ROX-TV covers the First Annual “Dankish Vibe Life” Underground Hip Hop Festival.

Welcome back to another round of the latest news from the underground. Tonight we are going to take a look at DJ Dankish and his first annual hip hop festival, which jumped off at Simon’s After Dark over the weekend. I was on hand to cover the event for ROX-TV and the evening was full of great music from the underground. As the readers know, we fully support our local artists and enjoy giving the scene some much deserved props for making it a night to remember.

As many of you may know, DJ Dankish is a friend of mine and when he was putting together this event, I knew that I couldn’t miss it. As the clock ticked down and the show approached, I was already in the parking lot with the smokers. I arrived early to ensure a good parking spot and posted up as the performers and artists began to arrive. As any concert or show attendee knows, there is excitement in the air, when a live event is going down. People who have been around for a minute know the feeling. A night filled with laughter, good friends, and the music that we all enjoy. What could be better?

When I look back over the years, I can say that I’ve been lucky to have come up in Michigan. The music scene that I’ve subscribed to for all these years, underground and in particular Michigan underground has been a real treat to endure. At this point I’ve said it hundreds of times, but to come of age in the mid nineties was probably the greatest gift destiny ever gave me (at least when it came to the music). The scene was flourishing back then with cutting edge material provided by Esham, ICP, a whole host of other groups and artists. There was so much good music that it was hard to handle at times.

I remember talking to my Uncle Chuck about the sixties and the early seventies music one time. I used to ask a lot of questions that only someone who wasn’t there would want to know. We were somewhere, probably at a large Shepard family function when he told me something that I didn’t quite get at the time, but I understand today.

As time and circumstances permitted, I was asking him about some of the different bands of the era and if he was into them or what his experiences had been…something along those lines. My Uncle Chuck sat for a moment, reflecting back on the times and then he smiled. “You just have to understand, there was so much good music going on, all at once, it was impossible to take it all in” he told me.

At the time I didn’t understand, but he was right. There have been times in American music history, when shit was really moving and the late sixties and early seventies unquestionably had more than listeners could handle or keep track of other than in name. The music was so good, that you could literally pick your favorites, or as much as you could handle and be satisfied. Even big music people wouldn’t have been able to truly absorb all that was kicking off. There wasn’t enough time in the day to do it.

Well my friends, that’s what I’ve come to understand about the mid to late nineties, as far as underground rap was concerned. I loved it all, had my favorites, collected as much shit as I could, and still came no where near covering all the angles of the scene. Between Flint and Detroit, something truly magical was going down, spiked with some ole wicked shit to boot. I didn’t have the resources, time, or money to capture all the things I wanted to, “there was just so much good music….it was crazy”.

The legacy of the nineties has shaped the music and the content today in and around Michigan. Hell, the Michigan sound and scene was so strong, that even almost thirty years later, if you look closely, you can still see the influence on today’s artists and scene. Granted, there isn’t as many kids around today as there was in the 1990’s, so the scene might look a little more lean than it would have two or three decades earlier, but it is still alive and well.

With all that in mind and my love for the underground sound, I had arrived at Simon’s After Dark for the DJ Dankish underground hip hop festival. In recent years, I’ve had more time on my hands to really get back to the music and with the ROX-TV writer gig established at the end of February, I was thrust into the underground once again.

It took a minute to get my bearings because the game had changed considerably in some aspects, but thankfully other things had remained the same, or at least my reference points still held true in some respects. The scene might shift and evolve over time, but it is still there, lurking in the woods or down a dark alley, waiting to smash your ear drums to pieces.

So there I was, in the parking lot of Simon’s, milling around like I had many years ago, waiting for the shit to go down. I was in the presence of Flint rap legends, Project Born, who had just come from an instore book event in St. Clair Shores. “Forever in the Jects” had just dropped on July 7th, and the promotions for the book were in full swing. I was with the group at Trax-n-Wax (a really dope record shop that you have to experience in the flesh) from 4pm to just after 6pm, for what is believed to be one of the first, if not the first in-store event in almost two years for Michigan. The group had signed copies of the new book and took pictures with fans, before coming to headline the Dankish festival in Allen Park with many other artists.

9:33pm

The show had popped off, and as I watched from the Project Born merch table, perfectly situated to give me a nice view of the stage (Author’s Note: There isn’t a bad view of the stage in Simon’s. Pretty much where ever your at, you have a nice view of the room). The sound was booming and the room was filled with wicked lyrics from the stage. I was at the show, the sun had gone down, and I was in good company. I didn’t have a care in the world other than enjoying some underground music.

Although I didn’t know what to make of Simon’s the first time I went there several months earlier, I must admit that the place has grown on me rather quickly. The people that work there don’t put up with bullshit, but also don’t make a habit of fucking with you either. The drinks are reasonable if that’s your boat, and I enjoy any place that sells Faygo from behind the bar. The place might as well have a sign that says “Juggalos welcome here”, it’s that kind of joint.

Unless specifically tasked with complete roster lineups and blow by blow accounts, I normally just absorb the scene as best I can. Not all the interesting things happen in the building either, but that is for another time. Another aspect of Simon’s which I dug and seems to be the going standard for any venue that hosts the underground sound, the bathrooms seem to be chalk full of graffiti and various stickers from all over the fucking place.

Just like the Roxy in Denver, and the back room of Hot Rocks, Simon’s bathrooms (at least in the guy’s pisser) was totally bombed out with graf and stickers. I’ve made a habit of snapping a few pics of these places whenever I can, normally when no one else is in there either. Bathrooms and camera phones have never been a winning combination and it would be easy to get the wrong idea, but if no one is around, I will snap a few shots for posterity.

It’s crazy, because every time I document a scene like that, I’m always waiting for someone to burst in as I’m snapping away. “Ignore the strange bearded man with full sleeves, taking pictures in the shitter…he’s harmless” I can hear Hunter S. Thompson whispering down from the the dark side of the moon. So there I was, taking pics from different angles trying to “find something that works in this dust” (you either know or you don’t). “Drive into the dust”.

The stage stayed bumping as the different groups and artists took the stage. As much as I wanted to sample some doobie action, the ride home was far and long, most definitely not something to gamble with. Had I lived twenty minutes away, it would have been a different story, but driving over an hour on fast moving highways is not advisable with today’s good green.

There doesn’t seem to be anymore “wonder” strains in Michigan anymore (I wonder if I’m high?). These days, everything is fucking fire and good weed is so abundant, it’s really taken for granted, at least I do. I’ve almost forgotten about the times when there were no strains and weed was simply called weed.

Perhaps you could get your hands on some serious stoner “GM Weed” (General Motors employee smoke) back in the day, but the street markets could be unreliable. Most likely the old hippy dealers probably banged the flower until there wasn’t a trichome in the whole bag. Someone was getting high, but it certainly wasn’t teenagers smoking dirt weed. But I digress….

The crowd wasn’t huge, but everyone there was united in their love for the music and the scene, and they were having a good time. I know where I wasn’t….sitting on my dead ass in the living room complaining that nothing was going on. No sir. I was enjoying life in the real world with live music and supporting the locals groups that are dedicated enough to put on a good show. I’m sure there are critics out there somewhere putting it down, but no one likes a sour apple and they tend to alone, bitching most of the time.

I don’t subscribe to that and if there was ever someone who deserved to be cancelled, as our modern times like to do these days, it should be critics. If one fourth of the complaining was dedicated to something else, perhaps more constructive, the results would be staggering. I don’t believe in resting on victories of yesterday really. It is perfectly fine to be proud of past achievements, but when your permanently looking backwards, your missing the point.

As the night continued to roll on, I drifted from the stage, to the parking lot, and back again. There are lots of moving parts to a live event and I’ve come to appreciate them all as I’ve grown older. Performers took the stage, dropped their best shit, and on and on it went. Personally I was waiting for Project Born to take the stage. Not only did I help capture their story in a book, I’ve been a fan of their music for almost three decades.

I was excited to hear their set and the time was finally arriving, when they would drop that gritty Flint Town sound on the fans gathered around the stage. After a great introduction by Big Will of the Bender Boyz, Project Born launched into the music.

As could be expected, they played a fire set that included music from their extensive discography. Frank Nitty and Polk D (aka Lil Polk) delivered an absolute killer set, laced with high energy and passion that newer artists should study up on. They came correct and lit the fucking place up.

12:33am

As Project Born wrapped up the set to close out the night, I was happy to have been in attendance. I had listened to great music all night, made some new friends, and hung out with old ones.

I wasn’t looking forward to the endless drive back to Genesee County, the big 810, but that was inescapable. “Buy the ticket, take the ride” (thank you Hunter S. Thompson). I was happy to do it. When the music ended, I was gone, but I could sleep easy that night, knowing that the underground was still alive and well in my home state and that I had got out to show my love and support for the music. As I pulled onto the highway and raced off into the dark night, there was a smile on my face.

Signing Off,

Mike Shepard

ROX-TV Head Writer

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