Leveling Up

If one generation found Nashville inhospitable to their hip-hop and R&B ambitions, what about the next wave of artists? And what role could Lovenoise play for them? After 20 years of mounting influence for the company, the final chapter of “Making Noise” examines the work that is still to come.

By the early 2010s, Nashville was exploding as a destination for tourists and new residents. If Lovenoise wanted to make a difference in a city on the rise, they’d need to figure out how to tap into that growth — and try to make sure music-makers holding down the R&B and hip-hop scenes didn’t get left behind. Or pushed out.

Last week, we introduced you to Lovenoise. Now we’re zooming in on exactly how they pushed through barriers that had long existed in Nashville. We’re also going to travel further back in time, to the heyday of Nashville’s Black music scene, and the role the city played in unraveling it. Then we’ll meet the first generation of R&B players, hip-hop MCs and neo-soul singer-songwriters who found what they’d been looking for at those Lovenoise Sunday nights. In the early 2000s, Holt and his fellow Lovenoise founders may have been new to putting on events – aside from the party promotion that some of them had dabbled in – but they were savvy enough to learn from what was already working in Nashville. That meant borrowing from the strategies of a couple of country-oriented showcases that were considered institutions in the city.

Sometimes, a concert can be so big that it makes the local news. Like in 2021, when legendary rapper Nas performed with the Nashville Symphony. So how did that watershed moment come to be? Behind the scenes — for some 20 years — the music promotion company Lovenoise was laying the groundwork, carving out “a safe space for Black culture,” and boosting artists of color. Credits “Making Noise” is a joint production by WPLN and WNXP, the sister stations of Nashville Public Radio. Senior Music Writer Jewly Hight reported the stories and hosts the show. The editors and producers are Tony Gonzalez, Justin Barney, and Marquis Munson, with additional editing and guidance by LaTonya Turner, Meribah Knight, Nicole Kemp, Jason Moon Wilkins and Magnolia McKay. Fact-checking by Emily Siner. The logo is by Mack Linebaugh, the accompanying live event on March 3 is directed by Nicole Kemp, and digital support comes from Rachel Iacovone and Carly Butler. The music you heard comes from Blue Dot Sessions and from the creative commons of the Free Music Archive, where we found the artist Holizna and his tracks “Bus Stop,” “Chills,” “Life on Cassette,” and “Busking in the Sunlight.”

"Making Noise" is a four-part series by WPLN and WNXP about how the music promotion company Lovenoise has changed the music landscape of Nashville.