Auburn was hopping to the beats of Yamin Semali and Boog Brown Saturday, Feb. 22, at Stir Auburn's "Hip Hop on the Plains."
Stir's hip-hop night featured regional and local artists.
"It is a positive, high quality, authentic, musical experience with no cover charge," said Lee Bradberry, music coordinator. "It's presented by and for people who love the hip-hop music and culture."
Semali creates a unique infusion of soul and hip-hop while harmonizing with intricate wordplay.
Semali said he has a "layered production style," offering more than just a simple beat and a few fast words; he treats it as an artistic statement.
Semali is a jack of all musical trades, he said. He produces, DJ's and works as an emcee.
He introduces himself as a student turned practitioner.
Semali studied electrical engineering while pursuing a career in the music industry.
He works with and produces for multiple artists in the Atlanta area.
In 2007, Semali's single "Plan B" was the number one single on the Rap Attack Charts.
In 2012, the Georgia Music Awards awarded his group, Rawkus 50 Campaign with the Georgia's Best Hip-Hop Group award.
While Auburn offers a different scene than Atlanta, Semali came to perform and spread his "professional artistry."
The following artist is Brown.
Brown categorizes herself as a late bloomer. Brown said she did not start rapping or free-styling until she was 23, and she did not know what she wanted to do with her life until that point.
"I don't mind being a late bloomer," Brown said. "It came so late in my life, but I wouldn't trade it for anything."
Brown takes her time when making her albums and songs. Brown would rather have quality than quantity when it comes to her work.
Brown's music has an older, melodic sound to it, and the way she performs sound like a poet rather than a hip-hop artist. She strives for her music to be relatable.
Brown was in the Poetry Society at East Michigan University when she began honing her freestyle abilities.
Through "crunch time," Brown and members of the group would write as much as they could about a specific topic and those soon became songs.
Brown studied different artists in Detroit to help understand free-styling and performing hip-hop.
When she moved to Atlanta in 2007, she had to start over. Brown was unemployed and homeless. Then she met Illustrate, an artist and producer who helped her learn how to perform onstage.
As a northern rapper from Detroit, Brown came to the South to expand her sound. Brown has been featured on BET's My Mic Sounds Nice and won Best Female Emcee from Atlanta's Heart of The Hood Awards.
"The show was fun and very intimate," Semali said. "We definitely want to come back again."
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