Shawn Childress, who releases funky hip-hop tracks under the name Awdazcate, has a thing for waffles. It’s in the name of his loose collective (Waffle Gang), his online radio show (Waffle Season), and his annual festival, aka Waffle Fest, which celebrates this city’s underground hip-hop scene. Since its debut in 2011 the bash has showcased a multigenerational array of local acts, and Waffle Fest Four is no different: the bill includes Molemen rapper Astonish, long-grinding rapper Longshot, and Wogz, a youngster who raps, sings, and plays violin.
Did you have waffles there?
Did Waffle Fest start Waffle Gang? Which came first?
If I have a show or I ask artists to submit music for Waffle Gang radio I’m like, “Man, this dude is dope, let’s see if he or she can do a dope 15-minute set.” And if the set is dope then I ask them to do Waffle Fest. It doesn’t necessarily have to be hip-hop, it could be some rock shit, whatever. Every year I’m just trying to bring something new to the table.
You’ve gotta sprinkle some of your knowledge on them, and if they can take it—the whole point is, when we started, was networking. The whole point is if they’re in the show and they can see this, then maybe they’ll do their own fest, or pass the word on on how to make an event, and continue doing events and making music. The music is only gonna last so long, as long as you have the ears, keep making music, but the older you get you gotta look into other things.
