Yo Gotti, Moneybagg Yo and more Memphis hip-hop legends
Explore the rich hip-hop heritage of Memphis, home to influential rappers like Yo Gotti, Moneybagg Yo and more who have shaped the music industry.
A hip-hop awards show and festival that could attract “hundreds of celebrity guests” and “thousands of tourists” is planned for August in Memphis, organizers said Wednesday.
The “For Us By Us Hip-Hop Awards Weekend,” set for Aug. 14-17, is being sponsored and largely organized by the For Us By Us Network, an offshoot of the FUBU apparel company.
Roberto “Rush” Evans, a For Us By Us Network chief executive officer, said the festival’s events will “elevate Memphis’ culture, economy and sense of community,” while honoring hip-hop artists “who have paved the way both from the city of Memphis and internationally.”
J. Alexander Martin, co-founder of FUBU apparel, said the events will provide “a signature experience in Memphis” and elevate Memphis “as a key player in the urban entertainment industry.”
The FUBU executives’ comments came in a Wednesday press release and during a 3 p.m. Wednesday press conference in the “Hall of Mayors” at City Hall that was attended by politicians, tourism officials and business leaders. Both announcements offered much fanfare but few details about the planned four-day “weekend.”
“The FUBU-Memphis alignment just felt right from the start,” said Mayor Paul Young, noting that FUBU is a Black-owned multimillion-dollar business while Memphis is “America’s largest majority-Black city.”
“One of Memphis’ greatest assets is our creative culture,” he said. “We are proud to serve as host city to the inaugural FUBU Awards Weekend.”
According to the press release, the awards show-and-festival will “feature hundreds of celebrity guests and attract thousands of tourists while promoting Memphis as a global center of urban influence.”
The awards show will honor “key contributions of artists and individuals to media, music, fashion, business, and social justice,” according to the release. FUBU officials said they were not ready at this time to announce the names of any of the celebrities or music stars who will appear at the show.
The awards show will be held Aug. 17 at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, said John Askew, president of FUBU Studios, which creates programming for the network. He said the awards ceremony — which will be a performance-centered event in the style of the Grammys — and other festival activities will be streamed live or filmed for later presentation on the FUBU Network.
Askew said the “festival,” in the case of the awards “weekend,” is a catch-all term referring to events that each day will run “from 8 o’clock in the morning to 8 o’clock in the evening,” and beyond, including a concert showcasing name artists, fashion shows, sports events, “family entertainment” and “community participation” events.
He said a “low” estimate of the economic impact of the events on the city would be “30 to 50 million dollars for three or four days.” Evans added that hip-hop, globally, is “a multibillion-dollar business.”
However it shapes up, the FUBU “weekend” promises to add another major event to a Memphis music calendar that also boasts the RiverBeat Music Festival (set for May 2-4 in Tom Lee Park, with Missy Elliott and The Killers as headliners) and Mempho Fest (Oct. 3-5, Memphis Botanic Garden).
In addition, the August dates overlap the signature events of the city’s busiest tourist season, “Elvis Week,” built around the anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death on Aug. 16, 1977.
The awards show and festival events will be presented by FUBU in collaboration with two Memphis companies, the Telecast Media Group, which organizes the annual Stomp the City Iconic Awards show, and The Redwing Group, a lobbying and public relations agency.
The FUBU announcement comes at a time when national awareness of Memphis’ vibrant hip-hop culture is at perhaps its highest point since 2006, when Frayser Boy and Three 6 Mafia members Juicy J and DJ Paul collected a Best Original Song Oscar for “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp,” from the movie “Hustle & Flow.” Memphis’ current eminence is due to such artists at Moneybagg Yo, NLE Choppa and, especially, GloRilla, who performed and appeared in a skit on the Jan. 18 episode of “Saturday Night Live,” and whose song “TGIF” was named the best single of 2024 by Time magazine.
Founded in 1992 and based in New York, FUBU — founded by Black entrepreneurs, the name is an acronym for For Us By Us — is a company that specializes in casual wear, sportswear and hip-hop-inspired apparel. FUBU has long been associated with rap and entertainment culture, with hip-hop star LL Cool J among those appearing in FUBU commercials. A 2018 episode of Donald Glover’s acclaimed FX series “Atlanta” was titled “FUBU,” and centered on the young hero’s pride in his new FUBU shirt.
FUBU also established a record label and, in 2013, founded the For Us By Us Network, which the press release described as a “provider of contemporary hip hop media and entertainment for multi-cultural consumers globally.” With programming available as an app, the network maintains “a pro-social agenda” and is aimed at “fans of hip hop, gospel, jazz, comedy, drama, news, lifestyle (and) sports,” according to its website.
“We founded FUBU with a vision to create relevant content in hip-hop culture,” Martin said. He said the FUBU Memphis events will offer “an unparalleled experience” that will capture “the spirit of novelty, ingenuity and community behind our brand.”
Said Ron Redwing, founder of The Redwing Group, in a statement: “We are excited to be a part of this transformative event, and look forward to honoring Memphis’ musical legacy as well as laying the foundation for our future as a major entertainment destination.”
Young said the FUBU festival is expected to be in Memphis “for many years to come.” Said Martin: “We look forward to making this an annual tradition.”
The festival might become an annual tradition, but the press conference itself came to a premature end. As the event began to wind down, the City Hall fire alarm sounded and a recorded announcement urged everyone present to evacuate the building. Said Martin: “I told y’all we were gonna make it hot.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.commercialappeal.com ’
