Music City Doesn’t Just Mean Country: Where to Find Nashville’s Hip Hop Scene with Lord Goldie

Lord Goldie, as a Nashville Native, gives us an insight to Nashville’s “not-so-underground” Hip Hop Scene.

Lord Goldie, AKA Karizma, is a person of many names, and a Nashville native who’s been an active participant in Nashville's hip hop scene since the early 2000’s.

She got her start in high school through a group called Thuggin’ For A Purpose (TFP). The promoters who were hosting teen dance nights at places like Mix Factory, Palladium, and Night Life, were also the ones who got the group started. As she became an adult, she credits her good friends Bzy & DJ Money Green for helping her get back out into the scene.

The Nashville hip hop scene has always had an underground presence; however, its height was in 2007. It was an “out of the trunk hustle” as Goldie puts it. “You had to go to local music stores such as New LIfe records to get CD’s of most of the local artists.” These records were being recorded out of trailers in the back of their parents’ homes, and hustled out of the same trailer where they recorded. “Catching plays and laying down bars” as Goldie puts it.

Today, Goldie notes that some of the best places to see local hip hop are The East Room, The Cobra, Bonafyde, The End, Exit/In, Analog, Basement East, The Basement, BentoLiving Chestnut Hill, Flash Me Xperience, Di’vine House & more! None of which are on the iconic touristy scene of Broadway. The Nashville hip hop scene is making its way up from underground, and you can support these local artists by sharing their music, attending shows, and buying merch.

“...(Just be) an advocate of raising awareness to the big, hidden, in-your-face hip hop scene we have going on here!”

You can hear more of Goldie’s music at our August 31st showcase at The East Room, and check out more here!