For the cheapskates out there, Sterby Rock has released the 401hiphop.com mixtape on the internet for free (DL HERE) you can thank him yourself

Friday December 18th @ The FireHouse XIII 41 Central Street Providence, RI 02907
Doors Open @ 9pm | $7 Cover | All Ages

Featuring Performances by: A Disturbing New Trend
40 Dash, Big Rush, and Nuke Youth
Music by DJ Sterby Rock
Hosted by Rock Solid

Open Mic.
Show up early to Sign Up! Each Emcee (or group) gets one beat (max 4 mins).
You can bring your original beats on CD. First Come First Serve Basis.

1 vs 1 Emcee Battle.
Marshall Law defends his 401 Battle Championship Title.
Round One is one minute. Round Two is 30 Seconds. Crowd picks the winner

Live Podcast Recording.
We record the whole show (audio) and turn it into the Official Elevation Podcast
It is featured on 401hiphop.com, iTunes, and the Zune Marketplace.

Late Night Cypher. (Midnight till 1am)
Come for the Open Mic. Stay for the Cypher. It’s a more free flowing emcee session.
Freestyling in encouraged but not mandatory. The Cypher happens over all origin beats from the …

Producer Showcase.
Come check out the hottest producers in the area rocking out live on the MPC.

B-Boy Friendly. Graffiti Art Gallery.

To me, Rhode Island is synonymous with mixtapes. Having come up in Rhody in the 90’s, I was inspired by legendary local mixtape DJ’s like Curty Cut, Fred Da Great, DJ Finesse, Mike Nice, DJ Buck, and Davey D (just to name my favorites). That’s a lot of talent for such a small state. Well, now you can add DJ Sterbyrock to the RI mixtape legacy. With “The Prestige Vol.1 (Rhode Island Hip-Hop Mixtape)”, Sterby has created an instant classic.

In this mix, the sound specific to Rhody’s indie hip-hop scene has been perfectly captured and presented for us all to listen to in a seamless mix full of that raw sh*t. There’s no attempts at corny radio hits here, it’s all stripped down like chicks at the Cadillac Lounge. Most of the beats sound like they’re straight off the sampler–no tracking–and there’s a dominating air of purity from start to finish; dudes made this music because they have to, not just because they can.

The beats range from jazz to rock to spaced-out funk; some choppy, some loops, and yet Sterby is able to make these songs sound like they were meant to be together. Using sharp scratching, some DJ tricks, and blending, the mix unfolds exactly how it should, with all the peaks and valleys that a great mixtape must have. For those of us that see music in linear code, this one’s got perfect structure. And did I say there’s actual DJing on here? Yes, but i had to say it again: this kid has made a MIXtape!

It’s exciting to listen to a project like “The Prestige Vol.1″, where the DJ really has a grasp and understanding of some sh*t that most of us couldn’t hear otherwise. Rarely has a scene been captured so well. This mix clocks in at an hour and three minutes, which is about how long it takes to drive from one end of Rhode Island to the other. So get you damn hands on this one and take that ride through the 4-0-1, khed. Print it.

–by DJ Mekalek

Here is the November edition of the highly anticipated podcast from the monthly open mic called Elevation. This month’s Elevation was also the record release party for Jahpan and his new album “An Album Called Life”. Jah came thru with Pistol Pone, Troop Raw, and Lord Willin and burned the stage down. You can check out his whole set and see why they call him the Prince of Providence.

Marshall Law returned to defend his emcee battle championship against a worthy competitor in Flawless (Realtalk). Can Marshall stay undefeated or will the young Flawless unseat the champ? Tune in and find out!

The open mic was stacked with talented local emcees: Pulugah the Phenom, Jauz the Everliving King, Limits of Control, Russian Roulette, Danny Def Star, Scribblenauts, K.I.T., Classic, Raise, Diamond, Wor Paint, Prov, ABC, and Ready Inc. After the open mic, Vendetta and Big City Bumpas rocked 15 mins set. It’s all her for your listening pleasure.

Get the podcast:
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast in iTunes
[Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast in The Zune Marketplace
[RSS] Add the Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly

Music by: Sterby Rock
Hosted by: Rock Solid
Recorded & Edited by: William Javier

Sponsored by:

DJ Sterby Rock of WRIU 90.3 (Tune in every Wednesday 3pm to 6pm) is putting together a 401 Hip Hop Mix CD. It will feature all local artists and will be for sale at Elevation, on this site, and where ever you can find Sterby Rock (just hang out at any bar and eventually he will show up .

If you want to appear on the CD please send ONE track. (Your hottest track. Your Banger. Your “A side”.) Also please include the instrumental in case Sterby wants to blend and mix it in. You can also include a drop as well. Send all music to sterbyrock@gmail.com. Let’s Make It Happen.

Friday November 13th @ The FireHouse XIII 41 Central Street Providence, RI 02907
Doors Open @ 9pm | $7 Cover | All Ages

Featuring Jah Pan (Record Release Party for “An Album Called Life”)
Music by DJ Sterby Rock
Hosted by Rock Solid

Open Mic.
Show up early to Sign Up! Each Emcee (or group) gets one beat (max 4 mins).
You can bring your original beats on CD. First Come First Serve Basis.

1 vs 1 Emcee Battle. Marshall Law vs Flawless!!!
Marshall Law defends his 401 Battle Championship Title.
Round One is one minute. Round Two is 30 Seconds. Crowd picks the winner

Live Podcast Recording.
We record the whole show (audio) and turn it into the Official Elevation Podcast
It is featured on 401hiphop.com, iTunes, and the Zune Marketplace.

Late Night Cypher. (Midnight till 1am)
Come for the Open Mic. Stay for the Cypher. It’s a more free flowing emcee session.
Freestyling in encouraged but not mandatory. The Cypher happens over all origin beats from the …

Producer Showcase.
Come check out the hottest producers in the area rocking out live on the MPC.

B-Boy Friendly. Graffiti Art Gallery.

Sponsors:

Norm’s New Generation Barber Shop
168 Smithfield Ave. Pawtucket, RI -

Elevation is a monthly Open Mic / Hip Hop Showcase. Its also a monthly Podcast. We are proud to debut the first official Elevation Podcast. William Javier recorded the open mic, emcee battles, our features performers, and the cypher. He edited it down to one hour and nineteen minutes of pure Rhode Island hip hop audio goodness.

The Elevation podcast is hosted by Rock Solid. The beats are provided by Sterby Rock and William Javier (except when emcee brought their their own beats). The show features performances by: Rock Solid, Romen Rok, Wor Paint, HW, Vendetta, Boudy, Mic Feen, Big City Bumpus, Reason, Dirty Hank, Marshall Law, Science, Casper and CasUno.

Live hip-hop and an audience of smiling faces are rarely seen together nowadays, especially here in Rhode Island. That said; I can’t recall the last time a featured artist kicked off an evening wearing sun-tanning goggles. Romen Rok did exactly that while onstage at Friday night’s Elevation and set the tone for what went on to be an enjoyable, successful open mic night at Firehouse XIII.

Thanks to Rock Solid, who did a fine job of hosting as well as blessing the mic, and Sterby Rock performing scratchutory rape on the tables, the night continued on – and finished – without a moment of silence. Courtesy of some newer names (at least to myself), including Boudy, Wor Paint and Vendetta, and a few of the more recognizable rhyme-slingers, HW, Big City and Mic Feen, the open mic was nicely kept in balance and did a fine job of showcasing the aptitude of our locals.

After a solid head-nodding set from Dirty Hank & Reason (PDP) that even had the three or four skirts in the building shaking their shit, Marshall Law went on to defend his 401 Hip-Hop championship battle title against open mic participant Tec. In short, Marshall seems to be building a rigid reputation for slaughtering all who oppose. However, due to RI’s practically non-existent battle circuit, I’m not sure exactly how much weight that statement holds. (Hopefully those last couple sentences are enough to instigate some future competition…and fire up Marshall for the rounds to come.) Regardless, I know when respect is due, and the kid is definitely an animal when it comes to battling.

The night wound down to a Big City, Cas Uno, Wor Paint, Boudy, Dirty Hank, and Reason (along with a couple others) rhyme-cipher spit over a number of instrumentals spun by Sterby and some live MPC programming from William Javier. Aside from a mere dose of freestyle biting (1:44-1:50) that made me cringe, the cipher, along with the other three hours of Elevation, was dope.

When I initially spoke with Mortal about Elevation, he described his ambitions of having this event act as an ongoing quasi-workshop for emcees, producers, and other local talent. Truly, it’s a great idea. Elevation offers artist’s the chance to meet new people, build, and, essentially, better their chance of being noticed in such an over-saturated genre of music. In a broader scope, Elevation is also an opportunity to end the obviously segregated Rhode Island hip-hop landscape. This is the rebirth of Unity, Rhode Island, and there’s the potential for our scene to receive some well-deserved recognition. So pay attention, spread the good word, and bring your Jason mask out to the next Elevation at Firehouse XIII on November, Friday the 13th.

You can check out the pictures from October’s Elevation below …

The creative minds that brought you UNITY and the golden age of Round Midnight, want to introduce to you the next chapter in the Rhode Island Hip Hop Scene: Elevation, The Return of the Open Mic.

401HipHop.com Presents …
Elevation – The Return of the Open Mic

Friday October 2nd
@ The FireHouse XIII. 41 Central Street Providence, RI 02907
Doors Open @ 9pm | $7 Cover | All Ages

Featuring performance by Swann Notty
Music by DJ Sterby Rock [90.3 WRIU]
Hosted by Rock Solid [Family First]

Open Mic. Show up early to sign up.
Live Recording of the Open Mic for the 401HipHop.com Podcast.
1 vs 1 Emcee Battle. Marshall Law will defend his 401 Emcee Battle Champion title!
Producer Showcase. B-Boy Friendly. Graffiti Art Gallery.

Doors @ 9pm | $7 | All Ages | Firehouse 13, 41 central st, Providence, RI | Performances by: Poorly Drawn People, Axe Butane, Metermaids, RADIx, Los Wunder Twins Del Rap | Hosted by: Esh & Casuno | Music by: DJ SterbyRock