The VIPs of Valley Hip Hop
FESTIVA is proud to present a look at the biggest names in our area's hip hop scene. We had the rare opportunity to hang out with these unique musicians at our photo shoot, united as a group for the very first time. Click the links below to read up on the movers and shakers of our local scene.
THE VIPs:
- Cal Casta: The Original
- Shawn Elliot: The Mentor
- Lamar Jones: The Teacher
- J-Marq: The Silent Force
- GoLightly: The Professional
- Analy: The First Lady
- Styk Phiga: The One-Man Show
- Future: The Rising Star
- C-Styles: The Showman
- Alex Montana: The Underdog
- Young J: The Entrepreneur
PLUS
- ONLINE VIDEO: THE VIPs IN ACTION The musicians freestyle for Festiva cameras in this exclusive music video
- ONLINE VIDEO: THE PHOTO SHOOT Check out interviews and more from the VIPs
- BEHIND-THE-SCENES PHOTOS Candid shots of our VIP photo shoot at Club Element
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The three musicians sat at a booth in Element, a posh McAllen nightspot.
Jeremy "Styk Phiga" Adams laid down a beat, tapping his hands against the table. Luis "C-Styles" Robles freestyled a few rhymes as DeWayne GoLightly nodded his head. It was a Sunday afternoon, and Element had shut its doors to the public. The club had reserved the space for Festiva's VIPs of Valley Hip Hop photo shoot.
The shoot gathered a collection of the local scene's rappers, producers and R & B singers. The event marked the first such gathering of its kind, and 10 years ago it would have been impossible.
Just ask Issac "Cal Casta" Gonzalez. He's a veteran of the Valley scene, having rhymed here for about 10 years. He was at the shoot, and he'll tell you that when he started rhyming most of these guys lived in other parts of the country.
In the past five years or so, an influx of rappers and producers has arrived in the Valley, moving here largely because of family reasons. Cal Casta has watched them come, and he has watched the scene grow stronger.
"If you have a colony, and that colony is just based off of what you built, and then you got people moving in from different areas with their own standards," he said. "Then they come to the colony. They bring their own traits. Then that colony itself expands, because it gains the knowledge of different areas."
So the talent pool has expanded. MCs have developed tighter flows and more clever punch lines. But most will admit they still struggle to find an audience, to draw heads to shows and to pull a crowd.
But that doesn't stop them from performing at the Nikki Rowe VFW or Club Metropolis or a number of spots in Brownsville. And that doesn't stop them from dropping a makeshift beat and rhyming over it whenever they meet up.
- LACK OF PROMOTION
Jeremy "Styk Phiga" Adams moved to the Valley about four years ago.
He was already an aspiring rapper who made his own beats. The Chicago native had practiced his music up north. He came here, and he thought no one else in the area worked in hip hop.
"I was really down," Styk Phiga said. "I was making three beats a day in the room. I really wasn't showering or getting out much."
After about a year, he met Adrian "Future" Garza of the hip hop group Dem ATM Boyz. Adams joined the group and started making beats with them. He eventually met many other rappers and producers, and he struck out on his own.
Why did it take so long to meet like-minded individuals?
"It's dying for promotion down here," Styk Phiga said.
Other artists see it the same way. They don't see fliers advertising shows. They don't hear many local tracks getting radio play. And they don't see fans clamoring for smart hip hop.
- THE BEGINNING OF A SCENE
MySpace has revolutionized the way local artists share music.
It has enabled fans to listen with the click of a mouse. And it's no different for Valley hip hop.
"If you really work your cards right on MySpace it can be a great promotional tool," said Luis "C-Styles" Robles. "Eighty percent of why I've been successful is because of MySpace."
C-Styles has 3,300 MySpace fans, and he uses the site to promote shows, spread concert pictures and announce new songs. The site has also helped him meet other MCs. It has led to collaboration opportunities.
Though much work remains. In general, hip hop musicians say the scene has started in the right direction.
Cal Casta is perhaps one of the most veteran MCs on the local scene. He knows the value of MySpace, and how he can use it for strength. The aspiring graphic designer volunteers to overhaul MySpace pages. He has designed pages for the GoLightly Project and Future of Dem ATM Boyz. He plans to overhaul C-Styles page soon.
For his fellow MCs, he does the work for free. It's all in the interest of boosting music here.
"You have to be friends with everybody," he said. "I'm going to be there supporting everybody else because that's what it takes."
- GROWING THE NEXT GENERATION
Hip hop is not the preference in the Valley, but that could change.
Music fans appreciate music they can dance to, something with a catchy beat. If the song doesn't get the ladies moving, fans don't want to hear it, said DeWayne GoLightly, a mulit-genre producer and R & B singer.
GoLightly hails from Kentucky, and he moved to the Valley about three years for family reasons. He has changed his musical styles to reflect the preference, he said. He makes less soul music these days and more dance beats.
"The music's actually evolved a lot since I've moved down here," he said. "It sounds a lot like the Houston style of music."
By hooking fans with music they know and love, some MCs say they can then spread deeper lyrics. They can also start appealing to fans before they've developed music preferences.
Shawn Elliot and Lamar Jones moved to the Valley this year. The duo has worked programs with Boys and Girls Clubs in South Florida, and they hope to do the same here. Elliot says he uses music, specifically hip hop, to improve life for disadvantaged children.
He gets them to talk about their problems through lyrics. He teaches them stage presence, which almost certainly brings confidence. And he shows them that achieving goals is possible.
"We use music, kind of as a carrot to draw them in, every kid can identify to music," Elliot said.
And when those kids grow up, they'll hopefully identify with hip hop music. Hip hop that stresses self-growth and personal experience over bravado, riches and violence.
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Zack Quaintance covers features and entertainment for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4447.
OTHER PLAYERS ON THE SCENE
There's not enough space for everyone. But here are some other cats you should for sure check out.
