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J-Hunt's goal: Projecting ˜Symphony" of Beantown rap voices
By: Chris Faraone
Wednesday, January 10, 2007

In 1988, Queensbridge rap producer Marley Marl's "Symphony" introduced rap fans to New York's most esteemed lyricists, including Big Daddy Kane and Kool G Rap.

Nearly 20 years later, Roxbury producer J-Hunt hopes to spin heads toward Beantown with his own version "The Boston Symphony". His anthem-sized collaboration packs verses from Frankie Wainwright of Team 220, Dorchester MC Norfolk Little, Lou Armstrong of the Hitmakerz, and Lecks and Brass of Hunt's SmokeHouse camp.

We didn't have a big sit-down meeting or round up a bunch of rival gang members, Hunt said. The concept was just to bring talented people together and do a track. Hunt's inspiration came at Club Crypt in Everett last January, while managing the Roxbury group Triple Threat.

There were no problems, but people weren't meshing, Hunt said. Boston's small, so everybody knows that they're around good people. I thought that a positive way to build would be to actually put something together instead of just sitting on opposite ends of the club.

One year after hatching his idea, the Boston Symphony squad - plus Hunt - will reunite at Club Crypt Friday night to perform the collaboration live. Boston Symphony isn't the first track to unite artists from different hoods. In 1998, rappers from Greater Boston linked to record Wiseguys in response to increasing gang warfare. With street violence rising once again, Hunt arranged to record his symphony at The Smokehouse, a Mattapan studio that's been a refuge for local artists since 2002.

Thanks to Triple Threat affiliate and Smokehouse manager Che Grimes, Hunt was able to manage his first studio with low overhead, allowing him to produce for up-and-coming artists at little to no cost.

Hunt now is in the process of finalizing five MCs to spit on The Boston Symphony Part 2. He won't name artists yet, but he promises they'll further represent the full spectrum of the Bean's rap scene.

A lot of people just talk about getting artists from different parts of the city and different neighborhoods together to do shows, Hunt said. Sure, everybody was already cool on the surface, but how cool could it really be if we're all that far apart?

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