Local hip-hoppers look for place to perform, call own

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Tweet A local hip-hop artist is questioning the loyalty of Lansing-area venues toward the promotion and support of its urban music community while venue owners defend the variety of their lineups.

MC 3rd Deggree and DJ Donnie D will headline a live hip-hop show Saturday, and are hopeful of drawing a large crowd, in order to prove the demand for live and local hip-hop shows exceeds the number of shows held at Lansing-area venues.

Saturday night's show at The Temple Club, 500 E. Grand River Ave., in Lansing's Old Town, will feature a few of the biggest names in Lansing hip-hop.

"The state of hip-hop in the Lansing area is still pretty poor," said MC 3rd Deggree, aka Mario Jackson. "(Venue owners) are just pretty prejudiced against the music and I feel like I'm at the forefront of the situation and it hasn't really changed much. It's kinda sad. A lot of businesses could flourish financially if they opened their minds to new music."

Jerome White, general manager of The Temple Club, said although there was little outlet for live hip-hop music when the venue opened in Fall 2001, currently the venue hosts three hip-hop nights, a jazz and blues night, a techno night and three live music nights per week.

"Obviously, we're not prejudiced against it. There's no genre we play more than hip-hop. We try to be as eclectic as we can," White said. "We know the Lansing market is too small to live and die with one or two specific genres."

MC 3rd Deggree has been in the local music scene for a few years now, but said the lack of hip-hop venues and the overwhelming bias against the genre in general have led him to other cities and states.

Detroit, New York, Florida, Chicago and Ohio have all welcomed the 23-year-old Lansing resident. After opening for Talib Kweli, one of his hip-hop heroes, at the Union in April, the artist said he knows there's nowhere to go but up. But as he's experienced as an MC in Lansing, going up might require moving out of the area.

"Music is my life, it's my business," he said. "When I come to a business and I say I want to throw a show here, I definitely do not feel like I get treated like a businessman who is offering a proposal. It's more like, 'You want to come in here and rap and bring a rowdy crowd.'

"Definitely in terms of being an artist, nothing is going to change here unless the owners of the venues change their views in which they can realize hip-hop music is an actual business that generates billions and billions of dollars every year."

White said some artists misconstrue not being booked by the venue as direct discrimination against their art form.

"Hip-hop right now, commercially, has the broadest audience," White said. "Venues who choose not to play hip-hop in some capacity are cutting out a large segment of the population."

Ben Moore, better known as DJ Benny Ben, is both a local hip-hop DJ and co-host of the Cultural Vibe on WDBM (88.9 FM).

While he acknowledged three shootings near local venues hosting hip-hop might have left a sour taste in the mouths of club owners, he said over the past two years, The Temple Club and Mac's Bar have been open to hosting hip-hop nights.

"There's a general feeling that I think might not ever go away, but I think that there are venues like Temple, Mac's Bar, Gregory's, Point After and Southtown, they are always venues for hip-hop," Moore said. "But there are some venues that may never be available for hip-hop until it becomes financially necessary for them."

But 3rd Deggree said he hasn't experienced a warm welcome at many local venues.

"I'm trying to break new barriers every day, I have a pretty decent following and a reputation of what I do," 3rd Deggree said. "I've never had a fight or any inkling of violence at my show. Hip-hop doesn't get the respect of being a real form of music."

But, what can be done to help the scene that hasn't already been done?

"One of the things I would really like to see is a group of artists get together regardless of the genre of music they do, to start a committee to approach these people as a group or a unit rather than an individual," 3rd Deggree said.

But it's not like local artists aren't trying. Saturday's show is a follow-up to a hugely successful show at The Temple Club last year, which featured 3rd Deggree and Ann Arbor's Athletic Mic League. Last year, The venue's main floor was filled to its 600-person capacity level.

This year, local artists E-&-J, J-Holla, J. Diablo and Phineqx Entertainment will join the lineup.

There really aren't too many opportunities to see live hip-hop in Lansing, 3rd Deggree said, therefore, lovers of the genre should go out of their way in order to show support for artists and venues that house them.

"My favorite part of a live show is having the experience of bringing the songs to life for the people," 3rd Deggree said.

"A live show allows you to create the feeling specifically that you want people to get from the song. You can dictate your craft to them."

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