For over three decades, Ship and Anchor has been loved and celebrated by the community here in Calgary. In its long standing history, there’s been a particular chapter that stands out. Their quarterly hip-hop showcase—wonderfully titled “Ship Hop”—is one hell of a celebration for the genre. From their team, KTheChosen, DJ CatFishTheWizard and Nii from 3rd Verse Studios sat down with REVERIE to discuss the event’s history and where they see it moving forward.

Ship Hop isn’t new, originally it ran from 2008-2011 and just after the pandemic, KTheChosen took over hosting the event. “I feel like a lot of hip-hop shows in Calgary are done the same way. I just wanted to do something different”, said KTheChosen. With an open mic for beginners and audience engaging games, it wasn’t just about putting on a show, it was about building an entry point.

With the ideas in place, KTheChosen realized he needed a team and from there the squad was assembled, bringing in DJ CatFish and Nii into the fold. Since 2022, the show has grown exponentially. “Now artists from out of town hit us up and say, ‘Hey I’m coming to Calgary, I’ve heard this is the show to play’”, he noted. CatFish reflected on this cultural pass off, how far they’ve come. “It's just cool to be able to serve the community in that way and being able to connect the dots to other demographics and communities involved, like the dance community, Tribe Artists Society”, said CatFish.

Beyond the main three acts of the night, Ship Hop is well appreciated keeping the audience entertained. In between sets, my personal highlight are rap games. “I wanted a game show element to Ship Hop...It really gets the audience engaged. Understanding that, hey, we don't know who won until you make noise", said KTheChosen. Building the rap games into the show, not only was the team able to get the audience engaged, they got the artists to understand how to work a crowd. The games are constantly growing too, "We go to the Tribe Monday rap nights once a month. They're always so down for us to try a new game, experiment with it. They give us notes and then we take it back to ship and by the time we are doing a game at Ship Hop, it's actually been tried and tested”, he continued.

‘Growth’ is fundamental to understanding this new era of Ship Hop. 3rd Verse Studio plays a crucial role in supporting Ship Hop like no other. The studio donates time to artists who participate in Ship Hop. This initiative has allowed artists to continue developing their music beyond live performances, addressing a common struggle where artists might only perform but not record or release music. Beyond this personal growth opportunity, over their time, the organizers have created a network for performers. "The number of artists I see talk at Ship Hop, next thing I know they've got a track together or they're performing together,” said KTheChosen.

"We have seen artists that have taken [the] path, and gone from open mic, come to studio, then come back and perform as a main act", said Nii. Names like Bkay Won and Kinde came from this exact stage, and their current growth is a showcase of what Ship hop can do for the community. "I feel like we are really good at catching artists before they gain significant momentum, and I think we are—hopefully, really—boosting that momentum to kind of take them to the next level", he continued. The event has now become almost an incubator of sorts.

What’s next for Ship Hop you may ask? Well they’re back with quarterly showcases this year, catch the next one on May 6. For the event itself, the group’s considering bringing hip-hop karaoke to the show and something special’s coming June 6th, mark your calendars.

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