Having bought into the idea that Austin could be a hip-hop city, noncommercial University of Texas frequency KUTX 98.9 took a calculated risk in handpicking Jared “Confucius Jones” Williams and Aaron “Fresh” Knight to host a Saturday night hip-hop show, The Breaks. The station saw it through Friday with an all-local, all-hip-hop SXSW showcase.
And so it was that on a warm Friday night at Karma Lounge, Austin told the story of its currently trap-inspired hip-hop scene.
Magna Carda, now SX regulars, regaled the largest crowd of the evening with a tight live fusion of organic instrumentation. Rapper Megz Kelli’s kinetic lyricism on “Southern Ether” proved – as ever – riveting. Rapper/producer Randall “Kydd” Jones and brother Tank Washington worked the stage back-to-back astride a dizzying rundown of booming trap haze, with Jones’ standout “Dripped Up” landing the highlight.
Alesia Lani, neither shy about her limber vocals or mature sensuality, dipped into her latest full-length with a shorter rendition of single “Intentions.” As Sertified, John David Flores Jr. showed off on the ascendant trapper “Straight Out.” Rising rapper the Teeta (Trenton Anthony), the showcase artist most in-line with the mainstream, delivered “3:16” from his trapped-out Killstreak mixtape with a vigorous, almost punk zeal.
The alt-rock/R&B smelting of Jake Lloyd rendered the night’s most intriguing sound. He ended his set splashing garage mud onto Sam Sparro’s shiny 2008 hit “Black and Gold.”
This article appears in March 16 • 2018.
