Sat Night Feel Good: DC Has Hip Hop

Celebrate DC hip hop at Flex Mathews' DC Has Hip Hop Block Party. The party will feature Djs, open mics, live graffiti and more.

Flex was born in Germany and is a native of South Dakota yet calls the nation's capital his "musical home." He is widely considered the area's dopest freestyle rapper (watch below). The hip hop vet gave DCist (full interview here) his take on state of DC's overlooked hip hop scene:

They don’t appreciate it cause they’ve had it their whole lives. It’s like a little kid with a toy, you lose interest, you don’t want to play with it anymore. A lot of people rip on D.C.’s music scene, and I think it’s wack. When you come from a place where there is no music scene, like South Dakota, and you get to a place where there is a music scene, you fall head over heels for it.

He was recently named best local rapper by DC's City Paper, beating out Wale and Rosetta Stoned. Flex has shared the stage with KRS-One, Talib Kweli, Lupe Fiasco and Immortal Technique and performed for the likes of Obama and Hilary Clinton as part of the Take Back America campaign.