Students to Compete in Freestyle Hip-Hop Battle

Aspiring Harvard MCs looking for “massive” exposure will lyrically spar with fellow Cantabrigians this Friday night.

The hip-hop department of Harvard’s radio station, WHRB, in conjunction with Massive Records, is hosting its first ever hip-hop battle for students and locals to compete for a cash prize and airtime to showcase the night’s best acts.

The record store and WHRB’s “The Darker Side,” say that they hope that the event will bring greater attention to Boston’s thriving hip-hop scene which they say has gone relatively unnoticed by most Harvard students.

“Boston has a vibrant hip-hop community and so far Harvard has been a non-participant” said Samuel D.G. Jacoby ’08, co-director of “The Darker Side.”

WHRB president Jonathan A. Stona ’07 said that although the station “has always had a strong presence outside of Harvard,” the freestyle battle is one of WHRB’s many efforts to increase the station’s on-campus popularity.

“I say I’m doing radio and people are like, ‘Harvard has radio?’” said Darius P. Felton ’08, co-director of “The Darker Side.”

“Not many people even know that we have a radio station or they see it as a classical station, but at night we have hip-hop and punk rock,” Jacoby added.

Felton and Jacoby said that they feel that the contest could be the first step toward a increased interest in hip-hop on campus.

The co-owner of Massive Records, Andrew D. Mwase, has similar aspirations for the event. In addition to featuring local artists at the record store every other Friday, Massive Records also cooperates with Hoffa’s Swiss Alps Restaurant Bar & Lounge, to showcase Harvard performers.

Mwase said he is committed to promoting local artists, but tends to disfavor explicit content.

“We try to identify the local artists who are positive,” Mwase said, adding that he often sends recordings of his favorite Massive performances to The Source magazine, a national publication founded as a WHRB newsletter in 1988 by DJs David M. Mays ’90 and Jon M. Shecter ’90.

Although the show already has several performers lined up, Felton and Jacoby encourage aspiring freestylers to compete free of charge.

“The Darker Side” can be heard Saturdays 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. and Sundays 12 a.m. to 5 a.m on 95.3 FM. The freestyle battle is at 1105 Mass. Ave at 5 p.m.