Lansing’s hip-hop supergroup reunites after four-year hiatus

In April 2006, 4,000 people piled into a 2,000-capacity church in Detroit to pay respects to the late DeShaun Dupree Holton, professionally known as Proof and rapper Eminem’s closest friend.

Holton, a founding member of D12, a chart-topping hip-hop group, served as a mentor to young, aspiring rappers in Detroit, where he was born, murdered and buried. To the world, Holton’s death was a testimony to senseless violence. To members of the Michigan hip-hop scene, it was a call to action to create a harmonious music community.

Rapper James Gardin said the death of Holton was the catalyst for the renewal of Lansing’s hip-hop scene. In 2006, Gardin attended Lansing Community College and met an equally eager young rapper named Jahshua Smith. The duo connected quickly over their knack for layering cerebral rhymes over modern beats and in 2008 founded a collective called BLAT!Pack. The 16-member tribe gained local renown for marrying hip-hop with activism. It will perform for the first time in four years Saturday at The Loft.

“There was a good amount of time when you would never see a hip-hop show in Lansing,” Gardin said. “I think knowing that someone that was an integral part in connecting artists and creating opportunities had passed … you know that there is a hole that needs to be filled.”

In Lansing, shortly after Holton’s death, a meeting was held at the now-defunct record store, Code of the Cuts. Gardin, 34, remembered attending the meeting as an eager 20-something just starting to build a name for himself among the college-music crowd.

The young men who called the meeting were two Lansing natives who went by Clok and Verse-is. The hip-hop duo had built a regional following with their group F.O.S, which stands for figures of speech.

The result of that meeting was a monthly hip-hop showcase called Respiration. Hosted by F.O.S, the concert series brought regional talent to Lansing such as Elzie from Slum Village, DJ Haircut (Mayer Hawthorne) and Black Milk, among others. The show also offered opportunities for local acts to get in front of an audience. Gardin, who had dedicated himself to music after watching “8 Mile” in high school, introduced Smith to Respiration where he was able to connect with more like-minded people.

“It was really cool because young artists, male or female, could learn from these artists, acquire a trade and get sharper,” Smith said.

Jasmine Hamilton-Wray, 33, was still a student at Michigan State University when she discovered the hip-hop showcase. In 2006, Hamilton-Wray, was studying jazz vocals and finding it difficult to carve a place for herself within the highly-technical confines of the university. She said after performing at Respiration during the open-mic portion that she was embraced by the creative community she had been longing for.

“It was kind of a bridging between the hip-hop heads from MSU and Lansing,” she said.

The mold for a successful hip-hop community was set, and when Respiration came to an end, Smith and Gardin turned their collective into a multi-faceted network. Smith and Garden were the MCs along with Chris Orrick (formerly Red Pill), Wayne Weigel (The Amateur) and Jovaun Lee (Jae Musick), among others. Music journalist William E. Ketchum III is a co-founder and managed the group before he worked at Vibe magazine and was replaced by Detroit native Marcel Williams. Omari Hall (Hir-O) and Aaron Armstrong were the producers while Steve Swart (DJ Ruckus) and Amir Abdullah (DJ Carmine) were the group’s mixers. On vocals were Lansing-based Hamilton-Wray (Yellowkake) and Detroit R&B singer ReChell Crowell (Chell). Together the group amassed a dedicated fan base and supported each other’s personal musical endeavors.

Along with exposure, a handful of members in the group prioritized civic engagement. The group had a presence at the Trayvon Martin marches held on MSU’s campus and directed workshops for a youth mentoring program called My Brother’s and Sister’s Keeper. For Smith and Gardin, the original quest to maintain an uplifting hip-hop scene remained at the forefront.

Rising solo performer Mikeyy Austin, 23, met Smith and Gardin when he was 18 years old, back when he had a head full of rhymes but little direction.

“Following their example, advice and ideas has placed me in the position I am today,” Austin said. “Having them in my corner has helped teach me how to be an artist.”

The group’s final show was in 2015 at Lansing’s Common Ground festival. Gardin said that the collective was “before its time,” referring to the recently popular hip-hop collectives such as Odd Future and A$AP Mob. In retrospect, he said the group may have fared better with the addition of a “numbers person” as well as “less overthinking.”

During the four-year hiatus, Gardin signed to indie label Illicit Recordings and has shared stages across the nation with acts such as Grieves, Macklemore and Los Angeles rapper Murs. After the group split, Smith continued to perform and was recently featured in the Detroit Metro Times for his upcoming EP, “The Fourth Wall.” While many members have gone on to pursue new careers, Smith said as the 10-year mark approached, he wanted to do something special with his “brothers and sisters.”

The BLAT!Pack’s upcoming show will feature all the players from its first performance in 2008. Rapper Ozay Moore, founder of All of the Above Hip-Hop Academy, is the only featured act on the bill. DJ Ruckus will return to the ones and twos while Clok hosts the evening.

Smith said that in addition to the show, the group will spend a few days in a studio laying down new tracks.

“Doing a project now, everyone is a lot wiser about how their time is with music,” Smith said. “I think this will be dope to have something where everybody contributes and is us, to show that we still got it.”

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BLAT! Pack 10th Anniversary Show

Saturday, Aug. 24, 7 p.m.

$12 adv, $15 door

The Loft

414 E. Michigan Ave.

theloftlansing.com