The Beat Grinder producer battles at Capital City Records packed hip-hop lovers in between record bins, where they'd head-nod vigorously and cheer the illest new tracks from local beatmakers. Since the U Street vinyl shop closed a few years ago, the event has been without a home. To fill the void, a host of local hip-hop scene contributors including Inner Loop Records and Kickballers bring The Beatdown to Chief Ike's Mambo Room tonight. Don't expect a bunch of noobs who just took their first MPC's out of the box or are still trying to make a 9th Wonder track with Fruity Loops software. Tonight's lineup has some pretty high profile track placements: Kev Brown's work can be found on albums by De La Soul and DJ Jazzy Jeff, while J-Scrilla's made his mark in New York with N.O.R.E. and Smif-N-Wessun. Nfinit, Best Kept Secret and Overok round out the showcase, which also features performances by Tabi Bonney and Black Irish.

-- Rhome Anderson (Sept. 2007)