The Respect Tour Breaks Barriers Among Fayetteville’s Local Music Scene
posted by DorMiya Vance | February 14, 2022 | In Arts and CultureLocal East Coast Hip Hop and R&B artists teamed up this past January to create the independent-funded, four-city, five-show tour entitled “The Respect Tour!”
The Respect Tour brought awareness, opportunity, and unity to Fayetteville’s Hip Hop scene on a two-week span from January 16 to January 27, with support from local sponsors and the Fayetteville Arts Council.
This group of individuals traveled along the East Coast, performing in Fayetteville, Raleigh, Decatur, GA, and Orlando, FL, without the help of any major label or funding.
The mastermind behind the movement, Hip Hop artist and F.L.E.X. Records CEO, Ronald Clark, curated the heavy hitter lineup consisting of the next generation of Hip Hop and R&B artists.
The artists who graced each stage on The Respect Tour included James Vader, Mikey Wang Lavish, and Goldsboro Grams of 47Hundred, Malcolm Chester and Rob: Earth-One of The Social Contract, Clark of F.L.E.X. Records, and Namialus Validity.
The name of this tour comes as no coincidence.
Clark, along with the help of his team, designed this tour around his more recent work “RESPECT,” a fourteen-track studio album showcasing his lyricism and creativity as a “backpack,” or conscious, rapper.
“[I] just don’t accept the answer ‘no.’ They are people who will support what you do no matter what city, what state,” Clark expressed, “Just get real educated on not accepting the answer ‘no,’ and then you can do your own tour.”
In an exclusive, mid-tour interview with Pure Vybes Online Radio, Clark discussed the highs and lows of the tour and how he achieved tour success through “months of planning” and knowing the initiative was “bound to happen after the pandemic calmed down.”
For Clark, The Respect Tour is not the stopping point for F.L.E.X. Records. The Hip Hop artist plans to dedicate his time to making the “backpack” style of rapping more prevalent along the East Coast and helping other like-minded creatives in the process.
“For F.L.E.X., what I see is the next Roc Nation. Roc Nation works with everybody. Roc Nation helps everybody,” Clark said, “We have the keys right now that’ll get us to where we need to go.”
Clark and his handpicked lineup of The Respect Tour dominated all five East Coast stages leaving spectators anticipating even more from this talented group of young creatives as they continue to spread the message of unity, community, and opportunity through their musical careers.
To learn more about Clark and The Respect Tour, please visit https://www.instagram.com/flexrecords_/
Photos Courtesy of Christopher “Ace” Middleton
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