Flex Mathews

talk about a friggin tour.

2011 is a the year of the Kosha. Already with an extended EP release (Gina and The Garage Sale prod. By Shuko) in March 2011 that featured the underground smash "The Alien Song" featuring MC Lars, Homeboy Sandman and Geo from Blue Scholars and international acclaim as well as college radio play from "All These Years" feat. Johanna Tordjman, Kosha Dillz name has been rejuvenated in the hip-hop scene. The hardest working white guy in hip-hop is back in action and in the studio again recording some new tracks to release while he is on his 49 date, summer long tour with Matisyahu.

Beginning June 29th at Summerfest in Milwaukee and extending all the way through early September, Kosha Dillz, otherwise known as Rami Even Esh, and DC rap cohort Flex Mathews join Matisyahu across the nation to deliver a tour featuring some of the leading champions of lyrical, conscious, and occasionally religiously texturized, hip-hop. While this will not be the first time the two have toured together, Flex and Kosha have prepared an amazing set of tricks to compliment the Matisyahu stage show with Dub Trio.

Celebrate the summer Mr. Dillz and Mr. Mathews at one of their many stops on the road. Catch them before or after the show and Kosha certain to tell you about having his own character in NBA 2K11, making tracks with RZA, Big Pooh and Kool G Rap, being an official SXSW artist, how him and Flex met off myspace,hosting Oy Vey LA and what it was like to make his big move from Jersey to L.A...all of which have happened within the last year.


6/29 Milwaukee, WI Summerfest
6/30 Minnesota, MN Minnesota Zoo
7/2 Aspen, CO The Belly Up
7/3 Colorado Springs The Black Sheep
7/4 Morrison, CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre w/ Blues Traveler
7/6 Des Moines, IA Simon Estes Amphitheater w/ Wailers
7/7 Kansas City, MO Crossroads w/ Wailers
7/9 St. Louis, MO The Pageant
7/10 Detroit, MI St. Andrews Music Hall
7/11 Columbus, OH Newport Music Hall
7/12 Grand Rapids, MI The Intersection w/ Tea Leaf Green
7/13 Indianapolis, IN Egyptian Theatre w/ Tea Leaf Green
7/14 Chicago, IL Congress Theatre w/ Toots & The Maytals
7/16 Pittsburgh, PA Stage AE
7/17 Baltimore, MD Artscape
7/18 Providence, RI Lupos Heartbreak Hotel
7/20 Cincinnati, OH Bogarts
7/21 Louisville, KY Headliners Music Hall
7/24 Salt Lake City, UT The Complex
7/25 Boise, ID Knitting Factory
7/26 Spokane, WA Knitting Factory - Spokane w/ Tea Leaf Green
7/28 Portland, OR Oregon Zoo Amphitheater
7/30 Seattle, WA Neptune
8/1 Reno, NV Grand Sierra Resort
8/2 San Francisco Regency Ballroom
8/3 Los Angeles Club Nokia
8/4 Ventura, CA Ventura Theatre
8/7 San Diego, CA Humphyrey's
8/9 Anaheim, CA The Grove w/ Tea Leaf Green
8/10 Tempe, AZ Theatre
8/13 Omaha, NE MAHA MUSIC FESTIVAL
8/14 Tulsa, OK Cain's Ballroom
8/15 Dallas, TX House of Blues
8/16 Houston, TX House of Blues
8/17 Baton Rouge, LA Varsity Theatre
8/18 Helotes, TX Josabi's
8/20 Taos, NM TAOS MOUNTAIN MUSIC FESTIVAL
8/21 New Orleans, LA House of Blues, NO
8/22 Atlanta, GA Center Stage
8/23 Pt Vedra Beach, FL POnte Vedra Concert Hall
8/24 Orland, FL Hard Rock Live
8/25 Miami, FL The Fillmore
8/28 Birmingham, AL Alys Robinson Stephens Performing Arts Center
8/29 Charleston, SC Music Farm
8/30 Charlotte, NC Amos' Southend Music Hall
8/31 Norfolk, vA The Norva
9/1 Atlantic City, NJ The Borgata
9/3 Lowell, MA LOWELL SUMMER MUSIC SERIES
9/4 New Haven, CT Toad's Place - Undergroundhiphop.com

First Place
Flex Mathews AKA: The Handsome Grandson
- Washington City Paper

Flex Mathews Bio
Who's got next?
Flex Mathews has been a rising star in the Mid Atlantic regional
Hip Hop scene for much of the last 7 years. He was named one of URB
Magazine’s Next 100 Artists in 2005, and his transition from the local
DC underground to national recognition has been the product of his
dedication, quality live show performance, as well as his numerous
victories in MC battles. On top of that Mr. Mathews has been voted
best rap artist of 2009 in Washington DC area. I'm telling you, this
South Dakota boy has drive, and then some.

Flex Mathews has tour and performed with:
Lupe Fiasco, Army of Me, Atmosphere, KRS-One (Twice), Big Daddy
Kane, Gang Starr, Camp Lo, Biz Markie, Das EFX, The Wu-Tang Clan,
Special Ed, Non-Phixion, The Beatnuts, RA The Ruggid Man, J-Live,
Tame-One, Asharu and Blue Black, Kev Brown, Oddisee, Master Ace, MC
Chris, The Clipse, Roc Radia, Glue, Hangar 18, Pete Rock, Talib Kweli
(twice), Percee P, Mad Skillz, Slick Rick, Killah Priest, The Roots,
The Lords of Brooklyn, Yazarah, BreezEvaflowin, Poison Pen, Immortal
Technique, Bahmadia, Copy Write, Icon The Mic King, C-Rays Wallz,
Mr.Lif Cannibal Ox, and even Vanilla Ice. In 2005 Flex Mathews was the
take was part of the entertainment portion Take Back America Campaign
warming the stage for such great like Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama,
John Kerry, and more. Flex Mathews is a 2x Guerrilla Grammar Battle
Champion, and 3x Tru Skool Rip The Mic Battle Champion, 2x Kool
Cigarettes Battle Champion (That he now regrets), and a 8x H.E.R
Battle Champion to name a few. He has also made appearances on the
2004 and 2005 Vans Warped Tour on the Code of the Cuts Stage. A
familiar face in the local scene – Flex has come to represent a new
generation of the DC Underground. Versatility? Mr. Mathews has it and
has shown when he was the MC for the Drum and Base group "Common
Knowledge".This group made several appearances at Nations Night Club
and open for such greats as Chase and Status and MC Armoni. So
basically the boy got skills.

Just hopping off of tour with Jewish rap star Kosha Dillz three days
ago Flex Mathews is gearing up for his first solo LP release oddly
titles "He Was Like That When I Got Here" on the label Man Bites Dog
records - blackboxxonline.com

Hot97’s Summer Jam invited Shemspeed’s Kosha Dillz & Flex Mathews to perform a set, in that set the boys did their crowd fav “Freestyle”. The concert featured Drake, Trey Songs, Ludacris, Juelz Santana, Nicki Minaj, Reflection Eternal, DJ Khaled, Fabolous, Gucci Mane, Usher among others. enjoy! - JewPI.com

There are a handful of residents in the D.C. metro area who claim that the hip-hop scene here is rather hard to find, or that it hardly even exists. While scores of rap and hip-hop artists travel into D.C. every month, playing shows at venues such as the 9:30 Club and the Black Cat, the local, "underground" artists are often left in the shadow of the mainstream touring acts.

So, how does one tap into this so-called "underground" culture to hear local talent? As I learned one afternoon in September, discovering new music in the District can be as easy as saying "What's up?" to the dude sitting across from you on public transportation.

This is how I happened to meet the local emcee known as Flex Mathews, a 25-year-old rapper originally from South Dakota who moved to D.C. three years ago to pursue his music. On a crowded city bus in Silver Spring, Md., a friend and I were talking about hip-hop as I, being the annoying drummer that I am, began lightly pounding a beat on the back of the empty seat next to me. Some guy playing a Gameboy across from us took notice as he looked up from his game, made eye contact and said, "What's up?" Before I could respond, he asked us, "Y'all like hip-hop?"

"Yeah, man," I replied.

"Here, listen to this," he said as he slipped me a thin CD case, "This is me." On the cover it read, Flex Mathews - The Outta Work Super Hero a.k.a. The Handsome Grandson.

Back in Foggy Bottom, I popped the CD into my computer, not expecting much from a demo some guy gave me on a Metro bus. But I soon found myself nodding my head to the lyrical flows of Mathews and the homemade beats, aided by Flex's producer Damu the Fudge Monk. It was surprisingly good.

Earlier this year, Flex was named in URB Magazine's next 100 artists to look for; toured the East Coast with other local rappers on the "Clash of The Titans Tour"; and was recently signed to Man Bites Dog records from Springfield, Va.

"A lot of things happened to me this year that I didn't expect to happen," said Flex in an interview with The Hatchet. "I guess it was God looking out for me. I'm pretty sure that's what it was."

Last summer, Flex crossed musical genres to perform at the famous Vans Warped Tour for the second time in his career. - The GW Hatchet (http://www.gwhatchet.com)

You might know him as, “the handsome grandson,” “the outta work superhero,” or by the name on his birth certificate, “Dathan Harbor.” But chances are you’ve never heard of Flex Mathews by any of his many monikers. You may have no idea that, since he moved to D.C. in 2002, a rising star has been right under your nose.

The rest of the country seems to be noticing. In 2005, URB magazine named Flex one of their 100 artists to watch. Since then, he’s opened for big names like Immortal Technique and Lupe Fiasco, won himself a spot on the Vans Warped Tour, and emerged the victor from too many freestyle battles to mention.

Anxious to see for ourselves if Flex lived up to the hype, we checked him out last week at the Red and the Black, where he was performing along with local rappers Math Panda, Ardamus, and Cubbie Bear. His skills on the mic and charismatic stage presence made us wonder why it took us so long to make him one of our Three Stars. We were also refreshed to find that Flex had little of the pomp and swagger common among rappers. Confident but not cocky, the transplant from Sioux Falls, South Dakota is a small-town boy at heart.

The handsome grandson is skinny, with a wide grin and ears that stick out from his head. When he gets amped-up during a song, his eyes sometimes take on a menacing look. In contrast to the sleepy, laid-back flows of 50 Cent or LL Cool J, for example, Flex’s style of delivery is an acerbic staccato. He shuffles back and forth on stage, rapping with the urgency of someone treading water. But between songs, the smile returns, and Flex goes off on entertaining tangents about fist-fights and MC battles. At one point, DJ Idol Hannz interrupts: “Flex Mathews for president!” Flex smirks, “He’s saying that because I talk too much,” then moves on to his next song.

During his short set, standout songs are “Cat Woman,” – about searching for romance – and “Just the Facts,” an ode to straight-talking and a biting critique of the smoke and mirrors in some mainstream hip-hop. Almost all of his songs are peppered with references to Columbia Heights and bygone clubs in the U St. area (Ben N Mo’s, U-Turn). It’s enough to make a Washingtonian’s heart swell with pride, and to make us realize that, even as an out-of-towner, Flex has a lot of love for D.C.

Visit him at: www.myspace.com/flexmathews

See him next: March 14, at DC9

Questions for Flex Mathews:

The South has crunk, the West coast has hyphy. Is there a distinctive D.C. style of hip-hop?

D.C. hip-hop is a diamond in the rough. It’s a very well-kept secret. A friend of mine, oddisee, went over to Australia and people kept coming up to him like, “Yo, what’s going on with D.C. hip-hop? We love D.C. hip-hop.” And the more places he goes, like the Netherlands and Russia, they’re like, “Yo, we love the hip-hop coming out of D.C.”

That’s ironic, because a lot of people here in D.C. don’t know much about our local hip-hop.

They don’t appreciate it cause they’ve had it their whole lives. It’s like a little kid with a toy, you lose interest, you don’t want to play with it anymore. A lot of people rip on D.C.’s music scene, and I think it’s wack. When you come from a place where there is no music scene, like South Dakota, and you get to a place where there is a music scene, you fall head over heels for it.

Do you listen to a lot of local music?

To tell you the truth, other than instrumentals for me to rap to, all I listen to is local music. I’m kinda jaded, and guilty in only buying local music.

Who are your favorites?

Seez Mics, K-Cromizone, T.A.M.U., Ardamus, my friend Damu the Fudgemonk, he's a great producer. DJ Underdog. He puts great mix cds together.

When did you start rapping?

When I was 15. I heard Outkast, Southernplaylisticadillacmuzik and I was like, “Hey, I could do that!” My brother Leo, he went away to college and left a lot of his old clothes behind. That’s when it was first born, man, I put a Kangol hat on and an old pager, and started rapping in the mirror.

Before you moved to South Dakota, you lived in Kansas. Were you born there?

Nope. Born in Germany. I’m a military brat. I read something on the internet that said that military brats are experiments. When I first moved to the States, I told everybody that I was a German-American.

So where's home?

South Dakota. I graduated from school there, and I felt like I kinda stepped into manhood there. But D.C.’s my musical home. Never would I have imagined that I’d be doing what I do here. In South Dakota I had a radio show, but I definitely didn’t perform. There wasn’t a lotta love for hip-hop out there. Now there is. My brothers have a group out there now.

Your brothers are into hip-hop too?

Yeah, my brothers have a group. My older brother Leo does all the graphic design work. My mom, she orders all the T-shirts and stuff. We’re like the Partridge family. I miss them so much.

So why did you decide to move out here?

I - DCist.com