The year is finally concluding, so I’m sharing a short list of events I attended (and loved) in 2025. As a professional DJ and self-proclaimed club connoisseur, I’m positive that some are hoping for raves to check out. I’m sorry to burst your bubble but this piece is dedicated to underground hip hop and rap-focused D.I.Y. events. Specifically in New York City.
Some events I have attended more than others, but that doesn’t diminish the work or community cultivated by other organizers. I think one common feeling I get, or leave with, after attending these events is inspiration. It can be creating something new, revisiting an incomplete project, or looking for more of the artists’ I just saw.
Without further adieu, here are my TOP 5 underground hip hop D.I.Y. events put on in 2025. In alphabetical order…
Another Rap Show
Hands down, Another Rap Show, or ARS, is my favorite underground rap showcase to attend in Brooklyn. This series is coordinated by Duncecap and NahReally, both who are no strangers to the culture or curating D.I.Y. events. They put their minds and resources together to bring the movers and shakers in underground hip hop into one room. Every one or two months, these individuals gather at Secret Pour on a Thursday night to listen to rap music. The room encompasses DJs, beat makers, and rappers/MCs, even journalists and visual artists. And despite this congregation occurring in Brooklyn, attendees are also seeing acts residing in Virginia, Seattle, Philadelphia, and New Jersey. It’s also refreshing to see women in the room, as talent or supporters.
Flip a Beat Club (Flipabeatclub)
Flip a Beat Club (Flipabeatclub), or FABC, is an interesting concept and community. For starters, this event series is not exclusive to Brooklynites. Flip a Beat originated in Sacramento co-founded by Donell McGary and Armando Montesinos, better known as “Dibia$e” and “Mon$rock”. What started out as a monthly meetup, became a community for beat-makers and creatives to hone their production skills. Because this list is based on D.I.Y. events in Brooklyn, New York, I’m going to share in detail how FABC in New York is structured and executed. But there is a chapter of FABC in various cities nationwide.
FABC in New York is hosted by Nothing Neue, Sxrg, and Wavy Bagels for a brief moment. For in-person meetups, everyone would link at TheREP Music Cafe on Nostrand Avenue. With their music making gear/software of choice in hand, folks would pop a squat and get comfortable. Once they’re supplied with a crate of samples to rework or flip, they’d get down to business. The last step is repeated for every person that enters. Hours go by, and hopefully all beat makers in attendance have at least one beat made they’d like to share. The next and final part is my favorite, because it reminds me of Show-and-Tell or a talent show. Everyone gets a chance to play their flipped beat. Usually, the entire room is attentively listening and supportive of whoever is currently sharing. Once share outs are over, everyone’s mixing and mingling with one another. It’s truly a sight to see!
Each person has their own reasons for attending FABC. Some are in search of community, while others are flexing their beatmaking muscles, or breaking out of their comfort zone. Regardless of their intent for attending FABC, they’re all leaving with a larger network of creatives and a new beat.
Heart Beats
Let’s jump back into the realm of showcases. Heart Beats is another event series I try my very best to attend. It’s curated by Brooklyn-based musical artists and community organizers, A. Sarr and ell.html. Heart Beats is like a gold-bearing mine, you’re going to find a ton of gems. While music showcases will always be popular, they can at times be very stale or slow paced. Heart Beats is anything but that. It sits at the intersection of club music and the beat scene, being the pulse linking the two niche communities. With that said, you’re never bored at a Heart Beats showcase.
I love attending Heart Beats for a variety of reasons. Firstly, I think it’s hard to get bored at Heart Beats because people are usually dancing. It’s not like your typical showcase where event goers are standing around the performing artist like zombies. Instead, hips are shaking and bodies are moving. Secondly, I like recognizing some of the faces from the other D.I.Y. events previously mentioned, Another Rap Show and Flipabeatclub. It serves as a reminder that people can have multiple interests, especially different genres of music. And finally, I do love the duality component. Heart Beats does a great job at including talent from both the club and beat making scenes. Even the collectives they collaborate with puts an emphasis on the way they cultivate community. It’s never about exclusion, but inclusiveness. Whether it’s incorporating marginalized people or helping them. And who wouldn’t want to be a part of a community that’s selfless?
House of Aura
House of Aura is another D.I.Y. showcase focused on highlighting underground rap artists and beat makers. This event series is at the helms of the multi-talented HOA Bossman, Brooklyn bred and raised. House of Aura is probably the only event on this list not hosted in Kings County, but in New York. That’s Manhattan for my folks getting lost in the back. House of Aura meets once a month at OS New York, a lounge for gamers, streamers, and content creators alike. This event is one I really need to get acquainted with because I often forget what I go there for. What do I mean by that? I see old faces I want to catch up with, and new ones I want to get to know. Sometimes I want to belt out into song and dance, when the DJ is playing that sh*t. Or rap. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to freestyle when someone ill got their MPC plugged up. Basically, I forget I’m there for a show because I got caught up networking or feeling like a kid again. I don’t know what your childhood consists of, but my favorite moments were playing video games, listening to hip hop. And that’s why I enjoy going to House of Aura any chance I get.
Reel Talk: Artist’s Choice Movie Night
Last, but certainly not the least, Reel Talk created by Dylan “CineMasai” Green. For those of you who don’t know, CineMasai is a prominent music journalist, critic, and cultural writer. I became a fan of his work during his time at Pitchfork, and have been locked in ever since. In addition to his writings, he hosts a podcast called Reel Notes, where he invites rappers, producers, journalists, etc. to talk about rap music and film. Just last year, he published his first book, “Reel Notes: Culture Writing on the Margins of Music and Movies.” A collection of essays exploring the connection between film and hip hop, sharing the same mission as the podcast. I’m still not sure which came first, but I know that we now have Reel Talk: Artist’s Choice Movie Night.
I’m honestly sick to my stomach I was only available to attend one of the three special events this year. But I have heard through the grapevine that the other screenings and artist interviews were just as phenomenal. Including the ones from last year. I am a little biased though, because the Reel Talk I attended was at Stuart Cinema & Cafe. Yup! It was in an actual movie theater. CineMasai and event sponsor, Loud Mouth BK, definitely ate that! The special guest artist for this particular Reel Talk was Pink Siifu, and the movie he chose was “Blade” (1998). Overall the event production as a whole was incredible. And I hope there’ll be another one at a theater soon.
One last thing I want to add is that I really love when podcast creators bring their show to life. Reel Notes Live events are structured just like the podcast, just with a live audience. Reel Talk takes the live event a step further by incorporating a film screening, and that’s just so ingenious.
These D.I.Y. events were not the only ones I attended this year, but they stood out to me the most. Each event and its organizer(s) are adding something valuable to their respective communities. And there are more out there in Brooklyn, New York City, and beyond. There were a few honorable mentions I want to highlight: Satellite Sessions, Bouquet Beats, and The Link Up with QSTV. There’s a lot of overlap between these and the ones mentioned above. That right there should tell you just how small the D.I.Y. music community really is.
Satellite Sessions was dope because it added a different feel listening to rap music or a beat set. It was very lounge-like, and again it’s always nice to see a kind familiar face. I also feel like the organizers, SwngLow and Nothing Neue, did a great job curating each night.
Bouquet Beats is another fun event to attend, curated by Chenoa Tarin, Just Milk, and Dewey ’87. Bouquet Beats has the same feel as House of Aura to me. I’m really comfortable with the people in the room, it’s all familiar faces. Not to mention, almost every person in attendance has a card game ready to play. It’s definitely like a family affair, everyone’s really welcoming and extremely talented.
It’s been a while since I’ve attended The Link Up with QSTV, I need to go back! Quality Sounds TV, co-created by sibling duo Vicki Casis and Marcus Machado, curates monthly producer linkups usually at Filthy Diamond. They recently collaborated with House of Aura for an event at OS New York, and the highlights looked amazing. (Still got some overlap!) For me personally, I love the nights when QSTV’s highlighting the women and femme in the producer community. Sometimes it can get real masculine but I still think co-founders do a great job balancing out the lineup.
That just about concludes my short list of underground hip hop events I attended, and loved, this past year. I definitely enjoyed putting this together, it also forces me to dump all this content I’ve been hoarding. I’m really excited to see what these organizers have in store for 2026. I sure hope my calendar isn’t too hectic and I can attend just a couple more for each D.I.Y. event.
