Pensacola rapper Big Lo brings music diversity to Vinyl on Saturday


  • July 10, 2015
  • /   Mike Ensley
  • /   community-dashboard

Throw your preconceptions away at the door.

There a mash-up of electronic and hip-hop artists coming to the Vinyl Music Hall on Saturday, July 11, but according to James Lopez, also known as Pensacola rapper Big Lo, it’s not what people might imagine.

“This show is a great way to introduce audiences to different forms of electronic music,” Lopez said. “It’s a diverse lineup of artists with hip hop, electronic dance music and traditional deejaying.”

The acts for Saturday’s event include performers based in Pensacola like Lopez, DJ Bodyslanga and Megan Davis, as well as Atlanta-based acts such as hip-hop group Mighty High Coup and EDM performer Eddie Gold.

“We really wanted to bridge the gap between the two cities musically,” Lopez said.

Davis, who DJs regularly at 5 ½, located adjacent to Vinyl, will open the show and spin between the other artists’ sets throughout the evening.

“Megan is a specialist in House music,” Lopez said. “She will keep the crowd going.”

Mighty High Coup’s popular hip-hop songs have been featured on BBC Radio and AMC’s hit series “Breaking Bad.”

“My music is really traditional hip hip,” Lopez said. “DJ Bodyslanga and I have been working together since 2009.”

The pair have opened for acts like Geto Boys, Bone Thugs N Harmony, Slum Village, Rapper Big Pooh, Mobb Deep, Curren$y, Lil Kim and Nappy Roots as well as playing a set on the Vans Warped Tour.

“It’s really exciting to have the homecoming for Eddie Gold,” said Lopez.

Gold, who hails from Pensacola, has become a driving force in the EDM scene in Atlanta and performs at large music festivals across the country. Saturday’s performance will mark the first time he’s returned to play a local venue.

Chris Wilkes, talent buyer at Vinyl Music Hall, says that with the combination of Gold and Big-Lo, the crowd on Saturday should be both large and diverse.

“While we don’t book the show ourselves, seeing Big Lo’s shows grow over the past few years has been great,” Wilkes said. “Big Lo is a draw locally and with Gold in the mix. It will be interesting to see how many people come out.”

For those interested, but have reservations about attending a “hip-hop” show, Lopez says they shouldn’t be worried.

“In all the years of doing these shows, we’ve never had a fight or incident,” he said. “The crowd is diverse and very welcoming to everyone.”

Wilkes agrees.

“We’ve held a lot of hip-hop shows here (at Vinyl) and there’s no more problems at these shows than any other,” he said. “We don’t bring on extra security or anything like that. It’s just not needed.”

In fact, Lopez says attendees should expect one thing on Saturday: fun.

“This show is going to be very positive,” Lopez said. “People should expect lots of dancing, lyricism and very high energy all night.”

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