Local artist Robbie-G hosts show for Hip-hop artists
Josh Doyle
If you’ve been wondering where the local hip-hop has been hiding in this town, you’re not alone. Fortunately local artist Robbie G is bringing life to the quiet but present landscape of Guelph MC’ing with an event this coming Saturday, Nov. 27 at the Red Chevron. He and fellow artists from the community are throwing the event to commemorate his own latest release. His latest mix-tape Visual Words comes as his sixth release to date, and adds to a line-up that’s gotten progressively better throughout recent years. Of course, like any true hip-hop event the root goes much deeper than just a record release. Robbie added that the event will focus on what keeps the industry moving, and what makes music work at the ground level.
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“The event is all about unity and supporting everybody else. Really the community of hip-hop is like that. I feel like support for underground artists is really lacking right now and people need to step up and give that ‘other guy’ a big push,” he said.
Robbie’s perspective on the industry has changed in recent years, as his stage presence has gradually increased and more of his time has been devoted to this thing called hip-hop. He and his musical comrades hit the streets in 2008 with the music they’d been working on for years leading up, doing only a handful of shows wherever possible. Last year alone that same crew made appearances at upwards of thirty different venues. While Robbie’s been working hard to make things happen and seeing positive results as of late, he acknowledged that the music scene in some places is lacking moral support.
“In Toronto it’s a big deal, everybody calls it the ‘screw-face’ capital, because everybody’s hating on everybody else. Nobody gives anyone the time of day to just listen to their music and take it in. There are so many artists it’s just a saturated industry right now,” Robbie said. Fortunately that ice seems to melt when you drive a little bit West, and Guelph has shown nothing but consistent support for the underground hip-hop scene.
“We’ll do a set in Toronto and there’ll be 110 people in the crowd bobbing their head’s a little bit, whereas we do that same thing in Guelph and everyone’s throwing their hands up and screaming. It’s crazy,” Robbie said.
Robbie’s support for his fellow artists comes across in the other outlets he makes use of as well. Hosting a show on CFRU every Wednesday night called Vocal Kinetics, Robbie and his guests discuss topics ranging from modern politics to, of course, hip-hop music. A large amount of the shows focus is dedicated to supporting independent artists and having them on the show to reach out to their fans. While the network requires their hosts play a minimum 35 per cent Canadian music, Robbie and his co-hosts opt for more like 85, allowing Canadian music to dominate the airwaves.
“I do it just to help others. I know commercial radio stations don’t play underground indie Canadian music. They’re supposed to but, I don’t hear it,” he said.
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