Sea to Sky hip-hop fans have something new to look forward to as Vinyl Ritchie and his partner-in-crime, Foxy Moron, are back on the scene with a new show.
Hip Hop Hooray Tuesdays takes place every Tuesday at 8 p.m. at High Mountain Brewing Co., better known locally as The Brewhouse. Vinyl Ritchie (whose real name is Scott Arkwell) and Foxy Moron (Ace Mackay-Smith) are paying tribute to the golden era of the genre by breaking out the seven-inch records all winter long.
“We're trying to fill a gap that I think needs to be filled in Whistler,” Arkwell explains. “It’s just an old-school hip-hop night. We're staying true to the craft. It’s the golden era of hip hop—no mumble rap, no Drake, just the good old ‘boom-bap’ stuff.
“There's a difference in the amount of time you can put on a seven-inch. Obviously, compared to a 12-inch, it’s much shorter, so the versions are usually edited. From a DJ point of view, you’ve got to be on your game.”
Arkwell is excited to be playing at the Brewhouse, which he describes as a venue with dialed-in sound, a good subwoofer setup and desirable acoustics overall.
“I like the room to sound really good,” Arkwell says. “I don't want it to be too loud and overwhelming. I want people to be able to have a conversation, but I also want [the bass] to be felt. That’s important to me.”
The relatively early start is no accident either. Arkwell found that his Motown on Mondays event last year at The Raven Room was sometimes a hard sell due in part to its 10 p.m. start time. He hopes that Hip Hop Hooray can attract a different demographic that may be not interested in burning the midnight oil, but are nonetheless down for a few drinks and some sick beats before bed.
From the beginning
As a true hip-hop head, Arkwell has worked in a myriad of clubs since moving to Whistler in the 1990s. In those days, the world hadn’t turned to hip-hop the way it has now, and he found himself playing lots of Elvis Presley, The Beatles and The Tragically Hip. Numerous club owners pushed back against the idea of mixing in a new genre, claiming it was “too cool”—whatever that means.
Arkwell stuck to his guns, though, and ended up on the right side of music history.
“I saw the writing on the wall,” he says. “I got into hip-hop in the '80s and we started messing around with it then. I was telling all the venues: ‘Mark my words, in a couple of years, you're going have to do entire nights of this.’”
Arkwell looks forward to collaborating again with Foxy Moron, a local legend in her own right, whom he first met nearly three decades ago at Tommy Africa’s (which has since changed hands and rebranded to Apres Apres). Foxy wasn’t always keen on entering the DJ industry, but eventually came around.
She’s since established herself as one of Whistler’s favourite turntablists.
“There's not too many women that spin [45 RPM records] or have a hip-hop collection of 45s and reggae,” says Arkwell. “I think it's a good look for women in the industry. I think it’s important that Foxy’s there.
“She comes at it from a different angle from me, you know what I mean? The records she chooses are different from what I would choose.”
According to Arkwell, Hip Hop Hooray is off to a flying start. The Brewhouse staff are on board, and he’s heard rave reviews from some of the guys he skateboards with.
“Generally, I like to go into a venue and see what night they're struggling the most and try to make something happen,” he says. “That's the challenge that I like.”
