Emerging Hip Hop Artists in Buffalo

The Buffalo hip-hop scene has never been more prominent, growing more and more each day. Still, there’s a good chance you may not even know about it. The local hip-hop community is still fairly new, but most of the average young people here haven’t even heard about any hip-hop coming out of Buffalo.  Out of every single hip-hop artist interviewed since the creation of this blog, everyone has shared the exact same sentiment; the venues in Buffalo don’t want you or the genre to succeed. “I don't think that the venues view what we do as genuine music,” says suskingbrad, one of the rappers from group, Freak the Mighty, one of Buffalo’s more popular up-and-coming groups, “I think it's just people man. Some people have these preconceived ideas about what rap is, what hip-hop is. They think it is all gangster music. If you actually listen to hip-hop, you know, it's not all gangster music.” Quisi LaFlare, pictured above, is one of Niagara Falls hottest rappers out righ...

Every minute, 12 hours worth of music is uploaded to Soundcloud, according to DMR Statistics. The oversaturation of the hip-hop genre is a direct byproduct of the growth of Soundcloud and the internet. Never before has hip-hop been such a prominent piece of the American Culture as it is now. According to Business Insider, Nielsen reported in 2017 that hip-hop had overtaken rock music as the most popular genre. Soundcloud provides artists the accessibility and platform to be able to put their music and sound out there. Soundcloud estimates that there are around 20 million music creators on the platform, so it’s definitely a little cramped. Despite the overflow of artists trying to find their way in Hip-hop, the oversaturation of artists is beneficial for the genre and the culture. Freak the Mighty, (Namic, Suskingbrad, Neftali and Karma Beads) are shaping their own genre in Buffalo Nathalie Navarrete, an avid listener of Soundcloud and close friend of local Hip-hop group, Fre...

            Coffee shop music fiddles on as Kevin Spears snaps and taps on the table, unintentionally providing a rhythm to help provide additional insight into the mind of an emerging hip-hop artist and producer. The sound, rhythm and beats surround the young producer, displaying his words like lyrics over a beat. Spears, pictured above, is one of the most prominent artists in the growing culture.             Buffalo has never been a city known for its hip-hop community and Spears is apart of the movement that seeks to change that. The 20 year old Buffalo native, has helped mold the formation of a new hip hop culture in Buffalo. Last week, Spears released Cold Cuts, a wide ranged four song EP that encapsulates this forming culture. When you see “new hip hop culture in Buffalo,” you most likely aren’t sure of what that is. With the help of the internet and Sound...