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Monday, March 22, 2010
News / Videos Video: Crown Royalty: The History of Charlotte Hip-Hop
Posted By Mike McCray on Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 11:38 AM
Crown Royalty: The History of Charlotte Hip-Hop is a fascinating look at the people who helped mold Charlotte’s hip-hop scene on the street level, written, directed and produced by Johnson C. Smith alum, Mehka.
The documentary clocks in a little over 30 minutes and uncovers gems about the scene like the late Nate Quick's hand in keeping it going, cool little stories like Diggy Die mapping out Liquor House Records while sitting in the old satellite jail on N. Tryon Street and the interviewees reminisce fondly on the iconic venues that were the center of the scene.
One of the dopest things for me was the story of Dirty 130, a group I remember loving in 9th grade, whose hit song locally, I've literally spent hours of down time trying to find and add to my music library.
Saying the film was gritty would be putting it lightly. It was rough around the edges and could have used a soundtrack, some lavalier mics and a light kit or two but the content was priceless in terms of understanding where the local music scene started. (I went to school for broadcast so I'm hard on that stuff).
The tone of the film really echoed the most common gripes with the local hip-hop scene with the central characters all sharing the age-old Charlotte music scene complaints of radio support and the lack of artist unity. Worth checking out for anyone who's even a casual observer of hip-hop in the Queen City, whether you know the artists or not.
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