me afOreo Jones turned to t os -h co 33 t10 Al y m to throw a hip-hop ometime this spring, d said, “I think I’m going an k ea br air an g pin – and still think ter wrap you think?” I thought do t ha W . re ua Sq n p in Indifestival in Fountai in a long time. Hip-ho ard he e I’v a ide st be e owcasing all kinds – that is just about th ht now that a festival sh rig g tin es er int d an al matically shot ana is so vit Fountain Square auto ble lka wa ry ve e th in y fundraiser of it for a full da better? The event is a en Ev r. da len ca er m m tions to the top of my su , and there’s all-ages op ee Tr ily m Fa l ica us M fit all about, with for local music nonpro l learn what Chreece is u’l yo s, ge pa w fe xt ne artist Lisa all day. In the le hand drawn by local du he sc ll fu a d an s ist a breakdown of art . Jones take it from here COPLEN Berlin Jackson. We’ll let
S
— KATHERINE
PHOTO BY JENN GOODMAN
Chreece founder Oreo Jones
UNIFYING MIDWEST HIP-HOP
WITH A DAY OF CHEERS AND PEACE
I
first glimpsed Indianapolis hip-hop culture in 2010. DJ Metrognome and company held a hip-hop summit at the Martin Luther King Jr. Service Center off Illinois. That day would be my first billed show as an artist playing my own set. As I look back at the five years since that summit, it seems as if the entire city has evolved immensely – but nowhere more so than our flourishing hip-hop community. I’ve played all over the country since then and I can say with confidence that there is no place like home. Each side of the city has its own distinct flavor; from the Westside to the East, everyone is making their mark somehow or someway and contributing to Indianapolis hip-hop. This winter I worked on a project with Sirius Blvck, and I romanced the idea of throwing a huge music festival. I have an annoying habit – like
many of you – that propels me to constantly tackle a million projects that at first seem daunting, but eventually work themselves out. GhostGunSummer, a hip-hop collective I am a part of, played a show at Pizza King in Fountain Square, and I mentioned my idea to Jon Rogers, the executive director of Musical Family Tree. MFT is so significant to Indiana music that I wanted to take it a step further and create a vessel to stimulate some funds for their newly formed 501c3. On that day in January we decided to move forward and start planning Chreece. Chreece is a drunken portmanteau I accidentally created on my cooking show Let’s Do Lunch. I meant to toast Abbi Merris from Bluebeard, who was cooking that day on the show, and my brain could not decipher between peace and
cheers. Thus, the word Chreece was born. It kind of spread like wildfire, and I decided it was the perfect title for such a celebration. My intentions are to unify every emcee in the state and beyond to come together for a day of Cheers and Peace to Indiana hip-hop culture, everyone from the art rappers to the trappers, the experimental to the based, and the golden age. It is important that everyone knows how important and special hip-hop is in our state. From the afternoon to the evening there will be something for everyone to explore and enjoy, and Fountain Square is the perfect neighborhood because everything is within walking distance. — OREO JONES
FOUNDER OF CHREECE
NUVO // 100% RECYCLED PAPER // 08.26.15 - 09.02.15 // CHREECE 19