Alaska's purveyors of hip-hop are stepping up their game with a new, weeklong festival crammed with artists ready to show and prove.
At Bernie's Summer Solstice House of Hip-Hop -- which runs Tuesday through June 21 at Bernie's Bungalow -- each evening focuses on one of five pillars of hip-hop culture: DJs, emcees, spoken-word artists, graffiti artists and b-boys (break dancers).
The event was organized by former Alaskan Kim Kane, an on-air talent at Power 105.1 FM in New York City and a freelance writer for MTV Networks/Viacom. She said the event is a party and a countdown to solstice, but it's also much more.
"I was local talent in Alaska once. I get it, feeling out of touch and off the map," she said. "We have a lot of talented hip-hop artists in the community, and I want to see them succeed. I can't throw them into rotation, but I can try to up their exposure."
Veteran Anchorage DJ Reggie Ward said the event is unprecedented and timely, considering the recent uptick in professionalism on the Anchorage hip-hop scene.
"The quality of music that I'm now playing on my radio show is just unbelievable compared to just maybe five or six years ago," he said. "The scene has really evolved since the time I got into things."
Sitka emcee Phonetic said the event makes him hopeful that Alaska hip-hop artists won't forever work in isolation. "It's really important that we artists work together; it's the only way the Alaska scene will get noticed," he said. "We need to build a good, solid community, which is exactly what hip-hop is supposed to be anyway."
TUESDAY
The graffiti
An on-site mural goes up before the crowd's very eyes.
Spotlight: Anchorage artist and DJ Konker (Jim Powers), 23, got into graffiti art while growing up in Baltimore. He plans to start spraying at about 7 p.m., letting folks see how an outline becomes a finished piece. "We actually call them burners. Like a kitchen burner, it's something that's hot," he said.
Good to know: "A lot of people think graffiti is directly linked to gang violence and gangs, and I've never been in any gang," Powers said. "And it's not all vandalism either."
Web: www.myspace.com/djkonkerock
WEDNESDAY
B-boy and breaker zone
Check out the head spins and coffee grinders at this break- dancing forum.
Spotlight: Victamone (Victor Mangrobang), 23, is one of the most influential b-boys on the Anchorage scene and a lynchpin of competitive crew The Illaskan Assassins. He's been breaking since second grade, when he picked it up from a Californian friend. His crew at this event will be small, though -- most of the b-boys in Anchorage aren't old enough to be at a bar. "But we'll still rock the floor," he said.
Good to know: "There's this misconception that hip-hop is rap music, but there's a whole history and culture the media doesn't put forth the effort to let people know about," Mangrobang said. "At this event, the interest is in the foundations. True hip-hop culture."
Web: www.myspace.com/djvictamone
THURSDAY
The knowledge
Spoken-word artists grace the mike with poems about hip-hop's roots.
Spotlight: Anchorage spoken- word artist Madame Blaze (Ashaki Carter), 32, started rapping in high school but decided to take it down a notch when she became a mom. "I was like, do I want to stop writing, stop performing? No," she said. "So I taught myself to take my hip-hop lines and do spoken word. In my mind, poetry, hip-hop and rap are all the same."
Good to know: "My style is kinda wordy, but over the years I've learned you can say a whole lot by saying so little."
JUNE 20
The emcee
Rappers spit their finest.
Spotlight: An anchor of the hip-hop scene in Sitka (Yeah, that's right. I said Sitka.), Phonetic (Sydney Eubanks), 29, starting emceeing during summers in Washington. His MySpace page features everything from emotionally raw cuts to club anthems in the making. "I'm pretty much just a songwriter; every song has a purpose, it's not just a bunch of metaphors and punch lines," he said. "That's why I started writing, not to make an album or rap in front of people, just to get things off my chest."
Good to know: "The thing about Alaska is that drugs are very lucrative and a lot of people rapping about that are doing exactly that, but there's a big misconception that hip-hop is only that. ... It's not what the majority of people are doing, and it's not what hip-hop's about."
Web: www.myspace.com/phoneticfromak
JUNE 21
The DJ
Local DJs burn the wheels and bow down to DJ Reggie Ward.
Spotlight: DJ Reggie Ward landed his radio show -- Friday Night Mix on KSKA -- in the 1980s, making him old-school royalty by local standards. Over the years, he's gotten a ton of props, including the 1992 DJ of the Year from Million Dollar Record Pool and a group of 3,000 DJs. But on June 21, Alaska is giving it up for Ward with a special tribute. "I am so humbled that I'm being acknowledged," he said. "I have butterflies in my stomach right now. I just can't believe it."
Good to know: "There has never been a three- or four-day event that is basically dedicated to all aspects of hip-hop, so this is huge for Anchorage, and I'm just excited as heck to be a part of it."
Web: www.djreggieward.com, www.myspace.com/djreggieward
Find Play reporter Sarah Henning at adn.com/contact/shenning or call 257-4323.
•Bernie's Summer Solstice House of Hip-Hop
When: 9 p.m. Tuesday through June 21
Where: Bernie's Bungalow, 626 D St.
How much: $30 for a five-day party pass, $6 one-day ticket Tuesday through Thursday, $10 one-day ticket June 20-21. Available at Bernie's Bungalow, Chez Ritz, Blush Boutique, Anchoritz and Metro Books.
By Sarah Henning
shenning@adn.com