City's hottest hip-hop party is turning 10 years old
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Slappers N Bangers regularly fills out the alley next to Trace Brewing in Bloomfield. Photo: Courtesy of Slappers N Bangers
It's time to shake it.
Why it matters: Pittsburgh's hip-hop scene is growing and showing out at DJ-driven events across the city, especially dance parties like Slappers N Bangers, which is turning 10 years old this weekend with a massive show at Stage AE.
🕺 Catch up quick: Slappers N Bangers started in 2015 at Spirit in Lawrenceville, in the same venue where local rap legend Mac Miller was holding a record release party, co-founder DJ Arie Cole tells Axios.
- Cole said the party was in the basement and the record release was upstairs, but people were moving in between both, which helped Slappers N Bangers get on people's radar.
- The party moved to Brillobox between 2016 and 2019, where it built up a loyal and dedicated fan base.
- Then things really started to pick up after the pandemic, when event spaces like Trace Brewing and Thunderbird Cafe started hosting Slappers N Bangers.
What they're saying: "It just pushed the culture," Cole said. "We believe that people want to go to places that prioritize music."
- More than 4,000 people are expected to fill Stage AE this weekend, he said.
- Over the summer, Slappers N Bangers had one of its biggest crowds ever when 6,500 showed up to its block party in Larimer.
📻 Listen up: Slappers N Bangers hosts DJs who play hip-hop, R&B, and trap music — a subgenre of rap from the South — the kind of non-mainstream music fans could hear only on their headphones, Cole said.
- That includes national acts like Lay Bankz and Veeze, as well as local rappers like Benji.
- Avoiding filler songs was key — just slappers and just bangers, Cole said.
State of play: There was a demand for playing only hip-hop, but Cole said many local clubs wouldn't oblige, so he and co-founder DJ NFD started a party themselves.
- Cole said their events reject bottle culture and exclusivity that permeates in club culture, and fans have responded well to that.
- Shows are usually hosted on Sundays, because many fans work in the service industry and are off that day, Cole said.
The bottom line: "We want to transform places. We want it to feel atmospheric and just play the music with no filler," he said.
📍 If you go: The 10th anniversary party runs from 4 to 10pm Sunday at Stage AE in the North Shore.
- 21 and over
- $45 for general admission