Commission Beer Chamber releases third volume in mixtape series spotlighting Orlando hip-hop

My Good Phelo, Benny Colon, Shinobi Stalin Credit: Will Estrella

In NYC rock & roll lore, it was CBGB and Max’s Kansas City. In modern-day Orlando, the indie and rock scenes have home bases like Will’s Pub. But for the city’s true-school hip-hop scene, it’s the Commission Beer Chamber. Like Will’s, the Commission isn’t simply a joint that specializes in its kind of music, but a cornerstone and patron saint for it. Local musicians don’t just perform at these hotbeds, they hang there. You’re just as likely to be drinking among them as you are to see them on the mic. These special community spaces are the nucleus of scenes, and no one knows it better than the artists themselves. The latest testament to that is the Commission Beer Chamber’s new mixtape.

Now on its third volume, the Beer Chamber Mixtape series is an official bottling of what goes down at the Commission. Coordinated by the bar’s commish himself, Benny “Mister Blanco” Colón, with the help of MC Shinobi Stalin and producer My Good Phelo, the Beer Chamber Mixtape Vol. 3 is a sweeping roundup of Orlando hip-hop talent.

Across 23 tracks, the contributors list includes E-Turn, Wahid, Sean Shakespeare, Soy Is Real, Niko Is, Marco Dupa, Shinobi Stalin, My Good Phelo, The God J Biz, Midaz the Beast, Cydney Poitier, My Grain 5K, Javy XI, AGE, RedRum, Art West, Chris Belcher, DH, Millatron, Gimprella, Terse, Block Forever, DJ Doo Wop, Juni Ali, MC White Owl, Kurious, Smooth B, Bombeardo, DJ Twenty Dollar Julio. DJ Mega, Str8 Paper, Katie Burkess, Roland Simmons, Rion Smith, DJ Jaymob, CreativAngel, Lyes Papparazzi, Wilfredo, Manny Ferrer and of course, Mister Blanco himself. Of this lineup, Colón says, “All are regulars and fam of The Commission.”

Taken together, the mixtape is a tight compendium of Orlando rap. Curated and comprehensive, it’s probably the best one-stop snapshot of the city’s roots-minded hip-hop scene right now. Making the collection even more exclusive is the fact that it’s not a basic compilation but a collection of all original tracks, which says a lot about both this scene and the Commission Beer Chamber as a cultural institution.

“Growing up in NYC in the ’80s and ’90s and being a hip-hop head, I was spoiled,” says Colón. “Being able to have access to the OG mixtapes from DJs like Doo Wop, Tony Touch, Ron G, DJ Clue just to name a few … then opening this bar, getting to meet all these Orlando MCs and producers and them becoming like family and a huge part of the Commission’s success, I felt it just made sense being able to showcase the enormous talent we have right here in the O.”

As the creative manifestation of The Commission, the Beer Chamber Mixtape series is at once the sound of a spot, a family and a scene. Volume 3 now streams everywhere and tops TLU’s Spotify playlist.

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Commission Beer Chamber releases third volume in mixtape series spotlighting Orlando hip-hop

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