Can Connecticut Hip-Hop Step Up in 2010?

Here at Birthplace Magazine, we tend to focus on New York City as the core of our localized hip-hop history/future, but we are well aware that the influences of the Big Apple fall a little bit father from the tree. To recognize this, we make sure to include areas of the site and coverage dedicated to outer, unofficial “boroughs” such as Long Island, New Jersey, Upstate NY and our brethren across the Sound, Connecticut.

We noticed an article from a resident CT hip-hopper, Adam Bernard, and thought it was worth pointing to. We look forward to exploring this wilderness of talent in the coming months, and invite you to join us in the discovery.

From the article Same Bold Scene: Established Connecticut emcees did great things in 2009 — but where was the new blood?, from FairfieldWeekly.com.

Some artists who were — and in one case still is — in groups released solo projects this year. Both Plus, formerly of Nervous System, and The Protege, of Phenetiks, showed they can stand on their own and did so with aplomb. This was in addition to Connecticut’s bevy of established artists, including (but not limited to) The Rising Sun Quest, Chase Davis, Apathy, Prolifik, Deto-22, Workforce, Uncut, Logic, and Oncue, who continued to work hard to get high quality hip-hop to people.

There’s only thing our state is missing, and that’s a true youth movement. A scene needs its veteran emcees, but it also needs a fresh crop of young, hungry artists looking to make a name for themselves. The Protege is young, but he’s a veteran due to his time in Phenetiks. Oncue is also young, but has been around for years thanks to an early start on his hustle. Where are the future emcees of the scene, the kids who are writing in their rhyme books during study hall? There have to be some members of the next generation that have that fire in them.

Read the rest of the article here.

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