Austin, TX–After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the South by Southwest festival returned–and more than 20 Flint-based performing artists played the “Sound of Flint” official showcase at Vaquero Taquero in Austin, Texas.
The Sound of Flint showcase was put on by Flint’s The Antidote Studio, the recording studio within the Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village on the city’s north side.
After visiting the festival in 2019, Executive Director of SBEV and The Antidote Studio, Maryum Rasool, felt inspired to be a part of the next one.
“When we were planning this for months I thought that when it was over I’d be like, ‘Oh my god, you know, I’m excited it’s over,’ but I’m sad. I’m sad because it was such an amazing opportunity, amazing experience to plan it and work with the artists and get there, and then the build-up, and now that it’s over. It’s kind of like, aw, man, like, it’s over, we did it.” she said.
The daytime event took place on March 17, and in a matter of hours a taco restaurant in Austin felt more like an afternoon in Flint, but with a new audience.
“The vibe was very Flint, you know what I mean? That’s the best way to describe it, the music, the energy, it felt like home in a lot of ways,” said The Antidote Studio Music Program Coordinator, Jujuan Thorn.
The performances kicked off a little after noon, and the artists put on their best act. Hoards of Flint talent cycled through the stage with smiles on their faces, bringing the energy. Many of the artists performed songs together.
“It was a lot of love down there. It felt like we were all together, and you know that’s kind of hard to do even in Flint. It’s hard to recreate a feeling like that. It was fresh. There was something new in that. I think it made all of us involved want to come home and work harder.” Thorn said.
The performing artists felt similarly. Flint rapper King Ca$hes said, “Mobbin’ together on 6th street promoting, telling other people down there who each other was … we wanted to share each other’s flyers, to just make it more of a group effort, that just brought us closer together. I feel more family-oriented now.”
“Even if we have our differences inside the city, when we go outside we move as a unit, collectively,” rapper Figga Da Kid said.
Headlining the event were some of Flint’s top-selling rappers, Louie Ray and RMC Mike. Though they may be considered some of the pioneers of the popular ‘Flint sound’ the event proved that there is no one particular style.
“The sound of Flint isn’t one sound per se. That’s the whole irony of it. There is no sound of Flint. It’s everything that we do” Thorn said.
Rasool said she hopes the artists involved had some good takeaways from the experience.
“For a lot of the artists on the showcase, they never experienced South By, so I hope it widened their perspective or their view. They were able to make connections with artists around the world, some artists were able to secure other venues and shows, and perform in front of an audience that they may have not been able to get access to before, so it kind of widened their fan base,” she said.
Figga Da Kid found his way to other stages in a non-traditional way. While getting a meal from a food truck he noticed a nearby speaker and microphone. He played a short street set and ended up securing more stages from people walking past.
With it being his third time at the festival, he said he felt like this year stood out.
“I feel like this year was our most impactful year as a city, not because we had our own stage, but because the artists were able to showcase their talent in the best way to me this year than in past years. Being able to maximize the amount of stages we were on and being able to network so we can get on more stages in the future,” he said.
Moving forward, the Flint artists are feeling inspired to work harder.
“I hope that the artists come back here realizing the world is a much bigger place than Flint and that it really takes getting outside of Flint to see that. I really hope people come back wanting to work harder, make connections, take more trips together, collaborate, and take their artistry a little more serious too.” Thorn stated.
Rasool said that everyone can look forward to more opportunities, clinics, and special events from The Antidote Studio.
“We definitely plan on doing South by Southwest 2023, and it’s going to be bigger, and better, as always. That’s our mantra”
You can check on up-and-coming The Antidote Studio events here.
