“It’s the Bay area and it's Hiphopalooza. It’s not a boombapalooza, it’s not a trapalooza — it's everything."
That's Hiphopalooza founder Mateo Henley — aka Prince Golden, frontman for Samurai Shotgun, who recently relocated from Tampa to Atlanta— talking to CL correspondent Casey Jeanite about the fourth installment of the festival, happening today at Crowbar. Over a dozen emcees from across the country are set to descend upon the Ybor City, Florida stronghold for hip hop, and the lineup is a shining example of what's easily the fastest evolving segment of American-born music today.
DO THIS: HIPHOPALOOZA 4 AT CROWBAR 11.05.16
"Some artists you might like, some you might not," adds Golden, "but it gives everybody a chance to cross paths and perhaps work with each other and network in the future.”
Read the rest of the interview below. See Jeanite's three must-see artists here, and get more information on the event via local.cltampa.com.
CL: How did the idea for Hiphopalooza come about?
Mateo Henley: I’ve been doing the promoting thing for quite some time, and I’ve had shows throughout the years with five rappers or eight rappers or a few bands. I literally know over 400 rappers in central Florida, I’ve never seen anybody throw a giant local hip-hop show or festival before. So, I was like you know what, I’m going to go big or come home. The first Hiphopalooza had 20 acts and I just went from there.
How did you pick this year’s lineup?
This is how I always pick the lineup for every year. I’ll pick some of the hottest ones, some of my personal favorites, a few veterans that have been in the scene for a minute and I’ll also pick some up and coming talent that no one has really ever seen.
You mentioned personal favorites, which local acts are you most hyped to see perform at Hiphopalooza 4?
Oooh, that’s a good one. I really want to see Mike The Emcee because I’ve never seen him. Also, Cap Luke I’ve never seen him and I definitely dig the style and the genre of hip-hop he makes. I know Macibision, they’re going to go ham like they usually do.
This year you brought some national acts to Hiphopalooza. Was that a new idea or was it something that you had planned and knew eventually you wanted to do?
After the second Hiphopalooza, I knew it was something I really wanted to do, it’s just funds. Rappers cost a lot, really any national act does, but this year I had the funds. I was only going to get one national act but I was like you know what? I’m going to go hard and get two national acts. So I got Blueprint for the underground lyrical underground old school heads and I got Rome Fortune for the new school wavy heads.
How many people you expecting this year?
Total capacity of Crowbar, 400. Last year we did 320, with no national acts.
How important is it to you that you return to the bay to host events and continue to be an influential part of the culture?
It’s important because I made a name for myself and my band here. And I’ve been known to throw at least decent-to-great shows. We started here, Prince Golden is from Ohio, but Samurai Shotgun is from Tampa.
Get more information on the show via local.cltampa.com.
This article appears in Nov 3-10, 2016.