Hip-hop happening once again at Ushuaia

Bringing hip-hop shows to the Northeast is a labor of love for Sean Smith.

Through his Bangor-based production crew, Queen City Entertainment, the twenty-something has been working with little more than a passion for the music to feature hip-hop in Maine – as well as states just below the border.

This includes events such as last April’s Grab the Mic MC Battle at Ushuaia in Orono, which featured local rhymers battling it out for lyrical supremacy and a cash prize. The contest had such a high turnout, Smith says, that he had to turn away some eager MCs at the door because the night’s roster was all filled up – an encouraging sign that there’s a collective appetite for hip-hop even here, far away from its frequent urban venues.

Tonight, Smith and the Queen City crew return to Ushuaia to put on a show headlined by Wordsworth, former star of MTV’s “Lyricist’s Lounge Show.”

Known primarily for his impressive make-it-up-as-you-go free-styling skills, as highlighted on the now-defunct program, the aptly named Brooklyn MC has been flying just below the radar for years as a solo artist, not getting quite the exposure or airplay that some fellow “Lyricist Lounge” alums like Mos Def have. Still, Wordsworth’s verbal skills and lyrical flow, as well as his deft handling of weighty subjects, are head and shoulders above Puffy or Jay-Z and others, as can be heard on his debut solo disc, “Mirror Music.”

Also scheduled for tonight’s bill are local openers King Blaze and Boss and DJ Quez, as well as Boston-based rappers E3 and Grime Tha MC.

Smith says Queen City has more in store for the hip-hop hungry, including a January performance by Portland-based MC Poverty at Husson College, followed by a second Grab the Mic MC Battle later in the new year.

Tickets for tonight’s concert are $10 and are available at Bull Moose Music stores. For more on Queen City’s upcoming shows, e-mail queencityent123@aol.com. George Bragdon can be reached at gbragdon@bangordailynews.net.