San Antonio Music: Hip-Hop 101

San Antonio has a thriving hip-hop scene on the verge of having its moment in the spotlight in the same way Houston and Dallas had theirs. The city's local artists have begun to evolve the quality of their work to industry-standard levels. In the past few years, San Antonio has seen its homegrown talent score some major industry successes. In 2007, rapper Daniel "Question" Boskind landed a major deal with Epic Records, putting San Antonio hip-hop on the industry's radar. In 2008, songwriter/producer James "Pharoah" Brown contributed with others in the writing of Jamie Foxx's record-breaking single "Blame It". In 2010, producer/rapper Marcus "Richie Branson" Brown teamed up with his cousin Jeremy "Fleetwood Slim" Brown to form a partnership called Red Prodigy Productions. The duo's writing and production would go on to make waves in the music industry, charting the hit single "Homegurl" on billboard's top 100 r&b/hip-hop charts and working with major label clientele such as Def Jam Recordings, Sony Music Entertainment and G-Unit.

On the recent emergence of San Antonio's music scene, Richie Branson pointed out that "many artists in the city are really stepping their game up. I'm seeing more music videos coming out, mixtapes being released, and a higher level of creative content coming out of the city altogether. I see entities in town such as the Red Prodigy movement, 15 Five Entertainment, Question, Kyle Lee, Bugsy, Bambu, Yung Mavrick, Serv C, Kierra Shiday, Nic Dante, E Get $$$, AJ Hernz, and others really making industry-caliber moves to put San Antonio on. Keep an eye out for them!"

As the music industry in San Antonio continues to evolve, it is likely that more artists will begin to break into the mainstream music industry. While it took Houston and Dallas's respective underground artists a long grind to reach notable success, internet media broadcasters such as YouTube and Vimeo are helping San Antonio's underground artists gain exposure at a much faster rate. Since major record labels are now turning their attention to the internet, this gives San Antonio's artists the best chance yet at getting "discovered". Keep your eye on San Antonio, its music scene is poised to make some major moves!