The hardest-working man in local hip-hop, DJ Neoteric carries the weight of the West Coast on his shoulders, doing his best to boost Van City's profile. Whether it's through pushing his Indie-cent Exposure mix-tape series or moderating B.C's premiere on-line rap forum (futilityrecords.com/phpBB/), this ambitious hustler is leading by example, showing his peers how to step up their promotions game. If the local rap scene boasted more boosters like Neo, we'd be rivalling Toronto in no time.

CURRENT RESIDENCY

Monday Night Live at the Lamplighter

MOST RECENT MIX TAPE

Indie-cent Exposure, Vol. 4

FIRST GIG

"Deejaying a classic southern hip-hop set at a show in Atlanta with OutKast, T.I., Cee-Lo, UGK, Three 6 Mafia, 8Ball, and MJG."

CRAZIEST GIGS

"Playing with Dickey Doo at the World after-hours parties every Saturday for six-and-a-half years-when people actually went there for the music."

CURRENT TOP 5 CHART

T.I. "What You Know"

E-40 featuring Keak Da Sneak "Tell Me When to Go"

Ghostface "Be Easy"

Andre Nickatina "Sunny Kim"

Rakim "Know the Ledge"

FAVOURITE LOCAL ARTISTS

"My favourite DJ is Mat the Alien, but we've got a bunch of nice DJs here. Productionwise, I'd say Moves and Kemo. As for rappers, I'll say Birdapres, Jaykin, and Concise."

WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT LOCAL HIP-HOP?

"There are many styles and transplants from other parts of the country that come together and make something unique. Vancouver definitely doesn't have its own sound, but that's great. On top of that, everyone's pretty cool with each other. There aren't really any giant beefs between crews, but we could all do a better job of supporting local artists and getting out to more shows."