What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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MAY 16-22, 2021 WHAT'S UP! 5 FAQ Groundwaves(AR) WHEN — First open mic 6 p.m. May 18; open mics will continue June 15, July 13, Aug. 17, Sept. 14 and Oct. 19, with mentorship spots available the day after WHERE — 214 S. Main St. in Springdale COST — Free to performers and audience INFO — facebook.com/ cachecreate, themusic district.org/groundwaves, mursraps.com FYI — Sign-ups are in person only and begin at 5 p.m. the day of the open mic each week. Laying The Groundwork JOCELYN MURPHY NWA Democrat-Gazette H ow do hip hop artists in Northwest Arkansas begin to make a name for themselves? Who is already working the scene here? Is there even a place in the culture for a new artist? CACHE (Creative Arkansas Community Hub & Exchange) and West Coast hip hop artist and rapper Murs are hoping to answer these questions while establishing the infrastructure needed for hip hop artists to flourish here. Enter Groundwaves — a monthly community hip hop open mic and mentorship series birthed at The Music District in Fort Collins, Colo., and now expanding for the first time to Springdale. During the six-month program, Murs will arrive in Springdale on the third Tuesday of each month beginning May 18 to preside over an open mic event, which is free and open to the public. He and the rest of the audience will give performers feedback in real time, and the following day, those artists can schedule one-on-one meetings with Murs for the mentorship side of the series. It's a format Murs proposed as a way to get more young people involved in the art, while strengthening the talent and the community. "Kids feel as if putting music on Soundcloud or a streaming site makes them a musician or makes them a rapper, and in my era, there was a lot more to it," Murs explains. Though he admits he's never had a Platinum record, Murs got his start selling his albums out of a backpack in cities across Europe. He cut his teeth in the industry learning how to win over rooms full of people who didn't even speak the same language. Gaining fans through a reputation for putting on one of the best live performances in rap, Murs has now worked with some of the biggest names over hip hop's last three decades and has the career demonstrative of his teachings for these burgeoning artists. "Now, a lot of younger rappers are just performing over their vocals, and that's something that's not allowed at Groundwaves — no hate speech, and no performing over your own vocals," he says. "That's how I grew up, and I think it's essential that people hear you and feel you. That's the beauty of punk rock and screamo; it's not technically sound or hitting the right notes, but you feel it. I think hip hop had that Program aims to foster hip hop in NWA From May to October, Groundwaves(AR) will give hip hop and rap artists in Northwest Arkansas the stage and the opinionated audience needed to improve their craft. The third Tuesday of every month will be an open mic, like this one from the program's first iteration in Fort Collins, Colo. The following day, artists can sign up for one-on-one mentorship sessions with artist Murs to discuss artistic development, the business of music and more. By the end of the season, there is sure to be some friendly competition and collaboration between the Arkansas and Colorado programs. (Courtesy Photo/Kind Dub, LLC) SPRINGDALE See Groundwaves Page 37