by Savannah Brown
Picture this: It’s 1973 in the Bronx, New York, and you’re a young teenager at an underground hip-hop party in the early days of the genre. Then, it was more than just music but was not yet a global phenomenon; it was a counterculture, composed of inner-city youth who sought to change the world with the communication they found in music. At these parties, the scene was laid back, but the vibe was all there. Such was the atmosphere at the 10th annual University of Oregon Hip-Hop Jam on November 30th.
The annual UO Hip-Hop Jam honors these parties by emulating the vibe and mission of the early days of the genre. Organized by the “Hip-Hop and Politics of Race” First-Year Interest Group, the UO Hip-Hop Jam is a campus art and hip-hop showcase that takes place at the end of the fall term. Every year, the event aims to keep the hip-hop jam as authentic to the jams of the early days of grassroots hip-hop as possible.
Hip-hop was born in the early 70s Bronx, when low-income youth, who were abandoned and forgotten about by the local government, created a new type of music to cope with their situation. This new music involved taking vinyls that already existed and spinning them in different ways to create an audio collage, a sound unlike anything ever heard. These kids would throw parties (jams) in their neighborhoods, parks, high school auditoriums, or even gyms, where some would show off their skills on the turntables, and the rest would dance to the instrumental breaks. They called the music “hippity hop,” and the dancers were “b-boys” (before a journalist gave them the commercially understandable name of breakdancers). These parties popped up all over low-income New York boroughs until they evolved from a form of escapism to an entire subcultural art movement, which involved communities, rules, and even the growth of graffiti (which would typically happen onsite).
When the doors opened in Global Scholars Hall at 6:30 p.m. on November 30th, the eye was immediately met with rows upon rows of critical and satirical posters made by the FIG students. Some parodied famous images with a topical twist (such as one entitled “False Idols,” a depiction of Michaelanglo’s Last Supper where the biblical figures’ heads were replaced by those of the rich and famous). Meanwhile, others were more general (such as the school’s “O” re-imagined as handcuffs). All of them made a statement, and all of them were pleasing to the eye. A perfect backdrop to the night.
Walking into Room 123 at 7 p.m. for the music, the atmosphere changed almost completely. A sophisticated showcase of art pieces in a well-lit hallway turned into a dark room with purple and blue lighting that made the room feel chill and laid back. Two local graffiti artists were by the door the entire night — working on individual canvases and creating masterpieces under a lamp. Next to both, the music and a table full of hats for sale and stickers for free.
Meanwhile, the room was modestly full, so the turnout was impressive but not so packed that you couldn’t breathe. To Andre Sirois, the current faculty lead of the FIG who has taken the reins of the Jam since its inception, this is perfect. One year, the Jam took place in the EMU ballroom, but according to Sirois, this setting felt too “hi-fi.” “I like it being small,” he said. “I want it to feel like all the old hip-hop jams. If they weren’t in the park they were in auditoriums or gyms in the Bronx.” However, that doesn’t mean that the jam hasn’t grown and evolved immensely over the years.
Sirois explained that the FIG used to just go to local hip-hop shows for their end-of-term event, until the faculty leader at the time, Lauren Kajikawa, and his student assistant, Desmond Harvey, decided to do something greater. Spencer “Spinitch” Smyth of the night’s headliners, The Illaquips, explained to me how the duo “catalyzed this idea to throw a jam that brought together all the elements of hip-hop that were happening on campus and beyond.” They enlisted the help of Sirois, who has been a DJ for more than 25 years to gather his hip-hop connections and, according to him, “break institutional bread with the local artists” to join the event. Yet, that first year, the main audience draw was free pizza, which is no longer offered at the jams (Sirois and Spinitch both reminisced about how people would eat it and leave without watching the show).
The first jam was a lot smaller, but it has grown throughout the years, and now it is the 10th anniversary. “The real vision for this year was securing more funding,” Sirois said, “I really wanted to honor people who have performed here before and people who have grown here performing…a lot of the artists are from the Eugene area.” The performers were local, many originally from Eugene, and most were alumni.
The music that night started when longtime host K.I Design rapped alongside former KWVA DJ/turntablist extraordinaire, Connah Jay (who was also on the tables the whole night). Both are Hip-Hop Jam veterans, having each played their respective roles at the very first jam and almost every one since then. Brimming with confidence and talent, they both knew how to work the crowd, control the room, and get them amped up for the rest of the night.
Like clockwork, and without so much as a break between the two acts, Portland rapper Calvin Valentine took the stage as the official opener. He was a rapper whose songs featured mostly comical subject matter. Many were about smoking weed, one was about seeing a bear in the forest, and one had the preceding anecdote: “I have a friend named Dane. He wears a backpack. This song is called “Dane’s Backpack.” However, it was his production that stood out. His self-produced beats were so clean that looking him up I was not surprised to see that he has worked with some very popular artists, including Boy in Jeanz, De La Soul, and Nas. He was pretty friendly as well. When I asked him if he wanted a quote for the article, he cited his motto “Driving Sober Saves Lives.”
After Calvin Valentine, the audience parted into a half-circle to watch Flock Rock, one of UO’s hip-hop dance clubs. Because of Andre’s goal of honoring Hip-Hop Jam veterans, this includes many of the breakdancers that were showcased throughout the night. Flock Rock’s members each had an individual dance number, with one person in the middle of the circle while the crowd hyped them up, interweaving the next person into the routine before giving them their time to shine. However, the star of their set was Andre’s six-year-old son, who hopped into the middle and broke it down while the crowd erupted.
As someone who does not listen to much hip-hop, I was continually surprised throughout the night by all of the different ways that the genre can be expressed, both musically and within the counterculture. The graffiti art was beautiful, the dancing was stylish, and the music had many diverse forms.
Rose Tinted performed after Flock Rock. They are an instrumental hip-hop band with a bass, drum, and turntablist. The crowd loved them and cheered loudly as they riffed over and mixed up samples of famous hip-hop songs and artists, such as J Dilla, Busta Rhymes, MF Doom, and many more.
Bathelete was next. A hip-hop duo from Portland, they exhibited style and flow and used audience interaction as their weapon of choice. The stage was too small and not personal enough for the two, so they took the floor with the audience to perform. While the crowd parted like the Red Sea, Bathelete encouraged everyone to move in close, because even though they were the performers, this was a party. At Bathelete’s insistence, everyone got in close and jumped hard enough to rattle the floor as the duo performed. When they hopped back up on the stage, they led the audience in chants, dancing, and a sea of phone flashlights to establish that everyone is a part of this, and they must all be involved. They did an amazing job of riling up the audience and getting everyone hyped up for the rest of the night,
Duck Street Dance Club, the second UO hip-hop club of the night, performed next. They can be found performing all around campus and in the community, but they’ve been showing up at the UO Hip-Hop Jam for years. Ava Chand, one of the group presidents, said, “The dance element is just as important as the music and is a way for the audience to feel like they are a part of the experience.” And she is totally right. Unlike Flock Rock, Duck Street is a huge group with synchronized choreography. According to Chand, “Hours of choreographing, collaborating, and rehearsing went into the preparation for this piece” and it absolutely showed. Their set featured many different styles of hip-hop choreography with unexplainable chemistry and amazingly high energy. They moved together flawlessly, and since the crowd was finally hyped up, they went wild with engagement and very deserving awe at the performers.
Finally, the headliners hopped on stage. The Illaquips are a hip-hop trio that formed in college over 10 years ago. They were both in the FIG and performed at the first hip-hop jam. They would become best friends who would play at house shows and other venues in Eugene back in the day. Spinitch himself is a former KWVA DJ and the group would all appear on his show. before eventually graduating and beginning hip-hop careers of their own.
The hip-hop jam was a really special night for them. Even though they have all remained in contact and some have even collaborated on some projects — this was their first time performing all together in over five years. However, their chemistry was palpable. They were sleek and sexy, and they threw their verses to one another with ease as they moved and danced together effortlessly. When I asked Wynne--who has blown up the most out of the three with over 100k followers on Spotify--about the amount of preparation it took to achieve this flawless performance after spending so much time apart, she said. “We practiced one time. Last night. We immediately picked it up. It was like riding a bike.”
As their set was at the end of the night, the crowd shrank mostly to the performers and FIG members, which was utterly a bummer because it was so much fun to watch and they deserved so much more attention. However, they performed as though it was an arena. The highlight of the night was when they performed Pete Rock’s “They Reminisce Over You,” a staple of their original set. The energy in the room was other-worldly. It was so much fun to bounce around with the small amount of people left who were screaming along to the lyrics, while the performers gave it their all. The whole experience was clearly cathartic for them, as in the freestyle, Spencer “Spinitch” Smyth rapped about the first Hip-Hop Jam ever and how much it has grown since then.
I asked Wynne why she came back to performing at Global Scholars Hall while she was getting popular and gaining a following. She said of the Jam and the Illaquips that “they taught me everything I know about performing and crowd engagement. These are my roots, and it’s important to show up.”
Something that was continually mentioned throughout the night, and by every single person I interviewed, was that events at UO do not last for as long as 10 years. Usually, they die out when students graduate, or they get replaced by corporate-sponsored events. However, the dedication to the music has kept this tradition alive and growing, and everyone is so proud of it.
The Hip-Hop Jam ended with a group photo of everyone who had made it to the end — mostly because the majority left were the ones who worked at making it happen. This showcase was a love letter to the UO hip-hop artists and jams of years past, the ones who put it on in the first place, and the ones who are growing up right now. This year’s hip-hop jam was a testament to the beauty of the art and where it came from. “It’s just a beautiful event through and through,'' said Spinitch. “It is an emblem of what young students and artists are capable of, and unites the hip-hop community.”
As my friends and I left Global Scholars Hall, we ran into Connah Jay, the turntablist and secret weapon of the show. I went to ask him some questions, but we immediately got sidetracked by his comical story about getting fired from KWVA as a DJ years ago (which he expressly gave me permission to include here). He said it was winter and his slot was late at night, but he called out because “it snowed and my friends wanted to drop acid and run around…it was awesome.” As a punishment, he had to go in on Christmas until about 6 am, but then his friends decided to show up to the studio (with some illegal substances) and make a party out of it. When the morning DJ didn’t show up to take the next shift, the gang threw on a Christmas album and left the radio station locked and unattended. “I deserved to get fired,” Connah said. “…No hard feelings!”
When we got back on track about the Hip-Hop Jam, Connah talked about having performed at the show for all but one year. He has seen a lot of acts come and go, and a lot of student bodies cycle through the audience. Connah said that while the jam has gone through a lot of changes over the years, “the spirit stays the same.”
The event is always during Week 10 of the Fall term. It’s completely free, for all ages, and open to the entire community. Absolutely go see the show next fall term, it is totally worth it.