Ian Ranne has been instrumental in focusing Jacksonville’s hip-hop scene, and that is one fact that every artist EU talked to agrees on. Hip Hop Hell is an event he organized to bring together some of the most talented hip-hop musicians in the area. As Hip Hop Hell gained momentum and popularity, he began to attract national and regional acts to our humble city. Now he and Mas Appeal are bringing their initial concept to a larger scale. I caught up with Ian shortly before a DJ gig at Tastings to learn more about the origins of Summertime in the City and his role in the Jacksonville hip-hop scene.
EU: Is this the second year of Summertime in the City?
IR: Yeah, this is the second one we’ve done. The first one was inside of the Burrito Gallery. It was like one of the regular parties we throw in the Burrito Gallery each month. This year we were trying to step it up and do it bigger. Originally we wanted to bring it to Metropolitan Park. We intend to do it yearly, every summer, and that’s the goal, to get to Metropolitan Park.
EU: When did you decide to do one this year, and when did you start putting it together?
IR: It was Mas Appeal from Simple Complexity’s brainchild. He wanted to do it at Metropolitan Park this year in conjunction with his Urban Synthesis Radio. The only person I knew that could help me get those means is Tony [Allegretti]. When I mentioned it to him, he wanted to jump in as a full partner. It went from Metropolitan Park being unfeasible to let’s just do it in our backyard (laughing). We took it from there and it grew from there, but the three of us came up with it together.
EU: How important is an urban core?
IR: It’s real important. It’s vital. People have to be able to walk from place to place. From their house to the club, you know? It’s just as important as having any neighborhood or community at all. I grew up in Jacksonville and I saw the whole downtown crumbled as a kid, you know. I like to see it come back together. That’s just the way it should be.
EU: What made you want to bring Hip Hop Hell to downtown? You do all these events downtown, is it at all about downtown?
IR: I guess, at first, it was all coincidence. That’s just where I was at, you know? I would go to the Voodoo downtown and see hip-hop every Sunday when Therapy and them were spinning. Then when I would get off work at London Bridge and I’d walk to Thee Imperial and hang out there and think “They should play some rap music.” I guess initially it was just where I was at. Over time, from working at London Bridge for so long, it was just natural. I don’t know why I started hanging out downtown so much, since I live in Riverside. I guess I just saw good opportunities there. The stuff in 5 Points was already established, but stuff downtown needed some help.
EU: It seems to me that it’s something unique about Jacksonville that the hip-hop scene and the art scene are so interrelated. I know you’re into street art and graffiti. What, in your experience, has connected the hip-hop scene and art scene?
IR: I don’t know, man, when I was growing up it was always the same thing. When you walked out your door in Riverside there was hip-hop all around you. (Laughing) When you were walking down the street, every little tag you saw was part of hip-hop and you had your headphones on and there’d be kids break dancing and it always went together as one to me. It was always a total package.
EU:Would that street experience be something that helped you appreciate visual art?
IR: Definitely. Without a doubt. It all started from looking at tags. One of the best examples is Shaun Thurston. We went to high school together and everything, and we were all into graffiti. You can still see that influence in [his art], he just took it to a different level. It’s all grown from hip-hop. My organizational skills, his painting skills, it all came from hip-hop.
EU: What should a person who doesn’t know anything about this scene expect from Summertime in the City?
IR: Aw man, I guess just good visual spray art, really good break dancing, all the best hip-hop in the city at least, maybe even in the region. We’re bringing it out from Savannah and Orlando and Atlanta. Hip-hop the way it’s supposed to be, basically. It’s urban expression the way I remember it from when I was a teenager, in one big festival, you know what I’m saying?
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