SXSWorld
Issue link: https://sxsw.uberflip.com/i/600882
2 S X S W o r l d | N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 5 | S X S W. C O M Stevie Ray Vaughn walked away with the "Musician of the Decade" honor at the Austin Music Awards, only to die in a helicopter crash just six months later. Notable acts performing in SXSW's year two included legendary bluesman Albert Collins, American Music Club, The Jayhawks and an unknown country singer named Billy Ray Cyrus. SXSW launched with three days of panels and programming along with three nights of showcase events, not to mention the first Sunday softball tourney and BBQ. The first year hosted 700 registrants and 177 showcasing artists. Year three saw the start of SXSW's international presence with the arrival of the first foreign band: Cliff Barnes and the Fear of Winning, from Berlin, Germany. South by Southwest has become a Hip Hop Mecca in recent years, with seemingly everyone from big names to rising artists coming to Austin every year for the pub and the party. But that wasn't always the case. "We'd hear the same thing every time we called New York," says former SXSW booker Matt Sonzala. "'Why should I send my act to your hippie music festival down in Texas?' But things started changing about five years ago." With the likes of Eminem, Jay Z, Kanye West, M.I.A., Public Enemy, Wiz Khalifa, Lil Wayne, Nas and on and on, per- forming at SXSW in recent years, Austin has become THE place to be in mid-March. You have to credit Kool Keith's Ultramagnetic MC's, who came down from the Bronx in 1990 to play Raven's (a coun- try music club that would evolve into punk haven Emo's), with paving the way. Then, Homer Hill's Catfish Station on Sixth Street fostered an adventurous breed of hip hop art- ists, such as Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, Atmosphere and Hieroglyphics, who played SXSW at the beginning of their careers. Sonzala recalls one SXSW 1995 show at Catfish Station as an especially vivid turning point. "We all know her as Erykah Badu, but back then she went by Erykah Free," he says. "She got up and did a couple songs with [Dallas collective] Heads-N-Dreads that caused people to just lose their shit!" Kwasar from the Heads did a duet with Erykah on "Stay Away," then yielded center stage to the then-un- signed singer, who performed "On and On," which would turn the music biz on its ear two years later. In 1996, the Fugees played Stubb's when their LP The Score was #3 in the US. By 2000, rap had arrived with showcases (presented in con- junction with Hip Hop Mecca) featuring such rhymesmiths as Chuck D, Doug E. Fresh, Blackalicious, South Park Mexi- can, Dead Prez, Big Daddy Kane and Jungle Brothers. 3 0 Y E A R S O F S X S W HIP HOP AT SXSW MUSIC From Keith to Khalifa 1 9 8 7 1 9 8 8 1 9 8 9 1 9 9 0 Ultramagnetic MC's with Kool Keith SXSW's four founders Band from Hell M A R T H A G R E N O N