Found this gem of a VHS tape in the archives at my moms house this summer and finally got it converted to DVD and then to a file and then to the Youtubes. This takes a long time for old guys like me, so I am just getting it up now. What a wealth of history there is here.
I was lucky to have met Andre Walker back in 1993 or so. He was in Austin and I was in Houston and we connected over a love for underground music and a will to make a connection between the two cities. At the time he had just taken over the duty of booking hip-hop for SXSW from Kier Worthy. Back then there was only one showcase or so per year. In 1995 there were two (wish I had those videos too!).
Andre Walker Magic Video Interview
Andre let me help select the groups for this, and I also hosted the entire night. Thank God there's no footage of that. The 22 year old me yelling curse words in an Odd Squad shirt and such, with an even more awkward "accent" than I have now.
Anyway those were the daze. Peep the videos below. Mad Flava were a real ray of hope for us back in those days. Blac Monks represented a whole new breed of Houston street music, Sociopath Left showed me how many directions hip-hop could really go, as did Sockeye in a sense as well. Heads & Dreads blew my mind consistently. Poetic Souls and their crew Da Psyko Ward helped form my love for REAL lyrics, etc. Dank and them showed me that there was more to Austin than just 6th street and great breakfast places. Word to DJ Cassanova.
There were more acts on the showcase, but I need to upload them and that process, well, it's a bit much for an impatient old man.
Also for those who were wondering, I no longer work for SXSW. That ended in March of this year pretty much. So please stop asking me about it, and tell a friend, to tell a friend, to stop asking me about it. The new company is PUSHERMANIA and there's a lot in the works. Anyway, that's all I have to say about that. Enjoy your trip back to 1994. The Gravediggaz headlined this show but they said they didn't want anyone to record their set, and whoever recorded this, listened to them. OH WELL! This whole series means a lot to me. Enjoy.
Blac Monks (Houston, TX)
Blac Monks Magic Video Interview
Mad Flava (Dallas, TX)
Mad Flava Magic Video Interview
Sociopath Left (Austin, TX)
Poetic Souls (Houston, TX)
Heads & Dreads (Dallas, TX)
Sockeye (Austin, TX)
Sockeye Magic Video Interview
Ms. Dank (Austin, TX)
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