Hyphy Hip-Hop
East Fourth Street/Beauty Bar, Thursday, March 15
At the Compound on East Fourth Street, Austin’s Zeale 32 & Phranchyze 1 spit superscientifical raps for a Budweiser-drenched, sun-soaked crowd unsure whether singer Billy Cook would make his 4pm appointment. Given the extra time to showcase his true-school repertoire, Zeale proved himself worthy of last year’s SXSW battle title that yielded him a 12-inch deal with Babygrande Records. Over at the Beauty Bar, just across from Austin’s most conveniently situated police station, Northern California’s Federation worked a Lone Star-fueled assembly into unbridled realms of subculture hellbent on getting “crazy, dumb, stupid, retarded.” Hyphy vigorously revealed itself in full effect as a trio of Rick Rock-inspired MCs kicked up the throttle to full “18 Dummy” overload. In the Bay area, misguided cops often shut down Federation performances before they even have the chance to begin, which earmarked this utterly rambunctious Austin debut as a significant release of rap energy long overdue. As the Federation’s Cory Hart-aided “I Wear My Stunna Shades at Night” bugged eyes out in mass, the house was duly rocked.
This article appears in March 16 • 2007.