When the lights went on in downtown Raleigh last Thursday evening, the stars were ready to illuminate the metropolitan area as well. Raleigh’s Hopscotch Festival featured artists from North Carolina and beyond, and included a large variety of musical genres. The event stretched from Thursday, Sept. 9 to Saturday, Sept. 11, and was sold out within hours.
Dispersed amongst nine different downtown venues, the festival brought a sense of energy and excitement to the streets and restaurants. Friday night, emotions were raised high at the Lincoln Theater, a small venue notorious for its up-close and personal atmosphere and famous performances from artists such as Snoop Dogg.
Powerful instrumentals and lyrics echoed throughout the venue and created an electric environment for the crowd, all of whom seemed to be in perpetual celebration over the performances of the various artists. Even members of the performing cast were walking out into the crowd to enjoy the presence of their fellow artists on stage.
These artists amazed the crowd with a large variety of songs and instrumentals along with numerous creative “freestyles.”
“The show was incredible, I’ve been a supporter of the North Carolina hip hop scene for years and to see it come together in full force and unison was truly special.” Kees Verkerk, a sophomore in political science, said. “I was particularly impressed by 9th Wonder, Raekwon and K-Hill for their ability to feed off of the crowd’s energy.”
9th Wonder gave the crowd an amazing show with his ability on the turntables, and the crowd was further entertained by the riveting instrumentals displayed by The Remix Project.
“The Hopscotch Festival was evidence that the North Carolina music scene has finally come to full circle. We have finally proven our scene can compete with any other scene on all levels,” performer K Hill said.
The North Carolina hip-hop scene appears to be on the rise, and it embodies lyrical creativity and charisma on the microphone, something that is often lacking in the current music industry.
Another spectator whose excitement was eminent during the show was Raleigh-based hip-hop artist Cyrano Sinatra, who came to the show simply as a spectator. Cyrano, whose fan base lies predominately in the New York and Chicago area, is looking to make a big splash into the music industry this year, particularly in the North Carolina region.
“I was born in Greenville so I’m trying to go back to my roots and build up more of a fan base around my home,” Cyrano said after the show.
Cyrano has worked with some of hip-hop’s most accredited artists such as Kool G Raps of Queens, New York, and various other rising artists. However, Cyrano said he is now looking into the future, as he plans to collaborate with K-Hill.
“K-Hill had a great performance tonight. It really opened my eyes to the potential that we have in our collaboration. It’s definitely exciting,” Cyrano said.
Cyrano and K-Hill plan to start performing as a duo act in the near future and help each other push their music agendas to a new level, while contributing to the growth of the North Carolina hip-hop scene as a whole.
As the hip-hop scene in North Carolina continues to progress, artists such as these will be able to look back on events such as hopscotch and realize that it was festivals such as these that helped launch their music careers.
