The Arizona Hip Hop Festival Is Back This December – AntTheVillain Blog

The Arizona Hip Hop Festival is back this December, and it's a bigger deal than it might look at first glance. This is the 14th annual run of the festival, hosted by [No Jumper](https://www.instagram.com/nojumper/), the LA-based hip hop podcast and media brand built around Adam22. It's happening December 12th, and it's tied to [Justus Samuel's Respect the Underground](https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/music/justus-samuel-discusses-the-most-important-month-in-arizona-hip-hop-history-8608201/), one of the most established platforms in the state's scene. A lot of people in the Valley just call it the Phoenix hip hop festival, even though the official name is [Arizona Hip Hop Festival](https://www.instagram.com/azhiphopfest/). Doesn't matter what you call it, it's the same real thing. Fourteen years running is real. That's not a one-off pop-up, that's an actual institution in Arizona hip hop, and having a brand like No Jumper attached to it says something about where this scene's attention is heading. Phoenix hip hop has never needed outside validation to be real. MC Magic built Nastyboy Records from the ground up. Mega Ran turned video game samples into a Grammy-nominated, independent career. Injury Reserve pushed the sound somewhere nobody else in the state was willing to go. This festival is one more piece of a scene that's been building for decades, whether or not the rest of the country was paying attention. If you're in the Valley, December 12th is worth having on your radar. I'll post the real update the second there is one. In the meantime, [here's where you can hear what I've been building](https://www.antthevillain.com/music).