By Jennifer Oladipo
For months, SC Lofi was just a man in a storefront, hoping others would show up and show off the beats they’d been producing behind closed doors. Morris “Moe” Salley almost gave up. But with other people’s support, and a little time, SC Lofi recently celebrated its 2-year anniversary—and the place was packed. And a the first big collaboration and paid event is happening this month. Salley shared with StankRadio how he got people into the room, and how the community will grow in year three.
Paint us a picture of the SC Lofi beat cypher experience.
It’s like a traditional cypher where emcees would pass the mic around to show their lyrical skills while instrumentals lay in the background. But at SC Lofi, producers show up with their laptops, drum machines, and cell phones. And that’s where they make their beats. We pass the aux (auxiliary) cord, so each producer has two minutes to play a particular beat.
It does not matter if it's trap, drill, jazz, hip hop, boom bap—whatever you may want to play when it's your time. One person could be playing a beat that's 90 beats per minute, then the next person wants to switch up the whole vibe and play a beat that's 110 beats per minute. So it's basically how you feel, what's going
on, and some friendly competition type things going on.
But it’s not only instrumentalists, right?
Right. You're also going to have the rappers, singers, poets. And then you're just going to have people that are just engulfed of the whole thing. They might want to see what kinds of tracks emcees want to jump on. Or poets might be looking for beats as background for their work. And then and then there's the networking component of it, so you also have managers, and some independent labels. They might hear a producer who they think could work well with one of their artists.
Does it tend to be people who are more experienced or, do you have a good mix of amateurs?
It’s not so much amateurs. If they're amateur, from what I've experienced, they kind of sit back and utilize more of the networking tool of the event. They might get with a producer that might be using the same machine or the same software that they use. So they get a lot of, questions answered. As far as participation, most people will have been doing their craft is for several years. I’d say everything from mid grade to professional level, because we've had some producers who blessed SC LoFi that have done some great things in the industry as well.
What did it take to get those kinds of people into the room together?
It was consistency and perseverance. You know, you think that you're in the circle until you start in the event like this. For the first six months, pretty much the event was just me it was a laptop on one side, drum machine on the other. And for four hours, I was playing my own music or playing different instrumentals thinking, that because of social media I was doing in the industry prior, I just knew that people were going to show up.
But that's not what happened. It was just, it was basically a empty building at Hadiyah's Dream (retail shop). After month three, it's like, what's really going on here?
It was just very hard to get producers out of the bedroom. But once they came, then it was just like, “Man, okay, that's my man over there. Oh man. I ain't seen him in a while.” Once everyone connected and saw what was going on, then it was just like, man, this is something new that we definitely want to be a part of.
When you're sitting there month after month by yourself, how did you stay motivated?
I really have to put it in the hands of, Mr. Frank and Ms. Vaughn at Hadiyah's Dream. After the event would be over with, there were definitely some motivational-type talks they would give me, because after month three, I was just like, maybe this is not something that Greenville wants.
Month after month, they would say, “Just give yourself time.” I was there rent-free because they believed in what I was doing. They knew it was something that should be for the community. About eight months in, it finally took off.
And what made the difference? What finally got those producers out of their bedrooms?
I have to attribute that to (producer) Coach K out here in Greenville, South Carolina. I guess I finally broke through the algorithm and Coach K seen me on Instagram. When he came and saw no one else showed up, he couldn't understand, because he has a circle of emcees and producers that are personally connected with him.
The next month he was like, “Can I do a set with you?” Me and him going back and forth live on Instagram helped people see what this whole SC Lofi thing was.
So other people investing in your vision is really what took it over the top, and you being consistent is what allowed them to do that.
Exactly. Exactly.
What do you see as the next level? Is it having more people at the event? Is it doing more with the music and collaborations?
I'm ready to take SC Lo Fi on the road. The same way that I said for producers to come out of their bedrooms and let’s network, let’s be the foundation for hip hop like it once was. There are movements that are going on in Columbia, Charleston, Atlanta, Charlotte, even Raleigh Durham. I'm even thinking about doing SC LoFi event in Detroit, where I'm originally from.
We’re starting to do paid events. If the community really wants this thing, then they have to help support it. I'm just ready to take SC Lo Fi on the road, and become a staple truly in hip hop. If I could, I want to go national.
