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Donkey Coffee To Host Hip-Hop Showcase This Weekend
By: Emily Votaw
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At first glance, Donkey Coffee may not seem like the premier spot in Athens to catch fresh beats and sharp rhymes.
This Saturday, several hip-hop dynamos from Columbus plan to shatter that misconception with the UDrop Entertainment Showcase.
"It’s a more intimate setting, closer to the crowd," said UDrop's Terence Robertson.
"It’s like they can actually hear you, can actually understand and feel you. Usually you’re on a stage five or ten feet higher than the audience and they’re all looking up at you, and there isn’t that connection," he added.
Troy Gregorino, the booking manager at Donkey, couldn’t agree more.
"Donkey has established a solid reputation as arguably the best venue in town for acoustic music, but I've discovered that the atmosphere there also lends itself to really memorable shows of all sorts," he said.
The coffeehouse's move to include a more diverse array of performers is due to Gregorino, who hosts Donkey's weekly open stage. There's a lot of untapped musical talent in this region–and not all of that talent strums a guitar.
Plus, Athens and Columbus audiences aren't that different, according to Robertson.
"Because of the university, the community in Athens is very diverse, like Columbus is," he said. "And even though the music scene here is different, there is definitely still an interest in hip hop. When you play in Athens, people will travel to see you and they really make an effort to support you."
Whether you're making the trek from Columbus or walking up from OU's West Green, Donkey's house blend of beats and baristas is worth the trip.
The show time is 9 p.m. Visit UDrop's ReverbNation page for more information.