Before the fame
Genwunner
Something Dope · Photo forthcoming
Alum
Genwunner
Discovered at an Open Mic → went viral → crowdfunded ~$20K → 20-city tour.
The Open Mic Series · Since 2022 · Monthly · Hosted by Jeremy Hecht
Something Dope
Open Mic.
A raffle ticket. A bucket. A mic. Surprise drop-ins from artists you already know. The discovery engine Something Dope was built on.
2022
Series launched
Global
Reach
1000s
Artists through the door
Monthly
Cadence
The Format
How Open Mic
actually works.
No DJ picking sets. No booker's list. The raffle bucket decides who steps up, plus freestyle takeovers and surprise drop-ins all night.
- 01
Pull up
Show up at the door. Every fan gets a raffle ticket, no list, no RSVP, no algorithm deciding who speaks.
- 02
Write your name
Write your name on the ticket exactly how you want to be announced.
- 03
Drop it in the bucket
Every ticket goes in the same bucket. The bucket decides who performs next.
- 04
We draw live
Random pulls, all night. The mic goes to whoever the paper says.
- 05
Surprise drop-ins
Artists you know show up without warning to perform a song you may have heard before. Sometimes we're as surprised as you are.
Before The Fame
The stage before
the stage.
A partial list of artists who stepped up at a Something Dope Open Mic before the world caught up. More names dropping in as we surface them.
Alum
Myles Smith
First US show at Open Mic → Brit Award → 100K+ ticket tour sold out → Ed Sheeran world tour, SoFi Stadium.
Read the story →
Alum
Lekan
Walked in at ~300 monthly listeners. Now an international touring artist.
Before the fame
Flyana Boss
Something Dope · Photo forthcoming
Alum
Flyana Boss
Some of their earliest performances happened through Something Dope.
+ many more. This list is live, we're adding alumni as we dig through the archives.
Big Moments
When Open Mic leaves
our own walls.
Festival stages, international competitions, pipelines across oceans. Selected collaborations below, more as we find the receipts.
Festival Takeover
Rolling Loud
We ran an Open Mic inside the biggest hiphop festival in the world.
Same format, same raffle tickets, same freestyle takeovers. Now live in front of the biggest hiphop audience on the planet. Festival attendees signed up to perform. Many artists from our own community bought tickets just to come do it.
Competition partnership
Rhymefest
Our Open Mic → their festival stage.
A partnership competition with Rhymefest. Winners pulled from the Open Mic earned direct slots on the festival lineup. The room becoming the on-ramp to a bigger room.
International pipeline
Italy → USA
A winner from Italy flew in and performed at Something Dope events in America.
A competition in Italy with a singular grand prize: a trip to the US to perform at Something Dope events on home soil. The pipeline going the other direction.
Global Footprint
The cities
the room has hit.
A growing list of residencies. More cities in motion. Submissions come from anywhere, and we will bring the room to you if enough artists pull up.
HQ · Flagship residency
Los Angeles
The room that started it. The city Something Dope will always be based in.
US residency
Chicago
Open Mic crossed into Chicago, opening a new US room for the community to rotate through.
UK residency
London
The community's first room outside the US. A recurring London lineup pulling artists from across the UK.
Canadian residency
Toronto
Second international residency. The room that made the tour feel global.
Italian milestone · 1,000+ attendees
Palermo
The 1,000-person event that proved the room travels anywhere.
Next up: more US and international rooms, announced as venues and dates lock in.
Texture · From the room
Every night is an audition
Get on the next Open Mic.
Submit once. We keep you on the list across every city. LA, London, Toronto, Palermo, and wherever comes next.
Explore the community