Memphis hip hop is evolving in a good way.

When you think of the Bluff City, you think BBQ, Blues, Hustle and Flow, Memphis Beat ( horrible representation! ), Three Six Mafia and Juicy J. Memphis hip hop has traditionally been known to have a Southern Gangsta Rap theme to it, which does the job on a hot summer day down here. However, there is new face of Memphis coming forth. You can tell by the way our community is coming together. The youth is coming out with innovations and ideas. People are changing their habits. We are exercising and using green lines and doing hot yoga. Like normal cities do. More diverse music and shows and art are popping up all around. And hip hop is becoming more experimental and artistic. Positive messages are being enforced into music which is a new thing for us.

Here is a young lad that I had the pleasure of seeing live at the Grammy GPS concert at the Hi-tone a few months back. Gavin "Cities Aviv" is gaining attention in the underground hip hop community as well as the indie labels. He even had a positive review on Pitchfork, which is to say a lot. He was excellent live, and had every dirty hipster up in there bobbin' their heads. Check out his music here or in my earlier post.

Another young artist worth a listen is local hip hop artist Skewby. He is only 21 and has already accomplished artistic feats such as opening for the Lil' Wayne Farewell Tour and being dubbed as the "New Memphis" and a reviver of "real hip hop" in the words of blog Ill Roots. Here is a music video that pays an homage to Memphis and it's hip hop community. Represent!