Summary: <p>With Chapel Hill’s third annual hip-hop festival Hillmatic fast approaching this Friday and Saturday, we took to the Runaway Pod Network airwaves with a special BONUS POD featuring festival organizers Kevin Thomas and Shaw Hargett, also known as Kaze and Bumrush. Both long-time curators and collaborators in the Chapel Hill scene, Thomas and Hargett are passionate about making sure that Chapel Hill’s pivotal place in the history of North Carolina hip-hop — including epic beat battles and MC showcases that featured the likes of 9th Wonder, Khrysis, Phonte and J Cole — is not forgotten. As the sole “college town” in the Chapel Hill-Raleigh-Durham trifecta, they’ve got an uphill climb. But as our interview shows, they’re more than well-equipped for the grind.</p> <p>To round out the show, Holland, Ryan and Alex cover other North Carolina festival news that came out over the past week, including an expanded lineup for Moogfest, a new date, headliners and major venue for Art Of Cool (Nas!), and how those moves affect the young but growing Beats N Bars hip-hop festival that runs every September in Durham.</p> <p>Get tickets to Hillmatic here: <a>https://www.etix.com/ticket/c/5DC4925C79D60FBB105C9DB9971D74F5/2-day-pass</a></p>
