Review: SXSW 2016 Sentiments

As SXSW 2016 fades into the distance and the hype’s died down, it’s time to recap all the madness. Returning to ATX for my third year with a plane full of Angeleno based musicians lugging all sorts of instruments in tow, the aim always remained to have a diff experience than the year before. SXSW provides any type of week on the turnt meter you’d want to have and the target “turnt” level was towards the lower end of the spectrum i.e. I’d see as much as I could, sing, dance and remember what happened each night without sunglasses and Aleve the next morning. Intent on participating in more daytime activities this time around, I was about that “badge life” which provided access to all conference panels, day stages and a pretty dope press room.

The “Organized Noize: Tales from the ATL” panel kicked SXSW off and featured “The Art of Organized Noize” documentary (now available on Netflix) producer Joshua Krause, Ray Murray and Sleepy Brown members from ONP and LaFace label promotions director Shanti Das. Dungeon production memories were abundantly shared from the crew responsible for some of the biggest 90’s songs we love (TLC, Goodie Mob, Outkast), with Shanti giving some insight into the city radio markets at the time. Switching gears, I headed to “Representation of Women in Media” panel moderated by She Shreds Magazine founder Fabi Reyna and featured Stem Artist in residence Kiran Gandhi, former Sonic Youth manager Michelle Fleschii, Mic Editor Tom Barnes and Speedy Ortiz guitarist Sadie Duplais, with themes of misogyny and identity in the artist interview context explored. I next moved over to “Rewriting Hip-Hop History” panel facilitated by Rhymesayers’ Kevin Beacham which addressed hip-hop culture in the academic setting and in the media featured Cornell hip-hop archivistBen Ortiz, Cue founder Jonathan Schecter, scholar Maco Faniel and journalist Dan Charnas who confirmed “The Breaks” is coming back to VH-1 as a series.

Thursday started with “A Conversation with Dion: Rock’s Enduring Voice” featuring Bronx natives Dion Dimucci and The Orchard CCO Richard Gottehrer (who as a Bronx girl myself, I had to support). Anecdotes were shared including Dion’s memories of touring with Big Bopper, Richie Valens and Buddy Holly, with Dion choosing not to board that ill-fated flight that claimed those greats. Dion grabbed a guitar and expertly played some blues songs and told stories behind his classic hits and his funny experience working with intimidating producer Phil Spector. Next I headed to the “Can’t Tell Me Nothing: Independent Hip-Hop” panel comprised of De La Soul manager Brandon Hixon ( who discussed De La’s Kickstarter and share of their entire discography), Run The Jewels manager Amaechi Ugoizwe (who offered some advice on how to make it, starting with good music). Fader Editor Naomi Zeitner and facilitator Kickstarter Music Outreach lead Haley Rosenbaum also were featured, with Naomi chiming in on what catches her eye for lead stories and Haley provided some tips on what makes a successful Kickstarter campaign that gets promoted.

Friday began on a chiller tip with the “I Wrote That Song” panel moderated by Hits Magazine President Karen Glauber and included Dan Wilson, Matthew Caws, Holly Munoz, Fran Healy, Z Berg and Alex Greenwald. As a few panelists went “in the round” performing meaningful songs to which the entire room sang along as a campfire/beach bonfire vibe emanated. Dan Wilson’s touching and amusing story behind Semisonic’s “Closing Time” was a highlight. On deck next, I attended Ann Powers’ discussion with Angelique Kidjo, who lit up the room. Quick-witted, inquisitive and hilarious, she discussed her early life in Benin, dangerous escape to Paris and recording experience. A dynamic woman, I luckily got a chance to tell her so.

Walking over to Sway’s interview with T-Pain yielded another unexpected comedic experience. Not knowing much about T-Pain prior to attending the talk, T-Pain filled in the blanks, discussing his upbringing in Tallahassee, the ups and downs in his career and the backlash received from his autotune style. He def gained a new fan in me. Staying in the hip-hop lane, I ended the evening with Jarret Myer and Talib Kweli’s “What It Means to Start a Label in the Digital Age” panel which featured the two sharing memories about Rawkus Records’ early days, with Talib describing the experience as an artist then and label head today. After showing the video for “The Blast”, Talib dropped a funny story involving the shoot about the fake rain, a suit to block out the water and a cold due to the exposure.

For my last day at SXSW, Kelly Rowland’s interview with BET President of Music Programming Stephen Hill was a must. Vibrant and genuine, she bubbled with excited energy over her new “Chasing Destiny” show premiering after “Black Girls Rock” on BET. Reminiscing about the bootcamp training of singing, running and dancing in Destiny’s Child, Kelly dropped little tidbits about Bey and Michelle along the way. When asked for advice from an audience member on how to deal with a dude romantically who had issues with “chocolate girls”, Kelly gave a passionate response back, making it clear she feels there needed to be more of us “chocolate girls” represented in the media. Def look forward to watching her show Tuesdays starting April 5th.

When I wasn’t paneling, I somehow managed to see Lapsley, CHVRCHES, Anderson Paak, Erykah Badu and Large Professor, Nas, Mannie Fresh, Just Blaze, Buckshot, Bun B and surprise guest Talib Kweli at the Duck Down Sean Price birthday tribute showcase. I also connected with Cody ChesnuTT who chatted about working with The Roots at Electric Lady and Raphael Saadiq in his studio for his upcoming album, Riggaz from Colombian reggae band Tarmac about sharing stages with Barrington Levy and Mr. Vegas and Statik Selektah about the loss of Sean Price who he was working on an album with at the time of his passing, his collabos with Q-Tip, Freeway, Styles P, DJ Premier and producing new Joey Badass music. Watch for those interviews soon!