Ogden Amphitheater to host hip-hop show; artists include OHS grad
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- Ogden High School graduate and rap musician O’mar Helton, whose stage name is Big Omeezy, in an undated photo. He’ll be one of the performers at a hip-hop show set for Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, at the Ogden Amphitheater.
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- Rap musician Kurupt in an undated photo. He’ll be one of the performers at a hip-hop show set for Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, at the Ogden Amphitheater.
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- A flier for a hip-hop show set for Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, at the Ogden Amphitheater.
OGDEN — Live hip-hop music is coming to the Ogden Amphitheater on Saturday.
Dusty Bernal, who’s organizing and promoting the show featuring Xzibit, Kurupt and Ogden High School graduate O’mar Helton, said it’s a relative rarity for Ogden. “It’s not too often they have hip-hop shows come through,” he said.
For his part, Helton, whose stage name is Big Omeezy, is eager to come back to Ogden. He’s a 1992 Ogden High graduate but has been making music and performing out of California for years.
“It’s full circle for me,” Big Omeezy said. He missed a high school reunion last year, but he’s hoping to catch up with some of his old friends at the show.
Bernal used to promote shows here, and in getting back into the business with the planned hip-hop program, he senses demand for more live music here, singling out the popularity of the Ogden Twilight music series.
Given the popularity of the Twilight shows, featuring a range of musicians who perform in concerts spread out over the summer, “there’s no reason” a hip-hop show here can’t succeed, he said. Salt Lake City, he said, regularly hosts hip-hop shows.
Doors for Saturday’s show open at 6 p.m. and performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Individual general admission tickets cost $30. Xzibit, who used to host the MTV show “Pimp My Ride,” and Kurupt are the featured musicians with opening performances by Big Omeezy and Krisdagong.
Big Omeezy was a rapper in high school, though he never produced any of his music at the time, and has kept at it. “Follow your dream and keep pushing and eventually you’ll get there,” he said.
He said he performs “motivational up-tempo music.”