A new wave of music recently hit Starkville, starting a stir among hip-hop fans in the local area. Experienced mostly in large cities and on the underground, rap battles have made their way to The International Bistro and State Theatre. For four weeks now The Bistro has hosted rap battles on Thursday nights to an ever-increasing crowd of devoted hip-hop fans.
“It’s a welcome change in the bar scene in Starkville,” Dylan Rufe, a DJ at The Bistro, said. “We’ve had the freestylin’ going on for about four weeks now and it’s getting better every week.”
Dylan Rufe and Jabari Kosu, another DJ at The Bistro, are excited about the prospects that this new type of atmosphere can bring to students and locals in Starkville. There have been very few rap acts that have come in town and this offers people who are interested in hip-hop music opportunities to experience it on a regular basis.
“Starkville doesn’t have an outlet for hip-hop music,” Rufe said. “That’s what we’re trying to do here at the Bistro.”
“It’s pure, unadulterated hip-hop created by your peers,” Kosu said. “It’s interesting to see how creative you can be with sound and music.”
As far as the music and sounds they produce, Rufe and Kosu pull from every genre to keep the music as appealing and provocative as possible. Their many influences and styles of music can best be heard in their spin sessions before the freestyle contest begins.
“I usually play early rap to a newer hip-hop blend of music and my favorite which is West Coast hip-hop,” Rufe said. “I also try to mix in a lot of Dirty South because people respond to it well, especially down here.”
“A lot of DJs just get the Top 10 off the radio and spin CDs,” Kosu said. “But here it’s like a show, and I pull from all the old music I’ve been listening to over time.”
The music Kosu spins comes from his unique sounds that he produces himself and his many musical influences spanning from the 1920s until now. He’s been DJ-ing for about six years and produces mostly all the music he uses in his shows.
“I started out with hip-hop, then I started listening to old rock, jazz and soul music. I listen to everything from Al Green, Lou Rawls and James Brown to ’93-era hip-hop like early Nas and Dr. Dre,” Kosu said. “I consider myself a hip-hop artist because hip-hop includes all the genres. rock ‘n’ roll can only go so far and still be considered rock ‘n’ roll. Hip-hop can be anything–rock, classical; it gives you lots of freedom.”
Even with Kosu and Rufe spinning their unique blend of hip-hop music and the freestyle contests giving opportunities for anyone to show off their skills, MC Alonzo Borto worries that, with this being the first time a rap battle show like The Bistro’s has been in Starkville, people haven’t given it a chance and fully realized the potential this type of show could have on the music scene in Starkville.
“It’s kind of hard with our situation-digging from the root up,” Borto said. “People think ‘Rap battles and rap shows at The Bistro?’ It sounds like a good idea, but it’s going to take a while for people to build up an appetite for it. And you don’t normally see things like this very much-MCs that take the music seriously. I think it will take just one big show to get people to really get interested in it.”
Borto has faith in the gifted rappers who wouldn’t ordinarily get up on stage and show off their skills to a crowd, to come out have the opportunity to win a monetary prize.
“A lot of people freestyle on campus and everyday around Starkville, and to have the opportunity to win at least $50-what’s not to lose,” Borto said.
The rap contests have a visceral atmosphere that makes the audience feel they are on the streets listening to hip-hop the way it’s supposed to be experienced-raw and uninhibited. For true hip-hop connoisseurs or for those curious of what a real rap battle is like, The Bistro offers the best experience of a diverse kind of entertainment that is difficult not to get excited about.
The rap contests take place every Thursday night, with Kosu and Rufe spinning their music around 9:30 p.m. and following with the freestyle battles hosted by Borto, or “Zo” as his friends call him. Nov. 4 will be an exceptional night with the inclusion of an “I Voted” party that Thursday night. For more information, call the International Bistro and State Theater at 323-2591.