A high school friend once told me that you can’t listen to rap AND punk rock; you have to pick between one or the other. I laughed and quickly disagreed. Looking back, the craziest part of his statement was the fact that he was dead serious.

Fast forward a few decades to the Night of Punk Rock and Hip Hop at The Handlebar. The show featured Operation Hennessey, Guns to Fire, Big Lo, Inferno, X-Ray Vision, Unnatural Soundz, Dee and Crazed, DJBodySlanga and Kanye Twitty. The event was emceed by local comedian Bubbs Harris.

Event organizer Weston Wilkerson (DJBodySlanga) explained the importance of both genres when I asked him why he put on the event…but that will be detailed in the Night of Punk Rock and Hip Hop Part Deux.

– Michael L. Smith