Funk Volume Tour lands in Bend
Published 12:04 am Friday, September 11, 2015
This weekend is all about the folk, with the Sisters Folk Festival looming large on the area’s music schedule.
For those who want something with a bit harder edged: West Coast rap label/collective Funk Volume’s stable of DJs and MCs are on the road this summer, touring the entire country. The Funk Volume 2015 Tour hits the Midtown Ballroom tonight, with label kingpin Hopsin joining Dizzy Wright, Jarren Benton and DJ Hoppa onstage.
Funk Volume began as a small, independent hip-hop label in 2008, spearheaded by Hopsin and his snarling brand of braggadocio and heavy beats. The Panorama City, California, rapper struck out on his own after some bad blood between him and his former label, Eazy-E’s Ruthless Records (chronicled on the righteously angry dis track “Sag My Pants”).
The rest of the label’s acts, while dealing in the typical cash, cars, clothes and girls fodder of modern hip-hop, also take an angrier spin on the genre. The Southern California label’s artists draw heavily from the fertile scene out there, but Las Vegas (Wright) and Decatur, Georgia (Benton) are also represented.
Expect a full-on rager — and possibly a few more special guests — when this crew hits town.
Funk Volume 2015 Tour with Hopsin, Dizzy Wright, Jarren Benton, DJ Hoppa; 8 p.m. today, doors open at 7 p.m.; $27 plus fees in advance, $30 at the door; Midtown Ballroom, 51 NW Greenwood Ave., Bend; www.randompresents.com or 800-992-8499.
— Brian McElhiney