Ashley Outrageous Talks About Tomorrow's Pac Div and Dom Kennedy Show at Club Mekka

Ashley also started a new company called Bread & Butter, which will be providing quality hip-hop events and shows for hopefully many years to come. Their first event is this Saturday from 4-9pm at Club Mekka in Downtown Miami. The headliners for the show include West Coast based acts Pac-Div and Dom Kennedy.

New Times caught up with Ashley to discuss the show and her website, her top songs out now, and what she thinks of South Florida's emerging hip-hop scene.

New Times: Hey Ashley, first of all - introduce yourself, and tell us a little about what you do?

Ashley Outrageous: I go by Ashley Outrageous. I am a female hip-hop blogger from South Florida and I run AshleyOutrageous.com. On my website, I write mixtape/album reviews, coordinate exclusive interviews with today's upcoming artists, and much more. I operate and manage the site pretty much 24-7/365. I also started an event company called Bread & Butter.

Leading in to my next question, can you tell me a bit about your Bread & Butter series of shows? More specifically tomorrow's Pac Div and Dom Kennedy show at Club Mekka in Downtown Miami?

Well, this will be Pac Div's first Miami performance ever! They've performed with larger acts such as Kid CuDi, Big Sean, Currensy, and others, but have never made their way to the MIA. So we took the chance of being the first to get the universal Motown signed trio here. I've seen them perform in Texas at SXSW, as well as in LA this past summer, and I'll just say they have one hell of a show. You're definitely in for a treat this Saturday at Club Mekka. You can find all the info on the show at www.breadandbuttertour.com. As for Dom Kennedy, the way he's emerging as of late has been crazy. You can definitely expect a great performance from him. This is his second Miami performance. His first one was at "The Cool Bowl" event I coordinated back in February. I know he definitely picked up his Miami fan base that night, and will do so again on Saturday.

Anything else that you want to mention about this Saturday's show or about the Bread & Butter series?

Well I don't want to let too much out of the bag, but me and my partner Samantha have been working hard to bring Miami something different and unexpected. We came up with the idea a while back, but we recently decided to execute it. We both love hip-hop and we both have put together some creative ideas. This is the first of many events to come. For example, this Saturday's show is all Los Angeles [based] hip-hop! That's on the other side of the country for us Floridians. [Laughs] So it's definitely something different.

Lots of people know you from for your website (and blog) AsheyOutrageous.com. You definitely get a lot of exclusives and love a lot of the new wave of hip-hop artists that are emerging into the game. When did you start it and how has it been going for you?

Yes, my website is my baby. I started it back in October 2008. Since then, it has grown into a much bigger project. I've networked with so many people and have met so many artists. I've recently interviewed big emerging artists such as Big Sean and other XXL Freshmen such as Wiz Khalifa, Freddie Gibbs, Donnis, and more. I love interviewing by the way, but I keep them very exclusive and of course outrageous. So far, it has been a long journey, but it still continues every day. I am grateful for everyone who supports me, my website, my events and my dreams. My site has given me an opportunity to travel and support these artists at events. Just this year I have been to Texas, Atlanta, California, Chicago, and New York. My team and I have big plans, and the year isn't even over yet. 

And just by seeing the stuff you post on the site, I know you must have good taste in picking hip-hop music. What are your top 5 songs out right now?

Hmmmm, my top-five today, according to my iTunes most played list, they are:

So basically those are all upcoming hip-hop artists besides Drake, and that song is on the radio all the time so there was no way I could get around it. [Laughs].

What do you think would be the number one piece of advice for somebody that wants to start a music blog ... or maybe even just a blog in general?

My advice is to follow your dreams and you can achieve all of them through time, dedication, and hard work. Thanks to all my readers who visit my site, and really enjoy my work. I love and appreciate you all.

And last question, I gotta ask you about Miami and South Florida's hip-hop scene. I know you work closely with a lot of the more upcoming artists and talent. How do you feel about the seemingly new awareness and/or emergence of new hip-hop coming out of South Florida?

Well, I feel great about the hip-hop scene coming out of South Florida because I support most of them such as Ghostwridah, Phresh James, J. NIC$, Sin, Wrekonize, Franco, Jigg, and others. We've got MCs out here! I also enjoy the upcoming producers, too, such as Miami Beat Wave, Numonics, Mr. Familiar, The Monsters, Lil Boy Fresh, J-No ... and I could keep going. Some of these artists just haven't gotten their shine yet because it's embedded in everybody's brain that the hot spots for hip-hop are New York and Los Angeles ... but they are wrong. Anywho, I prefer lyrical hip-hop. Club tracks are cool in the club, but the time for South Florida lyrical hip-hop is just around the corner. Watch and see!

Catch Pac Div & Dom Kennedy at Club Mekka tomorrow Saturday September 18th from 4PM to 9PM at Mekka, 950 NE 2nd Ave Miami, Florida 33132. For more info, visit www.breadandbuttertour.com