Held on Saturday, August 30, 2008 @ Empire Bar in E. Rodriguez Sr., Ave, New Manila, QC, The 1st Philippine Hiphop Independent & Underground Ball was organized and presented by Butta-Flava Entertainment (BFE) in cooperation with the members and artists of The Pinoy Hiphop and R&B Community (THE PHRBC). Sponsors were T.U.R.F., Longevity Records, Skinworkz, The Flow on MaxFM, Bandstand.ph, Titikpilipino.com, Musiklokal.com.
The elements of Hiphop were featured and showcased which started from 4 in the afternoon until 4:00 the following morning.
There were 3 different sections in the bar: The PORCH where the Graf artists did their thing; The MAIN STAGE where the emcees/rappers performed; The INNER AREA where the Bboys/Bgirls rocked the floor!
The Pinoy Bomber Crew and KAZ came early to do some Graffiti outside just in time to decorate the stage.
The Beatboxing element was represented fully by Picoy Cruz and Josef Amarra Beatbox Philippines.
The Element of Breakdancing was lead by none other than JayMasta himself with the likes of Bboy Ice and crew (Funk Roots Crew & Mapua Breakers) and Bgirl Eyevee!
The DJ-ing element was represented by Dj Gero and Dj Ohckere.
The Element of Emceeing/Rapping were proudly represented by a number of artists, newcomers and veterans alike. English and Tagalog rappers were sharing the stage while witnessing the performances of everyone present.
The place was packed, with performances and appearances from the likes of Tokwa, JayFlava, Chrizo, Hotnixx, Pikaso, Krazykyle & Rapskallion (Amazing Kid, Hash One, La Marga), The Beatshop Artists (CB Automatic, Young JV, and Lyrically Deranged Poets aka as LDP) Astig Productions (Poeticast, SNK, Pinoy Disciples), Doobie Me, Messiah, Flowco and AC, Alaz ng Bliss, Onethedd Productions (Blanc.One & C3G), Gambino, Serpent Rhyme, Peter Parkher aka Beracah, Bullet, JR Prisno & MANA Bonifacio, Dj Sydric & Filtty J, Hearty da bomb ass Diggity, Dogg Community, Inca & the Renegades, 3SB, Pinoy Tripolantez, BFE Family, and a whole lot more!
A number of artists who were supposed to perform were also present but weren't able to stay that long to wait their turns due to commitments and living too far away. As expected, there were some artists who weren't able to make it to the event due to unexpected emergencies and circumstances. No worries as "The 2nd Indie Ball" will definitely occur.:)
The event was hosted by Jug aka Honeyluv of Butta-Flava, founder and leader of BFE and co-hosted by Flowco. Snapshots were handled by Gazelle and Viv of BFE.
Newcomers in the industry were also given the chance to perform early on during "Open Mic Hype" and a whole lot of artists who weren't able to sign up on time came trying to get a chance to perform that night. Unfortunately, due to the full line-up, we weren't able to accomodate everyone. But no worries, since we got the next one coming next year.
Audiences enjoyed the party and also got to buy their favorite shirts from T.U.R.F, one of the sponsors. T.U.R.F. had a booth there and numerous artists were there selling their cds the "underground and independent" way. T.U.R.F and Skinworkz provided prizes for the raffle draw.
Besides live performances, the event also heard some views and insight from Chrizo, JayMasta, and CB Automatic. Los of The OBS (Out of Body Special) was also there as he was supposed to share some views as well. Los is a long-time Buttalicious Events participant, co-host, and friend.
It was an exhausting but exciting night for Filipino Hiphop. We look forward to next year for the 2nd part of this ground-breaking event for Pinoy Underground and Independent Hiphop! Thanks to all of you who came, participated, and shared their talents and views. Shout outs to everyone who helped in their own little way of promoting the event by copy-pasting it on your websites, FS bulletin boards, word-of-mouth, and text brigade.
Special thanks to Amazing Kid for promoting the event on Wave 89.1FM! Shout outs to Krazykyle, La Marga, Amazing Kid, and Hash One for always being present at our events. Major respects to Pikaso for being the famous and great, but down-to-earth entrepreneur helping the culture.
Big ups to our friends, crew and staff at BFE for making this huge event take place. A big thanks to my co-founder and groupmate, Gazelle, for the huge help she provided in making all this possible. The countless tiring hours, months of preparation, and "not enough" sleep the day before coming from work was all worth it despite of some of the b.s. because we made history and celebrated the Filipino Independent and Underground Hiphop artist with a statement! This ain't just a BFE movement! This is a PINOY HIPHOPPAZ movement! *For more info on THE PINOY HIPHOPPAZ, visit and add: www.friendster.com/bfeevents.
For more photos, check out the PHOTO section here. For some videos from this event, visit: www.youtube.com/gazofbfe. We are still editing the video of the event. Watch out for it.
*If you have videos from this event, please contact us and we would love to have a copy of it uploaded on our site.
I hope I didn't forget anyone and if I did, it was not meant to happen. Peace! - Jug Honeyluv of Butta-Flava
