Breathing life back into Buffalo hip-hop takes more than just a weekly assembly of microphones and turntables. Over the past five years, UB graduate Josh Brown has taken the necessary steps.
Baby Steps, actually.
This Friday night, local hip-hop showcase Baby Steps, will be celebrating its fifth anniversary at Broadway Joe's.
Almost single-handedly, the usual suspects from the Baby Steps crew- DJ LoPro, DJ Rich the Snitch, the DFC B-Boys, Loki da Trixsta, Ketchup Samurai and Emcee Sic - have revitalized the city's once desolate hip-hop scene in the group's five years of existence.
Leading the charge has been Josh Brown, also known as Emcee Sic. Brown has been the pivotal driving force behind a burgeoning hip-hop scene here in Buffalo.
"My number one priority is the absence of ego," said Brown. "People need to look at what is good generally, aside from themselves."
For those who are unfamiliar, Baby Steps is not merely a collective of wannabes with microphones and turntables. Instead, they are a group of talented and promising DJs, emcees, producers, b-boys, event coordinators, graphic artists and engineers.
Locally, they maintain a definitive control of their art form, working cooperatively to push hip-hop into new positive directions both here in Buffalo and elsewhere.
"There has to be a way for people to reach out and campaign together. All I can hope for is that we do events on a larger scale, and so do others," he said.
Through the live Baby Steps showcases, and his work with local artists like DJ LoPro, 3rd Son, Ketchup Samurai and countless others within the local hip-hop community, Brown has taken his talent, ambition and hard work and turned it into a successful enterprise.
Returning back to where it all began, the Baby Steps crew is more than happy at the opportunity to bring the celebration back to Broadway Joe's. This will not just be an ordinary, run-of-the-mill performance. On the contrary, the list of performers is enormous, with an extensive sound system in place and a plethora of treats for patrons lined up.
There will be free food, several prize giveaways, champagne and even a special mystery guest.
What happens at Baby Steps is a hip-hop spectacle. Talented DJs man the tables all night while lyrically gifted emcees spill positively laced rhymes into the audience.
There's no black or white with the group, just pure hip-hop from the ground-up.
Brown's vision of taking Baby Steps to a larger audience has become more of a reality.
"I'm trying to make this visible, to expand from Buffalo and rejuvenate the emotion," said Brown. "What we need is a little bit of unconditional love."
Now reaching places as far as San Francisco, New York City and Boston, Baby Steps has become a force to be reckoned with, expanding from Buffalo to turn a once distant dream into a reality.
Working in the studio while taking the show on the road to hubs such as Albany, Cleveland and Ontario, the Baby Steps crew has positioned themselves to make a dramatic impact on the regional and national scene.
"I've had a lot more time to focus. I've been playing the field, so to speak, to get out of the repetition," said Brown. "We didn't want to play ourselves out."
They have been, "going back to lab to keep things fresh," according to Brown.
The group's show at Broadway Joe's Friday night starts at 9:30 p.m. and is expected to continue through the early morning. Tickets cost $7 and can be purchased at the door. The show is 21 and over.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
