Nashville Scene: Meant for the Milk Crate Critics’ Pick
Published in Upcoming Shows.
One thing Nashville’s music scene needs to work on is being as inclusive and supportive of its hip-hop artists as it is of its singer-songwriters and rock bands. There’s a ton of top-shelf rap going on, but much of it happens in house-show cyphers you won’t hear about unless you know a guy who knows a guy. Besides being an outstanding MC duo, AL-D and E.T. do their damnedest to make local hip-hop easier for the casual fan to find — through the Fringe Radio Show, for which they alternate hosting duties each Monday night on Radio Free Nashville, as well as their quarterly Meant for the Milk Crate showcases. You may not know locals Foundation, BeHoward and K-DA, or Kentucky rapper Allen Poe (all of whom play Friday’s show alongside a four-deck turntable blitz featuring MFTMC regular DJ Vamp and The Boom Bap’s DJ Bowls), but their recent releases are all very much worth your time. Check out previews of each in an archive of the Aug. 15 Fringe Radio Show broadcast. As always, there’ll be an open-mic cypher to shut the night down, but save up some hype for Saturday night, too: At Charlie Bob’s, Spitball Productions puts on its first hip-hop show with a stout lineup featuring full sets from S-Wrap, Ra Noise, Trane Spitta and AL-D himself. —STEPHEN TRAGESER