Music: Muhlarkey Wit Markie

MUHLARKEY WIT MARKIE

Local hip-hop fan documenting the Evansville scene via video interviews with the main players

Markie Johnson's love of hip-hop came courtesy of a very in-the-know relative who religiously collected all the latest releases back in the day. "I always used to go over to my cousin Curtis' house - he'd have rows everywhere of CDs, tapes, everything," he recalls. "He'd go to work and I'd go upstairs and rummage through it all and play stuff." Through these covert listening sessions, the 31-year-old Evansville resident got introduced to the likes of Ice-T, The Notorious B.I.G., Snoop Dogg and N.W.A., developing a real fascination with west coast rappers. And while Johnson never felt compelled to try and follow in their footsteps, he made it a point to support the local scene; after all, he was friendly with many of the tri-state's main hip-hop players, having gone to school with a number of them and remained in contact post-graduation. And then about three years ago, Johnson took his interest to another level.

With encouragement from his late cousin Larry, Johnson made the leap from devoted fan to documenting the local hip-hop scene via video interviews with the main players. He began uploading his conversations - which Johnson playfully dubbed Muhlarkey Wit Markie - to YouTube, shedding light on talented area artists and groups like Angry Nerdz, Keló Kadddafi, Biddy, G Dezz, Scotty Hustle, Big Smoov, King Cylis, Big Coop, Dew Dirt, Apollo and more. His format? Seven basic questions - from "When did you start rapping?" to "What's changed since you first started rapping?" - that get to the heart of what makes each rapper tick. And while Johnson has focused exclusively on the Evansville scene to date, he's looking to branch out to Henderson and Owensboro and beyond to show just how far-reaching the tri-state hip-hop scene really is.

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