Stars of the vibrant Granite City hip-hop scene are set for a live collaboration with jazz musicians at Aberdeen Jazz Festival.
As part of rap, hip-hop and drill platform HOURS ABDN the groundbreaking ‘Rhyme Lounge’ event will be hosted at The Blue Lamp on Saturday, March 16 (10.30pm)
Highly acclaimed MC’s Gidd Gammz, Rabspitz and Mello Joe will perform improvised sets alongside a live jazz band.
Influential Aberdeen musicians Simon Gall (bass), Richard Glassby (drums) and Scott Cruickshank (guitar) will provide the grooves.
Founded in 2021 by Aberdeen rapper Jackill (Jack Hughes) and producer Vagrant Real Estate (aka Nick Cronin) HOURS ABDN has been a main catalyst for the recent rise of the Granite City hip-hop scene.
Now they will further push the boundaries with an exciting mash up with jazz.
Jack said: “It will be improvisation with the rappers jamming with the band.
“It will be quite loose and will take hip-hop back to its roots in jazz.
“One of the big influences on hip-hop was jazz and blues, it’s where it all came from.
“The rappers will be able to direct the band a little and change things like beats per minute, but everything else will be loose.
“It is in partnership with the Aberdeen Jazz Festival.
“We did one with them last year that went very well.
“This time we have three MC’s, three musicians in a live band and a DJ at the end.”
‘Cross collaboration is very important’
Jack, under the moniker Jackill, is an influential rapper and released album A Day With The Jackill to acclaim in 2019.
Track War Bells was released by Jackill in January this year.
HOURS ABDN was founded to give a platform to local talent and also foster the development of collaborations between Aberdeen hip-hop artists and musicians in other genres.
Jack sad: “The musicians that are playing are all veterans of the Aberdeen jazz scene.
“Cross collaboration is very important as people that are coming along for the jazz will be opened up to a rich hip-hop environment.
“And people coming for the hip-hop will be exposed to jazz musicians.
“Aberdeen Jazz Festival is really important.
“It provides a platform for young people to get involved in jazz which is great to see.”
Open mic session for rising talent
One of the MC’s confirmed is Gidd Gamz, a legend of the Aberdeen hip-hop scene who released the superb Mind Over Manor EP.
There will also be an open mic opportunity later in the night to give a voice to rising hip-hop talent.
Jack said: “Kid ProQuo will do a DJ set at the end of the night which will be open to MC’s to come up and do a freestyle cypher.
“That will be an open mic part after the main acts have been on.
“It will be a relaxed environment for them to get on the mic and do their thing.”
The rise of Aberdeen’s hip-hop scene
Last year HOURS ABDN entered into a partnership with Aberdeen Performing Arts (APA) to deliver a series of events showcase the city’s next generation of hip=hop, rap and drill.
Their recent event was at The Lemon Tree in February with Queen of Harps, Fer4z, Sherlock and Sweet Rogue performing.
Jack said: “We have been working positively towards filling the gap that has been missing from the Aberdeen music scene.
“More people are getting involved which is great to see.
“In the last few gigs we put on at The Lemon Tree we put on on an open mic slot.
“It was fantastic to see a lot of new faces we had not seen before who wanted to come and perform.
“Also people attending to see the music.
“In our last event in February I had never seen any of the first 30 folk through the door before.
“They were all new faces keen to be involved in the music scene.
“Focus has always been on Glasgow as a hub for hip-hop in Scotland.
“However there are more and more Glasgow rappers coming up here as they think what we are doing is amazing.
“It is great to see that growth in Aberdeen.”
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