Usually known for it’s rock ‘n’ roll tendencies, the Blank Club hosts a rare hip-hop show for SVSX on Saturday featuring battle rapper Dirtbag Dan, up-and-coming San Jose MC Antwon with Cities Aviv, DJ Ichy the Killer and G.I.F.T.

Dirtbag Dan
12:30am, Blank Club
Dirtbag Dan was born in San Jose as Daniel Martinez. He first got onstage when he was 14 years old and saw LSP (Kung Fu Vampire’s old group) perform at Java Stop in San Jose. At the end of the performance, they invited the audience onstage to freestyle. His friends, knowing he liked to rap, coaxed Dan to try it. “It was the coolest thing ever. I was like, ‘I am definitely doing this. This is my thing,’” he recalls.

He recorded his first solo album, Dirt 4 $ale, in 2003, joining Thunderhut around that time, then Counter Productive a little later. Eventually, he devoted himself to Counter Productive full time. In 2005, he, Able Abilities & Skylar G found a DJ named Ichy the Killer, and the Counter Productive crew was officially complete.

Dan has earned international fame thanks to his dominance in Grind Time, the battle-rap league. Anyone who has seen him perform knows that Dirtbag Dan is impossible to ignore, having one of the weirdest rap personas. As his name suggests, he sports a thick scraggily hobo beard—and a loud, over-the-top swagger.

Antwon with Cities Aviv
11:30pm, Blank Club
San Jose rapper Antwon has been getting a lot of attention lately. In February, he released his video “Helicopter,” which mixes footage from Steve McQueen’s 1968 car-chase flick Bullitt with shots of Antwon and his crew wandering around train tracks, drinking malt liquor and eating heaping platefuls of food (color-corrected, of course, to match the vintage footage).

The video has received favorable attention from several blogs, including on Spin’s website. Yes, the video is good, but it’s backed up by a killer song, too. Antwon has a laid-back, easy flow reminiscent of Biggy Smalls, but he’s not taking himself seriously. He’ll string together a single sentence about smoking weed and eating too much food that is neither comedic nor pretentious. The driving, shuffling funk beat and blaring dissonant organ loop sound like they were plucked right out of a grindhouse movie.

Since his breakout mixtape “Fantasy Beds,” Antwon has released the equally impressive “End of Earth,” which has his latest single, “Living Every Dream.” The video looks like an authentic relic from the VHS era and contains an infectious sample from the famous DNA remix of Susan Vega’s “Tom’s Diner.” Keep your ears on Antwon. This is where rap is heading.

G.I.F.T./First Class
10:30pm, the Blank Club
G.I.F.T. and Bless (Ya’Soul)—two young emcees from the local hip-hop duo First Class—each bring something distinct to the table. Bless, for instance, is an intense rapper with a direct, straightforward flow. He keeps his rhymes positive and uplifting, whether he’s commenting on society or relating his personal experiences. His presence is powerful—almost intimidating. But he balances his force with thought-provoking, compassionate rhymes. G.I.F.T., on the other hand, brings a crazier, offbeat vibe. His raps are full of stream-of-consciousness associations, spun together in unusual rhythms, connecting every loose peculiar idea he has floating around in his head in a clever manner, mixing humor and down-to-earth charm.

Together, G.I.F.T. and Bless combine their strengths into a full-on, well-rounded attack. Even as they work together, they are always working off of each other—in direct competition to see who can spit the best verses. It’s been this way since the beginning, since they first met at age 13 and started writing songs together. The name “First Class” was their way of saying that their skills—when combined—could go up against any other rapper or crew out there. They are currently managed by South Bay musician and producer “Da Hermit.”

Ichy the Killer
10pm, 12:30Am, the Blank Club
DJ Ichy the Killer, also known as Chris Larsen, got his start almost a decade ago with the hip-hop crew Counter Productive. He continues to spin for Dirtbag Dan, also from Counter Productive, and Insolence, Language Arts Crew and various other San Jose groups. In August, Ichy advanced to the final round of the online portion of the DMC DJ battle. As his online video submission demonstrates, Ichy can hold his own without anybody rapping over his beats. He’s got a strong sense of structure and a slick artistic style.

Almost a year ago, local rap-battler Dirtbag Dan, competed in the Red Bull battle rap semi-finals in Southern California and won. He was told that not only would he be moving on the finals in Atlanta, where Eminem would be the deciding judge, but the battles would be televised as a mini-series on the G4 Network.

He waited and waited to get word on when the finals would be taped, but it kept getting pushed back. Finally, a week ago, he got the phone call. The finals will be shot on May 29th. What hasn’t been made clear is when the show will air.

“I feel like I’m in Mission Impossible and the phone is going to explode when I hang up,” Dan says. “All I know is I got to get to Atlanta and battle on the 29th. I’m sure they’re tell us what they plan to do with the footage when we get there.”

VIDEO: Dirtbag Dan wins at the semi-finals in Southern California.

Whether this competition will air on G4 or an entirely different network is unclear at this point, but this upcoming battle could be a big deal for Dan. Despite having already battled in many different competitions, including the widely popular online Grind Time league, a rap battle on TV could put him into the homes of mainstream America. Dan is already one of the biggest (and most polarizing) names in the exploding online battle scene. This just seems like the next logical step.

Dan’s dedication and hard work to battle rapping have helped make him a recognizable face on Youtube. In that time he has never once stopped making music. The release of the Self Help Tapes last year showed that even as he was busy refining his dick jokes, he was maturing as a musician, offering some of his most serious, heartfelt songs to date. His collaboration with local singer Anya in particular is a gem. The song, “Alive,” is just an honest expression of how much he loves his wife. For a battle-rapper with a tough reputation to uphold, showing his vulnerability may be one of the bravest things he’s yet done.

MORE INFO: Read the 2011 Metro Newspaper cover story on Dirtbag Dan.