The state of Ohio is quietly producing some of hip-hop’s dopest acts in recent years, one of those is producer extraordinaire Hi-Tek. Best known for his contribution as one half of Reflection Eternal with Talib Kweli, Tek also produced Mood’s “Doom” and Blackstar’s self-titled albums. In 2001 Hi-Tek released his solo debut called “Hi-Teknology.”
On March 1 at 8:00pm, Hi-Tek aka Tony Cottrell will host a talent search at the Cincinnati Convention Center. There will be a panel of judges including executives from Def Jam and MCA Records to judge emcees and singers from throughout the Midwest. The search is open to people from Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky.
Contestants are not limited to hip-hop and R&B, any genre of music can be represented. The winner of the talent search will be awarded with the opportunity to make a professional demo with the help of Hi-Tek. The runner-up will get to use Hi-Tek’s own Teklab studio for a day.
This talent search is the largest ever conducted targeting this region. “I want to give back to these Midwest communities,” explains Hi-Tek, “and there are basically not a lot of good outlets for Midwestern talent.”
