Terence Teuro Robinson takes the stage at the Hip-Hop Shop. Photo by Ashleeann Washington.

Around the country, thousands of hip-hop events are held where pursuing MCs - or masters of ceremonies - meet to flaunt their impromptu lyrics, poetry and spoken word via the microphone and stage. For Ohio University, a college campus in the middle of nowhere, hip-hop seems like a forgotten art. Luckily, thanks to MCs like Liza Hill, a member of the Disfunc Family, and other hip-hop MCs, hip-hop is present even in the hills of Appalachia.

Hip-Hop Shop is a biweekly hip-hop event held every other Wednesday at 10 p.m. at The Union Bar and Grill. From the time it starts until the early morning, listeners are treated to beats and rhymes from local OU artists. Each artist who steps on the stage recites for the audience a beautiful, in-your-face poem, put over a hot beat that makes it hard to stay seated.

“Hip-Hop Shop is an art form…it invokes emotions and the music is undefined. That’s what art is, undefined,” said Funmi Saheeb, a local student and Hip Hop Shop audience member.

Like other art forms, there are elements and a strong foundation behind good hip-hop. Hip-hop sprang from the creative, inner city ghetto of the Bronx, New York. Originally created for what is known as The Hip-Hop Generation (those born between 1965 and 1984) hip-hop was designed around four elements: B-boying (breakdancing), Graiffi writing, DJing, and MCing.

“Hip-hop itself is an art form and Hip-Hop Shop is a showcase for hip-hop, the art. Here at Hip-Hop Shop we practice only a few of the elements, the main one being MCing,” Hill, one of the MCs said.

Ryan Schwartzoff performs at the Hip-Hop Shop, which meets every other Wednesday at the Union. Photo by Ashleeann Washington.

The local MCs, many of them OU students, do an excellent job of exploring these elements, so that the each audience member gets a deeper understanding of true hip-hop and its purpose. Any college student who enters this mystical and artistic atmosphere will find it difficult to leave the lenient audience. It is difficult to stop watching the tense performances, which clash in a way that can immediately pull listeners in unconsciously.

After listening to the MCs pieces, which cover both urban and college life, one wonders what inspires this group of young, talented college students to feel the need and desire to share their talent.

“God motivates me, and I was sick of seeing the trash on TV. My goal is to influence the youth and put out positive message,” said Matt Simmer, one of the performing break-dancers.

In the words of famous hip-hop/rap artist Lauryn Hill: “Hip-Hop started out in the heart, now everybody’s trying to charge.”

Hip-Hop Shop and its performing group of MCs work to put hip-hop back where it belongs.

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