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Portland is experiencing a hip-hop renaissance. Cardi B just played to a sold-out Moda Center, Vince Staples is booked to bless Pioneer Courthouse Square this August, and hometown MCs like Aminé, Wynne, and Karma Rivera are shining nationally and globally.
Even our craft beer scene is down with the get-down. Case in point: Gigantic Brewing is hosting a first-of-its-kind event that intends to bring our city’s layered and complex hip-hop scene to Portland’s cultural forefront. And the intention is to make it an annual affair.
“We wanted to celebrate the culture of hip-hop,” says Mayfair, founder of Drenchtown (a producer of graffiti art and music shows in Portland) and co-producer, with Gigantic Brewing, of the upcoming Elements of Hip Hop Invitational. “And with the culture of hip-hop comes the elements of hip-hop: DJs, MCs, the B-boys, and obviously graffiti.”
“I’m excited,” adds Ben Love, founder and brewmaster at Gigantic Brewing. “I really do love and appreciate graffiti, and part of this connection is having graffiti done that’s not just going to be here at the taproom, but also art on one of our cans.”
The invitational is Gigantic and Mayfair’s second event together. The first occurred in 2025; it was both an art show and a contest where the winner’s work became the newest Gigantic beer label.
The success of that show pushed Love and Mayfair to immediately begin conceiving their next collaborative event. Rather than an art show exclusively, this event would be a grand, daylong affair that would bring together a diverse strata of Portlanders, from elite B-boys, MCs, and DJs to craft-brew-loving hip-hop heads (an unsurprisingly common archetype in Portland).
“We started talking about it even before we did the event last August,” Mayfair says. “We were already sort of like, ‘What comes next?’ and then got hard into planning in January.”
“It’s really starting to take shape, and we can already see the vision,” Mayfair adds. “Everybody’s excited and, obviously, it’s going to grow a lot more, like a snowball effect, as it gets closer.”
“The beauty of it is how it’s come together,” Love says, “and how everybody’s getting more and more excited about it.”
Indeed, the invitational features a stacked lineup that includes MCs Dusty Fox, K.I. Design, Saige Wolley, Ogar Burl, Korey B, and Dobleon; DJs Spinitch, Ogar Burl, and DJ Pharo; and a live performance by local B-boy crew Portland City Rockers.
“When Ben and I were spitballing this idea of the show, I knew right away, OK, I’m going to reach out to Portland City Rockers because one of the things that makes this event unique is that the elements, on their own, could be under the blanket of hip-hop,” Mayfair says. “The B-boy scene isn’t that prevalent out here. It’s kind of like we’re bringing a highlight into a genre that doesn’t really get a lot of love.”
Arguably, though, the highlight of the event is the live art created by iconic Rose City graffiti artist Kango of the Lords Crew.
Throughout the day, Kango will create an original mural on site that will be featured on a future Gigantic Brewing beer can release, marrying the brewery’s creative can designs with the event’s street-style energy.
“Because Kango’s style is so amazing, anything he gives is going to be top notch,” Mayfair says.
“We’re kind of relying on that,” Love adds.
“He’s just going to be painting all day,” Mayfair says of Kango’s live work. “He asked to start at 9 am. That way, by the time people show up, he’s going to be in a really good stride where they can see some real movement.”
Demographics aside, Portland is a hip-hop town, regardless of its earned reputation otherwise. Portland is also a craft beer town, so it stands to reason that our summers would be lit up with hyphy DJs, freestyle cyphers, and breaking battles, all coming together at a beloved local brewery function.
“This is actually a really good start to bringing back the hip-hop community feel, you know?” Mayfair says.
“I’m really looking forward to it being a whole-day event,” Love adds. “A whole-day celebration.”
Bonus: The first 50 people who buy tickets online through the Gigantic website will receive a signed, limited-edition print of the event poster, created by artist Eat Cho.
GO: Elements of Hip Hop Invitational at Gigantic Brewing, 5224 SE 26th Ave., giganticbrewing.com. Noon–10 pm. Saturday, June 13. $10. 21+.
