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Volume 47, Number 22 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. THURSDAY, February 25, 2021
The Chronicle presents the
Black History Cypher
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
Culture is defined as
the customs, arts, social
institutions, and achieve
ments of a particular na
tion, people or other social
group, and nothing says
Black or African American
culture like hip-hop. Cre
ated on the streets of New
York in the mid-1970s, for
years hip-hop has been the
voice of the people and to
day this art of storytelling
is exported and recreated
across the world.
To celebrate hip-hop
and Black History Month,
a few weeks ago The
Chronicle invited seven lo
cal artists to participate in
a cypher. The term cypher
refers to a friendly group
performance where a beat
is played and the different
artists take turns perform
ing their verse.
The artists were asked
to write a verse on cul
ture, to a beat supplied by
The artist featured in the cypher were asked to focus their verse on culture.
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Photos by TheMoonRunners
Earlier this month The Chronicle invited six local artist to partiepate in a rap cypher
Grammy Award-winning
producer 9th Wonder, who
is a graduate of Glenn
High School. The artists
were invited by local vid
eographer and artist man
ager Gregg Penn. Before
recording at Digital Re
cordings (DLR) studio on
Indiana Ave., on Thursday,
Feb. 12, artists sat down
to discuss the cypher,
the beat, culture, and the
current state of hip-hop.
Artists included Ricky
A
Ruckus, Chris Lewis, Cali
Madrid, 14K Numbers,
Young Dirt, Piiiiipe Ex
tras, and Royal P.
Although all the art
ists had a different flow
and sound, they all said it
was an honor to be invited
and to be able to rap to a
9th Wonder beat. Ricky
Ruckus, who is an artist
and a producer, said when
he first heard that 9th made
the beat, he knew he had to
come with his best.
“It just gives you that
classic feel and instantly I
was like, I know big bro is
going to hear this, I gotta
go in,” Ricky Ruckus said.
Young Dirt, who is a
native of Reidsville, said
he thought the cypher was
a good idea because it’s
time that we celebrate hip-
hop as an art form. He said,
“It’s time for that now and
I’m definitely happy to be
a part of it.”
purpose was and it made channel.
Local artist Ricky Ruckus at Digital Lab Recording before the start of the cypher
Chris Lewis echoed
those sentiments when
asked the same question.
He said, “With it being
Black History Month, the
timing was perfect.”
Cali and 14K Num
bers, who are both from
Winston-Salem, thanked
The Chronicle for creat
ing the platform for local
artists. “I put myself aside
and I looked at what the
me feel like I had a place
here,” Cali said.
14K Numbers said, “I
felt privileged just to have
this opportunity, especially
with the platform it’s being
presented on with us being
from here, that makes it
even bigger for me.”
The Black History
Month Cypher can be
viewed by visiting The
Chronicle’s YouTube