10 Years of Ill Manner Shows, 8 Years of Smoke Out ATX anniversary show: More Than Just a Showcase

On July 23, Ill Manner Shows and The Smoke Out ATX took over Brushy Street Commons to celebrate 10 and eight years, respectively, of creating live music experiences in Austin. Presented by The M.A.D.E. Agency, the anniversary showcase brought together artists, vendors, media platforms and plenty of familiar faces from the Austin hip-hop community.

I normally attend events with Rap Nerd business on my mind. This time, I honestly just wanted to enjoy myself. No interviews. No chasing artists around. I wanted to catch the performances, talk to people and experience the night naturally.

That turned out to be the right decision.

First of all, Brushy Street Commons is a dope venue. The colored stage lights made every performance look good, and the sound system was banging—in a good way. The bass hit hard without everything sounding like one loud, distorted mess.

J Soulja kicked off the show with a performance before transitioning into hosting duties. He shared some of the hosting responsibilities with DJ Napalm, and they kept the night moving without making it feel overly structured.

My favorite performances came from Born Soul, BlakChyl, Ryan Dove and B.M.O.

Each brought a different type of energy, but they all knew how to command

the stage.

I unfortunately missed the final two performances, so I cannot speak on exactly how the show ended. I heard one of the closing performers was a pretty big regional artist, but I won't speak on it since I didn't witness that.

The performances I saw were only part of what made the night memorable. There was a free photo booth, and throughout the evening, people kept gathering in their own little groups to take pictures. There were free gold grills for the first 10 people in line, vendors ,and In the Van doing its mic-drop-style performance content from the back of a van.

There were also free tacos being cooked fresh, and my taco was fire! The man cooking told me that his reputation was more important to him than convenience, so he would rather prepare the tacos fresh than have a bunch of premade ones sitting around. I respected that immediately.

Tequila 512 supplied free shots, which eventually led to J Soulja bringing everyone together for one big-ass group toast. It was the perfect moment for an anniversary celebration because, for a few minutes, the artists, organizers, media and supporters in the room were all celebrating the same accomplishment together.

And yeah, there were plenty of baddies in the building too. I am just documenting the experience accurately.

What really stayed with me, though, was how many people I knew. Throughout the night, people approached me to congratulate me on the 50th episode of Rap Nerd Reviews, wish me a happy belated birthday and talk about my involvement with Made2MakeIt.

I am not going to lie—I felt important as hell.

Not because I thought I was better than anybody there, but because it showed me that people are actually paying attention. When you spend most of your time working behind a screen, checking analytics and creating content, it can be difficult to tell how much of an impact you are making in real life.

That night gave me a different kind of confirmation.

The Ill Manner Shows and Smoke Out ATX anniversary celebration felt like more than another Austin rap showcase. It felt like a reunion for people who have been contributing to the city’s independent music scene in a real way.

Written by: Derek "D-Sick" Moore

Founder & Program Director

Rap Nerd Media