Up until a few years ago, many NYC "indie" venues didn’t book hip hop acts – it still happens in many Manhattan ones. DIY Brooklyn has always being more open to the genre, so much so that this year Bushwick spot Aviv booked a bill of mostly local hip hop artists for their New Years Eve party (together with noisy avant-punk trio Show Me the Body, which isn’t completely foreign to the genre). Wiki (of Ratking) will headline the night with a solo set, which – knowing the character and his talent – is bound to be entertaining. He released his debut solo album "Lil Me" earlier in December. Opening NYC trio Jaguar Pyramids will complement and to some extent exacerbate his dark and tense sound with their nightmarish grooves – check out their 8 track debut album here. Brooklyn quintet Gloss Gang will also be of the party; their recent single "Money, Hoes and Fashion" (streaming) shares the other acts’ suspenseful, unconventional sonics and has become a small SoundCloud hit in just one month. Listening to these three tracks, there seems to be enough evidence to state that NYC hip hop is going through a creative renaissance. Maybe more local venues should open their doors to it.
