Scene stir

“Scene” has always seemed like such a dirty word to me. With this column rooted in local activity, I use term in a strictly geographic nature. In other words, there is simply too much happening with hip hop, its influences and derivatives in Montreal to accurately call it a “scene.” The term is erroneous, in that it calls to mind city-centric movements, and is more aptly applied to places that have earned the position by having something to show, versus still having something to prove.

Montreal is an exciting place for hip hop right now, given the sheer volume of talent, love and respect that the players affecting our city’s reputation are openly and engagingly sharing. It comes from the levels of devotion and integrity which artists and entrepreneurs display in earnest to attract attention to this little place we all recognize to be special.

Too often overlooked is the fact that no one is really watching. We can all dig it, show support, help each other out and build. Still, individuals making significant moves for themselves, and their own careers, are attracting more outside attention for the efforts they make to achieve visibility beyond the confines of “the 514” as legitimately engaging artists, with interests and ends beyond “reppin’ their city,” much as they inevitably do.

“Montreal hip hop” isn’t suddenly gonna become a thing just because, at a per capita level, it’s dope. A bounty of grassroots communities exist here for artists to build within, but it is time to look beyond scene and toward significance in terms of artistic individuality, instead of paying in to the geo-centric hologram of sight and sound that consumers have come to expect. We’re bigger than that.

GroundFood and Nomadic Massive may or may not agree, but as Drop! 90s Hip Hop Classic Revival IV takes place Saturday, Oct. 8 at les Bobards, ask yourself if our city’s finest freeform musicians and lyricists, paying homage to the Golden Era, deserve more than a souvenir flyer. ■

KEEP ALL THE REAL HEADS CLOSE, AND ALL THE SUCKAS ON THE RUN… BLOCKCLOCKER@GMAIL.COM

 

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