AUSTIN (KXAN)— Bryon Chambers was 16 years old when he snuck into a club where the first South by Southwest (SXSW) hip-hop showcase was happening 35 years ago.
“That’s a funny story,” Chambers said with a laugh. “A friend of mine from school, he had connections with a couple of people in the music industry…we got in the club.”
It was a club called Ravens at the time, on Sixth Street, Chambers said. He said he wound up being introduced to a man named Keir Worthy.
“[He’s] the guy who implemented hip-hop at SXSW,” Chambers said. “They were short one artist…and he was panicking, wondering who they were going to have fill in…Teddy Lee (the man who introduced Chambers to Worthy), was like, ‘Yo, this kid….listen to him rap.'”
Chambers said Worthy was hesitant to give him a shot.
“[Worthy] was like, ‘This kid? He’s a kid, he’s not even supposed to be here,'” Chambers said. “So, I started rapping, and [Worthy] stopped me, like, four to eight bars in, and he was like, ‘You’re going on, get ready.'”
Chambers said Worthy went to the University of Texas at Austin, and started a company called Hot Wax Promotions and Marketing with his best friend. The company brought hip-hop promotions, music, events and shows to Austin.
Worthy would later go on to work with SXSW, where he was able to bring hip-hop to the festival.
It started out small with more local artists but has grown to big name celebrities coming to Austin to perform over the years.
“I remember walking out a club and just looking like it was so much going on, and I couldn’t make up my mind which direction I wanted to go,” Chambers said. “Eminem’s over here at this club, 50 cent is doing his first album release here… Young Money was over here…TI was in this hotel.”
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Byron Chambers, Austin hip-hop artist. (Photo provided by Byron Chambers). -
Byron Chambers, Austin hip-hop artist. (Photo provided by Byron Chambers). -
Byron Chambers, Austin hip-hop artist. (Photo provided by Byron Chambers).
Chambers considers himself a student and advocate of hip-hop culture. He said he wants to continue to bring awareness to one of the most popular genres in the world.
“It’s very important for the youth to have connection to the roots to be able to identify themselves,” Chamber said.
“Hip-hop is communication to the inner cities, to the inner city youth,” Chambers said. “It’s a message, sometimes a message the news won’t give you directly…it’s us communicating to us, understanding slang, different terminologies and it’s a deep culture.”
Chambers said he’s happy with how hip-hop has evolved at SXSW but does hope more local hip-hop artists can get a shot at those showcases.
Revolt, a prominent Black-owned media company, announced Wednesday it’s launching a new music distribution platform called 440 artists. Its goal is to empower independent artists who are known around the world, giving them better industry access and creative control, according to a press release. There’s going to be a performance from the 440 artists platform on Thursday.
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