Edmonton hip hop artist YHN Prodi took to the stage at the Westlock and District Community Hall Sept. 21 for RogFest — a concert featuring both country and hip hop artists. About 200 music fans attended the event organized by local rapper Justin Rogers.
You can take the boy out of the country, but ... you know how the old trope goes.
Westlock’s Justin Rogers personifies this old saying, basing his fledgling music career on a head-on collision between country and hip hop music.
And he did it years before Lil Nas X ever met Billy Ray Cyrus on Old Town Road.
Rogers organized the RogFest music festival Sept. 21 at the Westlock and District Community Hall, with the intent of featuring both country and hip hop artists from Westlock, Edmonton and around the region.
He’s been promoting and organizing low-key rap and hip hop shows in and around Westlock for a few years now and producing songs and mixes in his home studio, putting that unvarnished northern Alberta twang over top of funky beats and familiar samples and actually making it work.
“I don’t really know where I fit in,” said Rogers, the morning after the show. “I like hip hop, but my voice is kind of country, so I couldn’t get away from the country even if I wanted to.”
Rogers has spent a couple years pitching his crossover style to various players in the music scene, to no avail. Now that same style is topping the charts.
“I would message people and ask them to make me a country-rap beat and they were like, “No, I’m not going to do that, it’s stupid.’ Now all of a sudden that Lil Nas X made the first big song like that ever, then all of a sudden there were all kinds of people doing it now. I just wish I would have got a big song out before he did,” he said.
RogFest was Rogers’ biggest show yet, with more than 200 music fans of all ages coming out to hear representations of two of the biggest genres in popular music today, although the country portion didn’t go exactly to plan as only one artist was able to take to the stage with a pair of songs.
Westlock rapper and producer Justin Rogers took to the stage to finish off a night of performances that blurred the lines between country and hip hop music.
Local country singer Brett Maul warmed up the stage with a couple standard country songs, getting a few two-steppers out on the floor to kick off the evening.
It was the first time Maul performed in the last five years, but he was happy to do so when Rogers asked him. It seems country artists are a lot harder to book in northern Alberta because they usually already have gigs.
Maul did his genre proud though, considering he hasn’t performed since high school and even then, just in the company of friends.
“The thing about Justin is he’s incredibly encouraging and if it weren’t for his friendly and supportive demeanor, I probably would have had difficulties getting back up there, but it kind of refreshed me in a way,” said Maul, adding he was really impressed with the concept of the event.
“To be honest, I view any display of any genre, any display of passion, with great respect. It’s honourable and admirable, to be able to see a fusion of these two genres come together was actually quite exciting for me and reinvigorating in a way.
“It truly does show and display the diversity Westlock has and our province has. It was very satisfying.”
After Maul left the stage, it was all hip hop for the rest of the night, with up-and-coming local teen rappers Kobe Evison and Lil’ Devious, aka Ashlee Gee, taking to the stage first. Both have recorded with Rogers or had seen their vision come to life with his production skills. He’s taken both the budding rappers under his hip hop wing.
“I got into hip hop because of my cousin Justin. He’s been into it since he was little and me and him have always been close,” Lil’ Devious said outside the show after performing her set, her first performance in front of a live crowd on the big stage.
“I was so nervous out of my mind and then I got out there and realized this was super fun,” she said. “You just vibe, y’know? It’s awesome, he has rappers and he has people partying, so it’s just fun. All you need is a fun time, right?”
There was a separated beer garden at the all-ages show and it was just $10 to get into, surely a sign the promoter was more concerned with exposing his home town to something new and fresh, instead of making a profit, or probably even breaking even, considering the sound system Rogers brought in to make the beats really thump.
“I wanted to put on something that was epic and bring out some of the best rappers from Edmonton, to see what would happen in Westlock, to see if it would even work,” said Rogers, who is a little wary to call the night a complete success because he had hoped for a lot more people.
“I make music to uplift people and make them happy.”
Edmonton artists YHN Prodi and KudaThaKidd also hit the stage with power, delivering a set that was quintessential hip hop. Later, K-Blitz, Blieve and Deuce Fantastick each took to the stage before Rogers himself closed the show and sent the crowd into a frenzy as it had grown substantially larger as the night progressed.
“It went pretty awesome. It was slow in the beginning, but everyone started showing up around 10:30 or 11, which is pretty usual. They weren’t super-receptive to the hip hop acts, which I was a little bit disappointed in ... but when I came out, everybody got up and that was pretty sweet,” said Rogers.
