Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Featured Underground Hiphop Artists 2015

The year 2015 has come and gone and in today's rap world it is common place to imitate whatever artist is the most popular at the time. Well, in the year 2016, it's hard to believe that the history of where rap came from is lost in the commercial mainstream. For people who don't know how rap came about I want to kindly say that rap is the child of Hiphop. I capitalize the word "hiphop" because I sometimes use it as a proper noun.

I sympathize with many of the Millennials who don't know that rap is the offspring of Hiphop. Rap is a type of music genre but hip hop is a whole entire culture that encompasses the rich cultural heritage of the ethnic people who created it. Hiphop music began in the underground and expressed itself as an outcry of music that defined the beginning of a generation that would live forever.

The big super rich commercial record labels have tried their best to corrupt the true intentions of hip hop and the message it brings along with the enjoyment of having a good time while uplifting their people in a positive way.


The following video highlights several different underground hip hop artists with different styles and flows. This is an important list because more and more underground hip hop artists are getting publicity, more listens and more control over their music. Even though this list doesn't cover the majority of underground artists, these artists in the video are doing a great job of representing and respecting the culture and art form of Hiphop.



I wanna give a BIGG UP to all of these hip hop artists for keepin the art form alive...Word Up! Lyrics mean everything to Hiphop heads. Keep those thoughtful concepts coming so a new middle class can be created.

Monday, February 1, 2016

The Larry J. Weir Center for Independent Media

The Larry J. Weir Center for Independent Media, (LJWC), is located in Grand Center. Grand Center is a unique cultural and historical treasure, located in the heart of St Louis. The building's purchase and extensive renovations cost around $3.5 million and its 13,000 square feet is three times larger than the space KDHX previously inhabited.  


The Larry J. Weir building, Center for Independent Media,
St. Louis, MO

After 25 plus years at 3504 Magnolia Avenue, KDHX moved to 3524 Washington Avenue in the heart of Grand Center. This much larger building is the broadcast facilities for 88.1FM, as well as the Magnolia Café and The Stage at KDHX. The L. J. Weir Center also contains the offices of KDHX.org and the Folk School whose classes take place just down the street at 3323 Washington Avenue. The second floor is semi-public space for DJs, volunteers, and hundreds of musicians the station records every year during in-studio visits.


I came across a website site where there are tons of stunning photos of the KDHX studios, the control rooms and other interior shots taken by Sara A. Finke. Also in this photo gallery are the different construction phases of erecting the exterior kdhx logo which is a very interesting engineering feat. At night the kdhx logo with the words "The Stage" are lit up with orange and yellow sun beams extending from the upper right and lower left of the logo as pictured in the photo below.





 The Stage at KDHX logo, lit up at night on the east
side of the building.
The Stage, located in the heart of the Grand Center Arts & Entertainment District, is a unique venue that provides an intimate setting from informal to formal mid-sized events. Company training sessions, product launch events, corporate meetings, private parties, concerts and celebrations such as birthdays and anniversaries are all available at your disposal at The Stage. The Stage can accommodate up to 120 seated at 4-top tables to 150 seated theatre-style. The venue comes equipped with a professional projector and screen and can facilitate any entertainment need for your event from solo artists to full bands to Dj rigs with full stage lighting. 

The Stage, before a live band performance.
Supporters about to enjoy a live band.

Magnolia Cafe
The Magnolia Cafe offers healthy and delicious options for breakfast and lunch. Sourcing locally for fresh ingredients Magnolia Cafe offers a coffee & smoothie menu, a salad & sandwich menu and light fare for early evening dinner or event nights at The Stage. Noon time boxed lunch orders and light catering are also available.




Magnolia Cafe serves Brunch at The Stage every Saturday from 9am to 1pm.
$15 (includes coffee, tea or juice)
Live Music from 10am-noon