Live hip-hop is back in Madison tonight and there isn’t anyone happier than hip-hop promoter Mark “ShaH” Evans, owner of Get Your Buzz Up, who is hosting “Friday The 13th: Return Of Hip Hop” along with Madison’s Karben4 Brewery. Evans is encouraging Madison-area hip-hop fans to come out to the “Mad Lit” concert series downtown this Friday and then head over to the High Noon Saloon on Madison’s near east side for the show.
“Two Hip-Hop shows in one night. You won’t believe how excited that gets me,” Evans tells Madison365. “We have a stage outside with UCAN doing its thing and then right indoors with this show. It’s almost like an afterparty for Mad Lit.”
“This Friday The 13 bill is going to be incredible,” he adds.
“Friday The 13: Return Of Hip Hop” will feature Madison-by-way-of-Chicago rapper Sincere Life.
“He just has bars. The way that he can put together rhymes and create the different meetings with his lyrics – the double entendres – it’s just incredible,” Evans says. “He’s not one of those artists you hear on the radio all the time but, for me, he goes with the classifications of a Talib Kweli or Devin the Dude … if you could blend those guys.
“Whenever there is a chance to have him on stage, it’s incredible. The crowd gets hyped and they lose their mind over his bars.”
That alone, Evans said, “would be insane.” But there is more. The event will also feature DJ Pain 1.
“DJ Pain 1 is Madison Hip-Hop. He’s moved his status to such a place that he should be one of the five top producers in the midwest, if not top-3, because of all the work he is doing and the credentials he keeps getting,” Evans says. “It’s been a minute since we’ve gotten on stage together.”
Juciee Monroe, an up-and-coming songwriter, hip hop and R&B artist, will also be performing at the event.
“I’m a big advocate of female rappers. I’ve managed plenty in my day and she is great,” Evans says. “Right off the bat, she’s going to come out and set the tone. I’m looking forward to seeing her on stage and her stage presence.
“It’s Friday the 13th. You just think of all those crazy old movies. So, I was thinking … hmmmm… Friday the 13th – the Return of Hip-Hop. All together, I’m expecting a pretty dope show,” he continues. “The fact is that the High Noon hasn’t had a Hip-hop show like this in a couple of years.”
Evans is a founding member and vice president of The Urban Community Arts Network and has been an outspoken advocate for hip-hop in Madison for many years even though, at times, Madison venues have not embraced hip-hop acts.
Evans remembers an incident back in 2009 at The Brink Lounge, located next door to the High Noon, that saw 16 Madison police officers respond to a call from a Valentine’s Day hip-hop party where a fight broke out close to bar time. Many of the witnesses contend that the Brink Lounge’s in-house security had calmed down the incident before police arrived and that MPD overreacted. Nevertheless, the incident caused The Brink Lounge to ban hip-hop shows indefinitely and other Madison venues followed suit.
“That was my Valentine’s Day event. That one I’m never going to forget,” Evans says. “It’s crazy to see how full-circle that we’ve come with this show at the High Noon. There have been so many issues with so many different things. But here’s an art form that is incredible. The entire culture is incredible.”
Hip-hop artists and promoters have long contended that their genre of music gets a bad rap and that violence or disturbances break out at a small percentage of shows by a small percentage of troublemakers. Studies from UW-Madison researchers have shown that Hip-Hop events are no more a magnet for trouble than shows featuring other kinds of music.
“We have had so many successful hip-hop events over the years. People will have their perceptions of hip-hop no matter what, but because of UCAN – and really because of Karen Reece Phiffer [president of UCAN] – we have all of these reports that say that hip-hop music really isn’t more violent or dangerous in Madison than country music or karaoke,” Evans says.
Evans is looking forward to a day when hip-hop acts at Madison venues become much more of a norm like it is in other big cities. He says he’s looking forward to hosting tonight’s “Friday The 13”: Return Of Hip Hop.” For tickets, click here.
“Considering that Mad Lit will be done at 11, that’s perfect timing. Hip-Hop shows really begin to take off around 11 and midnight. It will just lead right into our event and I really hope the Hip-Hop community comes out,” Evans says. “Not just the Hip-Hop community but the entire community because this is what we’ve been trying to do for so long – bring this style of Madison Hip-Hop back to the community.”
