Pole the Sunday following [the shooting incident] and demonstrated to the press that we don’t stand for this. We made up banners with the victim and his daughter on it. We made sure that everyone down there was sending a positive message. We weren’t there to protest anything or to blame anybody. We were there to show we were moving on and doing something positive with our abilities as a group. Does mainstream hip-hop help or hurt people’s perception of underground hip-hop? Ease: Yeah, it hurts. I’m a DJ that plays
both — I’ll play a hip-hop party in Vegas and then the most underground party in Rochester. And I got called out, “Oh DJ Ease, he’s a commercial DJ.” So I got called out to a battle. I came out on top skill-wise, but it was a circus. So it hurts your credibility with your peers as well? Faugh: Some hip-hop artists look down on
Subsoil because we have a band — like it’s a gimmick.
Once upon a time having a DJ in a band was considered a gimmick Faugh: Yeah, now it’s opposite. Is hip-hop commenting on culture, or is it creating culture? Niche: I think initially hip-hop commented
on the culture. You had MCs getting on the mic, commenting on the culture, feeding off what was going on. Now, I think you’ve got a music that’s pushing a certain culture. You’ve got people in offices that are very smart, they know exactly what message they’re sending. They know exactly what they’re doing with this music and they’re promoting consumerism, misogyny, all these ideas that are common in hip-hop, and therefore in youth culture today. It seems like a vicious cycle. How do you break out of it? Faugh: The artists that don’t want to be a
part of that message, like ourselves, we’re trying to craft it the other way, to push the culture the other way. We’re saying this is what the culture is about — expression and unity — and here’s where they want to take it, and we don’t want to let them take it there. We get to decide and say what hiphop is now. Jayhigh: I think, as I’ve gotten older, I’m starting to realize the key is to have camaraderie between the artists. So people see that hip-hop can be a catalyst for stopping violence in Rochester. Violence in Rochester has been so pervasive for so long that the hip-hop community can take it on and actually get some press. We’re unified, and it’s like, we’re artists from a culture that creates violence from lyrics or from our lifestyle — or the idea of the lifestyle — but we can also stop it. That’s possible.
Thus becoming a positive influence on the culture, the fans, and emerging artists. Breaking the commercial mold. Cialdella: This is an
opportunity where we can really curb those trends. Ease: I’ll play in a night lub and people want to hear “Call Me Maybe,” and I just can’t. Not only is it a terrible song, but this music is rammed down their throat every day. Thievin’ Stephen: There’s no other explanation for so many artists in Rochester sounding like they’re from Atlanta. Ease: Yeah, if it weren’t for local radio playing nothing but that. Faugh: There are other outlets. Such as? Ease: Artists have to realize you can be true
to yourself and still make it with things like YouTube. Is what you do entertainment or social commentary? Faugh: Both. Satire is fun, but it’s good
to be impressive. If it’s interesting and a social commentary I go with it, but if it’s tongue-in-cheek, a drug reference, or sex, I’ll use that too. Do you feel any responsibility as to your content? Faugh: No, people should know how to
use art. If you like parts of it and use it for your life, if you don’t like parts of it, you dismiss it. That’s your job. I have to package it in some way that’s palatable or I’d just be rambling and people wouldn’t give a shit. Cialdella: I used to try to write to entertain and I’d get extreme writer’s block. So it’s got to be something that’s playing in my life.
But hip-hop arose from the black experience. Stephen: So did rock and jazz. Why doesn’t there seem to be any local female MCs? Where are the ladies? Faugh: That’s a good question. It’s
probably because of all the misogynistic bullshit. It’s a man’s world. But there is a new wave coming up. Ease: They’re not respected. They’ve got to deal with the producer hitting on them. We definitely need females. Jayhigh: It seems with the female MCs, they always seem to be forced to have some male bravado.
to think that, but the control is with the fans, the people. Our duty is to reflect the world so that the people will love that and participate. Faugh: Or it’s pointless. People complain when I post events on FB and I tell them, “But this is an event in the real world.” Moses Rockwell: The success of the scene has a lot to do with how we relate to each other — the artists specifically. Sometime the MCs don’t support each other because there’re so many of us. Everybody wants to be the “it” thing. And if you don’t have a competitive spirit you get distanced from it. Everyone wants to be the prom king, I just want to dance.
How can the Rochester hip-hop scene grow? Faugh: We need more venues. Niche: We live in a pretty conservative
city.
Conservative or lazy? Niche: We just don’t have a lot of events
that are diverse. Jayhigh: They think artists have all the power. It’s pretty grandiose
Is hip-hop still a black thing? Are white artists trespassing? Faugh: To me it isn’t. It doesn’t
make any sense. Calling me a white rapper is like saying black doctor. That may be offensive to some people. I’m here to stop generalizations altogether. You can’t say hip-hop is violent even though some violent people are attracted to it. You can’t say hip-hop is art for black people even though some black people like hip-hop. rochestercitynewspaper.com City 13