'The City Is on Fire,' Says Spin of St. Louis' Music Scene

Writer Daniel Scheffler "loved, loved, loved" what he found at St. Louis house parties and hip-hop underground

Nov 8, 2023 at 12:46 pm

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Courtesy Torrey Holliday VIA INSTAGRAM

Torrey Holliday, the videographer behind the popular videography business, Torrey Production, is just one small facet of what makes St. Louis' music scene great.

Spin has a thing for the St. Louis music scene. Yesterday, the legendary music magazine published an article — nay, an ode — to what we have going on here.

Written by Daniel Scheffler, “History Repeating Itself: Once again, St. Louis, steeped in music lore, is emerging as a vibrant new music scene” covers everything from the things we all know about (the history of blues here, Tina Turner, Mississippi Nights, Nelly, even Mark Twain) to what we should all know about (the Kranzberg Arts Foundation and Music at the Intersection) to the emerging and underground.

Scheffler pays special attention to the city’s underground hip-hop scene, calling it “aflame," in the best way possible.

“A few of the bars right downtown have these tiny basements where young rappers come to battle it out,” he writes. “... The good traveler I am, I sniffed the bar out and pranced down some tiny stairs. They don’t call it freestyle for nothing. The poetry, the love from a beastie crowd … and that vitiator air. Man, it sucker-punched me in a delicious way.”

The writer also visited Oz nightclub in Sauget, Illinois, and found his way into basements where teen troubadours were “experiment[ing] wildly” in person and on TikTok. Their sounds and styles blended genres.

“This felt new to me, as a ’90s kid who hosted many themed parties and wild soirees, this night had a queerness, a certain futurism to it that I didn’t recognize — but loved, loved, loved in a hopeful way,” Scheffler writes.

The reason for St. Louis’ perpetual edge and its sizable basement scene, he concludes, comes both from the city’s strong musical history and low cost of living, which makes many things possible.

Just a look at Scheffler’s sourcing for this piece — everyone from producer Carl Nappa to Vintage Vinyl owner Tom “Papa” Ray to Townsendx3 Agency founder Alonzo Townsend — reveals just how much musical life there is in this town.

To Scheffler, we say, thanks for noticing. And to everyone in St. Louis, get out and listen to some Paige Alyssa, Head, Torrey Holliday, Hippyfuckers and all the rest out there doing their thing. They're a big part of what makes St. Louis great.