Every year, the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival attracts over 2,000 artists, representing all genres and all nationalities, to Austin, Texas, a city of under a million people. Things can and will get chaotic there, with the city's main drag, 6th Street, transformed into a sea of fans, performers, rappers, and their entourages. Shows are crowded and tough to get into, and making a name for yourself among all of the competition is difficult, but the wild, crazy environment does have its upsides.
Along with New York's CMJ festival, which recently seems to have gone under, SXSW is the premier coming-out party for up-and-coming artists. The multiple-venue approach means that you can play as many as four shows a day (perhaps more if you're insane), and the bar of entry is low, usually meaning that the music industry's biggest names shy away from the festival, though that's changed in the past few years thanks to big companies like Spotify hosting their own stages. Sure enough, a few unsigned or under-the-radar rappers break out every year, ending up at the top of critics' festival lists, or even causing headlines because of their antics.
The following are five artists who dominated the conversation during a particular year of SXSW, and have their success at the festival to thank for at least part of their ensuing careers. Be sure to check back, because we'll have the low down on who this year's break out artists are once the festival is over with.
Kid Cudi, 2009
By March 2009, Kid Cudi already had his excellent 2008 tape A Kid Named Cudi and a few key guest appearances on Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreaks under his belt, but he still had a lot of buzz to build before putting out his debut album that fall. Luckily, he capitalized at SXSW 2009, playing a few shows by himself and one huge one with Kanye West and G.O.O.D. Music at the Fader Fort. His antics included dancing on the bar at Aces Lounge, getting a very hype intro from A-Trak before a surprise set at a Fool's Gold show, and performing A Tribe Called Quest's "Buggin' Out" with Consequence and Kanye. Check out a video of that below.
Freddie Gibbs, 2010
The blue collar Freddie Gibbs isn't really the type of rapper you'd expect to gain exposure from hype-driven events like South By, but in 2010, he was the talk of the town. He booked eight shows for his first trip to Austin, meaning that if you were attending rap shows that week, you probably caught a Gibbs set whether you meant to or not. Fresh off of breakout tapes The Miseducation of Freddie Gibbs and midwestgangstaboxframecadillacmuzik, Gangsta Gibbs would go on to put out Str8 Killa No Filla later that year, and start his fruitful artistic partnership with Madlib a few months later. Below, watch him perform "Boxframe Cadillac" in 2010.
Odd Future, 2011
Tyler The Creator and Hodgy Beats' demonic performance of "Sandwitches" on Jimmy Fallon in February 2011 is definitely the event that got their hype train rolling, but a month later, SXSW cemented them as the next big thing. The LA collective made their name that year stage-diving, crowd-surfing, and column-climbing, coming out as the definitive punk-rap group for a new generation. Their hypestorm may have been short-lived, but it provided a platform for some hugely successful careers. The best moment of their 2011 SXSW though? This legendary Nardwuar interview:
Chance The Rapper, 2013
In March 2013, Acid Rap was still a month away from release. Chance had achieved some success with 10 Day a year earlier, but he was definitely still on the come-up. He debuted several tracks from his upcoming tape at the handful of shows he played in Austin that year, and his charisma and rapping ability shone through to clearly eager crowds. What's more, SXSW 2013 also provided him with the Acid Rap artwork via this picture he snapped with a fan while there. Below, watch Chance debut "Good Ass Intro."
Anderson .Paak, 2016
Anderson .Paak had already guested on albums by Dr. Dre and The Game, and released his own LP Malibu before hitting South By last year, but that didn't stop him from playing a whopping twelve shows. A longtime session musician and busker, .Paak treated the outing like a make-or-break event, showing how much of a workhorse he is by tirelessly running around the city all week. He notched a Nardwuar interview in the process, and became known as one of the best live acts in America, a status that helped when he embarked on his on tour a few months later. Watch his full NPR set from last year below.