Satisfy your hankering for hip-hop on Saturday

Loving hip-hop and living in Maine is sometimes like being a surfer and living in Kansas: It just doesn’t work. I’m not talking about high schoolers blasting Nelly or 50 Cent from their parents’ cars; I’m talking about the guy who owns all of Public Enemy’s albums, and knows that there’s more to life than bling and Bentleys. When your only options for making or seeing music tend to be either jam bands, nu-metal or country, you end up holing up in your bedroom, playing your scratched-up records over and over and pining for Brooklyn circa 1989.

Fortunately, things seem to be looking up for the average hip-hop head in Maine. DJs and MCs from throughout Maine have been converging on Portland, mainly at the Free Street Taverna, a club that hosts a hip-hop night every Monday. They’re bringing with them a forward-looking, grass-roots music scene versed not only in hip-hop, but also jazz, funk and electronic.

Paul Bosse, an Old Town native and a fixture on the Maine music scene for many years is doing his part to extend the reach of the Portland hip-hop community to points north. Tomorrow’s showcase at Soma 36 in Orono features some of Maine’s best DJs and MCs, along with local mainstay Myke Billings on guitar, Adam Frederick, from the Emilia Dahlin trio, on bass, and Bosse, who bills himself as the “beat mechanic,” on drums.

“Portland has a beautiful thing going on with indie music,” Bosse said Wednesday. “Everyone that’s in this group is really educated in different musical styles and have been in multiple bands together.”

Bosse thinks DJs in Maine have a leg up on others in different areas.

“People have access to cheap vinyl around here due to Bull Moose Music,” Bosse said, referring to the chain of music stores in Maine and New Hampshire. “For hip-hop, which revolves around this turntable thing, access to great records means more music.”

Bosse checks Sole, one of the founders of Anticon, as a major influence in what’s going on in Portland now. Anticon, the now-famous hip-hop collective, is known for its innovative, experimental take on hip-hop, and its fiercely independent spirit, boasting alumni such as Sage Francis and Buck 65.

This weekend’s show brings in Brzowski, an independent MC from Portland. DJ Mayonnaise, who’s recorded extensively with Anticon artists, provides the beats, along with DJ Les, who moonlights as the saxophonist for Bangor’s jazz-funk outfit Plan B.

If you like hip-hop, you should be at Soma on Saturday (though underagers will be disappointed to learn the event is 21+). If there’s one thing that’s held true for musicians and fans anywhere, whether it’s New York City or Williwhacks, Maine, it’s that you make your own scene. Saturday might be just what you’re looking for.

Brzowski, DJ Mayonnaise, DJ Les, the Beat Mechanic, Myke Billings and Adam Frederick will play at 9 p.m. Saturday at Soma 36 in Orono. Tickets are $5, and more information can be found at www.angryrodent.com. Emily Burnham can be reached at eburnham@bangordailynews.net.