Meet Manuel Lara and Mykr FiendX AOTA Crew of Avenue Of The Arts Friday Night Live HipHop

Today we’d like to introduce you to Manuel Lara and Mykr FiendX AOTA Crew.

Manuel and Mykr, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Well, my story starts as an emcee in the 90’s in South Phoenix. I was raised in the Arizona Hip Hop scene since I was 16 years old. I’m from a larger collective of local legendary emcees, artist, deejays, and producers called Avenue Of The Arts who have been around for over 20 years.

The inception of my hip hop night started in 2007 with a couple of AOTA crewmates at a bar named the Hidden House. The night garnered some small success winning a few Phoenix New Time awards. As a host and performer, I used to shout out its “Friday Night Live,” over the mic trying to coin a phrase that could capture the essence of our night.

Time moved on my crewmates started spin-offs elsewhere after we moved on from the Hidden House Bar, I decided in 2016 to revamp a new version of AOTA Friday Night Live Hip Hop.

I seen an opportunity for the night at a spot with much potential called Thirdspace off of Grand Ave, along with their roster of events it needed something fresh, the night started on the last Friday’s of the month, and as its popularity grew and became the premiere night at Thirdspace so did my responsibilities. I was entrusted with other events and happenings.

So when longtime Thirdspace promoter and artist Dumperfoo moved out of state in the fall of 2016, I was tapped to be his replacement. From fall of 2016 I’ve been running the show so to speak, I do all the booking and scheduling for the night and make sure things run smooth and help set up the deejays for the night.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I would say that it has been interesting, definitely not a smooth road but trying to enjoy the memories walking this path.

It hasn’t been great struggles necessarily maybe hiccups along the way like trying to get a proper balance of veteran and new emcees artist and deejays on lineups or getting away from the mindset of the old guard and bringing everyone together as a whole despite the style of their genre of hip-hop music.

I wanna have folks root for the home team as a whole and as a state minus the gatekeepers.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Avenue Of The Arts Friday Night Live HipHop – what should we know?
What do I do? Well, I like to think I bring different folks together to have a good time, creating a vibe of community and uniting the state slowly without exploiting the culture I grew up in.

What is your favorite childhood memory?
What’s my favorite childhood memory as a kid, I would say shopping at Smitty’s as a kid with my younger sibling and my mom. Just something with the music and spending time doing something with them as you grow older you realize memories are worth more than gold.

Contact Info:

• Email: mykrfiendx@gmail.com
• Instagram: @mykraotacrew

Image Credit:
Anthony Carasco

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