The Chill

9 p.m., Revolution. $10

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Featuring Epiphany and One Night Stand with Gina Gee and Sixstring,
Suga City, 607, King Akeem, Swang, KisaCamie, Sean West and Dave
Harmony. With g-force DJing and Maria V and Epiphany co-hosting.

Gone are the days of one mic and a stage and a crowd. Increasingly,
local hip-hop has gone concept happy, with the scene’s most prolific
and entertaining rappers regularly offering themes and contests and
extra amenities at their shows. Lately, the large rap collective Grim
Muzik has offered free buffets at its shows. One-man whirlwind 607
regularly adorns his concerts with bizarre themes — “Nightmare after
Christmas,” “Symphony of the Night” (a goth-inspired night that found
the rapper in bondage wear). Then there’s Conduit, the local label and
collective. Featuring the duo Suga City, soon to release its album
debut on national indie Koch Records, and led by rapper Epiphany, the
crew is guiding the way in the evolution of concerts to events.

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For the last year or so, Conduit has put its stamp on local hip-hop
with regular installments of “The Chill.” Usually held monthly or
bi-monthly, the concert series has become a brand for Conduit — a
signifier of a laid-back night of rap, more urbane than crunk.
Organized and usually hosted by Epiphany, the events evolve out of
long-range planning sessions that start months in advance. MySpace
pages, geared particularly to “The Chill,” pop up. E-mail bulletins
come with regularity. Mp3 commercials circulate. Conduit collects
e-mails relentlessly, and Epiphany, an engineer by schooling, could
write a textbook on throwing events with all the data he’s collected
over the years. The variations among concerts, parties and events, the
different sales approaches to different sexes and races — for every
permutation of the business of rap, he has a theory.

On Saturday, as “The Chill” relaunches after a four-month hiatus,
the rapper says that he’s getting back to “the essence of performance,
but using the concept to accessorize.”

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He picks his words carefully. Dubbed the “Too Clean” edition,
fashion rules the concept. Prizes will be awarded for the “flyest”
dressed in the categories of “urban,” “grown and sexy” and “swag.” You
can probably guess on the first one. “Grown and sexy” leans toward
preppier attire, and “swag” is an abstract word that suggests
confidence, so theoretically, anyone looking good in any style is
eligible, though going against the grain might be the way to go. Also,
the 50-Kanye-style fashion feud between Goines of Suga City and R&B
crooner Sean West culminates with crowd response as the judge.

But to the essence: Roots-style, Epiphany headlines impressively
with his band One Night Stand, featuring the hugely talented local diva
Gina Gee and guitarist Sixstring. They’ll be debuting new material.
Long a staple of local shows, Suga City has been on hiatus lately, with
Arkansas Bo living and working in Dallas. Saturday he’ll return home
and he and Goines will preview material from their forthcoming LP. Look
out for laid-back, soul-infused jams. 607 manages to be everywhere at
once. The local rapper, who’ll appear in the Arkansas Times Musicians
Showcase, anchors the mid-part of the line-up. Plus, look for short
sets from names new and familiar: BWare, King Akeem, Swang, KisaCamie,
Sean West and Dave Harmony. Quite possibly Arkansas’s best DJ and
certainly its most diverse, g-force mans the turntables, and Maria V
helps Epiphany with hosting duties.

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The Chill, 9 p.m.,
Revolution.
$10.                                                                                                                                      
Featuring Epiphany and One Night Stand with Gina Gee and Sixstring,
Suga City, 607, King Akeem, Swang, KisaCamie, Sean West and Dave
Harmony. With g-force DJing and Maria V and Epiphany hosting.

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