What: Sixth-Annual Miltown Beat Down
When: Thursday, May 12, 10 p.m.
Where: Jackalope Lounge, inside the Wicked Hop (345 N. Broadway St.)
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| Kid Cut Up. Photo courtesy of Freddy Hernandez. |
Why: We’ve all heard of big-name hip-hop producers such as Dre, Kanye, Diddy and Timbaland, who are not strangers to the spotlight. But in the real workaday hip-hop world, the producer quietly goes about creating the beats that become the heart and soul of the song, often with little to no recognition. Even the hype man who just parrots into the microphone the last word of every line rapped stands a better chance of bagging a groupie at the end of a show. Among the local hip-hop community, there may not be a more essential – or underappreciated – role.
Six years ago, Jordan Lee, better known as DJ Madhatter of the Rusty Ps, took it upon himself to see that these oft-overlooked masters of the beat got their day in the sun. Since then, the Miltown Beat Down has become the premier showcase of local beat producers, highlighting the surprisingly strong stable that calls the region home.
The preliminary round of the competition starts tonight at the Jackalope Lounj inside the Wicked Hop with subsequent preliminary rounds following the next three Thursdays. Four pairs of producers will face off each night with only the top two finishers from each preliminary round moving on to the finals June 10 at Turner Hall.
The format consists of two types of competition: freestyle battle and remix battle. Both competitions observe Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome rules: two men enter, one man leaves. The freestyle battle pits two producers head to head for three 60-second rounds of original beats. The winners, judged by a combination of crowd reaction and a panel of judges, move on to face off in the remix battle. In this competition, each producer is given 90 seconds to remix their choice of a hip-hop acapella track.
A record 68 producers signed up for this year’s battle, which led the organizers to start out with 32 producers rather than the 16 they have featured in past years. Personally, I think the smart money’s on Hitmayng.
Thursday, May 12
TreCold vs. Bubba
White Russian vs. OVA
Audio Pilot vs. Jungle Boy
DJ Heavyweight vs. Cash Beatz
Thursday, May 19
Andy Petr vs. Bad Character
Hitmayng vs. TradeMark
40 MIL vs. Sinister Reality
ClassiCal vs. Big Steve
Thursday, May 26
Reason vs. Mc Cullah
Mixed Up vs. Luxi
GoodWill vs. Mighty DR
Hurrikayne vs. Jooney Dubz
Thursday, June 2
Sam Winters vs. Saul Garza Beatz
Mark Valdez vs. Jihad Baracus
James Jaxin vs. BakTrax
Lex Luthor vs. Champ
