Northern Mics is a Halifax-based online hip-hop magazine I recently stumbled across. The latest issue (#2) profiles the legendary Jorun. Here is what the DJ/producer had to say about the state of live hip-hop in town:

There are a lot of local artists releasing CD’s, but there does not seem to be a lot shows. What do you think is the biggest contributor for this? And is there any solutions?

Jorun: Clubs have closed down. A lot of the main clubs that were hosting live shows in general. I think a lot of things contribute to the lack of shows other than that. I think a lot of people promote them poorly and expect that just because you post it on an internet board that people will come. People have gotten lazy since the internet era began and add that with the fact that you could have 9 rap shows in one night, but 2 of them are professionally put together or are good at what they do. There are names in the city that pull crowds instantly and they can pack a show without a doubt, but the problem is that there isn’t always a place for them to play weekly that is easily accessible location wise. Ever since the Khyber closed down, it’s been scattered. The simple solution would be to encourage kids to stop wanting to be rappers when they grow up and start being club owners! We have enough rappers but not enough club owners. Definitely an imbalance.

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