks before the accident, he said, which will now be featured on Schwartz’s solo album Altered Beast, named for the vintage game.
“There’s a song called ‘Altered Beast’ on the album that I did four or five months ago that I decided to name the album after,” Schwartz said. “It’s five minutes long of me rhyming continuously the whole time while the beat melodically changes throughout.”
He added many of the beats have a retro video game feel to them, adding to the album’s appropriate title.
Schwartz is also the sole writer, producer and engineer of the now 17-track album that he hopes to release in June.
“I didn’t have that person in there to say ‘that’s not good enough let’s do it again.’ I really pushed myself in quality control, to make sure it was as good as it could be without anyone else’s hand in it,” Schwartz said. “I’m a little bit of a perfectionist when it comes to music so I’ll record half of the song and not be happy with it and I’ve already been in the booth a half hour, and then start it all over again.”
But Schwartz will have some backup from Hackworth who’s joining him in the studio for the mixing process, even if he’s not well enough to pick up the mic again.
MC Freeman
Donning a plaid button-up tucked into some neatly kept jeans, Peter “MC Freeman” Vilardi isn’t the stereotypical rapper.
The sophomore studying music production and journalism is constantly busy, both writing and performing on the weekly program “Fridays Live,” consistently working the stand-up comedy scene in Athens while pursuing his own hip-hop ambitions.
He’s currently put the hip-hop pursuits on the sideline for what he said is a lack of motivation and the departure of a few key planned featured artists, but he has a number of songs in his head.
“The album I’m going to call Stay Free, because that’s my personal motto,” Vilardi said. “It means to stay free from something that ties you down and prevents you from doing something you want to do. Involve yourself in stuff but don’t be chained to it.”
Stay Free is set to be Vilardi’s followup to his 2013 release Shy Guy, an album that combined his love for the wide array of rap with a little bit of comedic flare.
“When I started out I wanted to be a lot more technical and wordy and heady, but that’s not what a lot of people want to listen to, and at the end of the day that’s not what I want to listen to,” Vilardi said. “So what I seek to do is say stuff in a weird way, occasionally drop really intelligent stuff, but mostly just bring what I call the funk science.”
“Funk Science” is the song Vilardi is working on which seeks to combine all those elements. But fans will likely have to wait till summer or even the fall to get a taste.
Vibe Tribe
This new project started by Terry Smith, Jake “TASTE” McDonald and Trent Smith has been making its way around the Athens Hip-Hop Shop and house parties at various street fests picking up some steam for its unnamed April mixtape.
The young group looks to incorporate ’90s hip-hop beats with a modern flow and eventually more electronic elements.
“I was sending out motivational messages to a lot of my friends, a lot of us were pursuing dreams and a lot of people were just doing the daily grind,” McDonald said. “We keep that positive vibe.”
He said he feels hip-hop generally comes from a negative place or a place of learning, but the Tribe is trying to bring more positivity back into the genre.
“I wouldn’t say it’s all positive music, but it’s all music people can relate to and say ‘hey everyone goes through bulls--t, you know what I’m saying, everybody has struggle everybody has grind,’” McDonald said. “It’s about bringing a full extension of positive thinking and momentum out of that.”
@Wilbur_Hoffman
wh092010@ohiou.edu
