Students who enjoy hip-hop have something to look forward to tonight.

The Moon Bar will host a pep rally today in honor of TCU’s game against SMU Saturday, Chris Maunder, owner of The Moon, said. The pep rally will feature music from five local hip-hop-artists, several of whom are TCU students and alumni.

“The game is a big deal for us Frogs,” Maunder said. “We also wanted to do something different to get more hip-hop in the club.”

He said he felt Fort Worth had a growing hip-hop scene many people might not be aware of, and he wanted to help expose those artists to a larger audience.

“We want to help get ears on their stuff and develop their fan bases,” Maunder said.

The Moon has hosted similar shows in the past without much success. There was not much demand for hip-hop then, but times have changed, Maunder said.

“I think the talent is here now, and students are ready for it,” he said.

Daniel Hardaway, lead singer of the band Boss Level, said he looked forward to performing at the pep rally for a special reason: The band is made up almost entirely of TCU alumni, he said, and attending TCU together created a strong bond between them.

“We love it here,” Hardaway said. “Go Frogs!”

The band is composed of five members: lead singer Hardaway, keyboard player Justin Barbee, guitarist Josh Vandenburg, bassist Paul Garza and drummer Evan Gentry. All except Gentry attended TCU, Hardaway said.

Boss Level’s music is a mash-up of soul, rock and hip-hop. One of the band’s major influences is the diverse sound of American hip-hop band The Roots, Hardaway said.

“Their backing band can pull out anything: jazz, Latin music, hip-hop. You name it,” he said.

The band frequently performs covers at their live shows, Hardaway said, but they are different from those of other bands. He said many bands that play cover songs try to make the songs sound exactly like their original versions, but Boss Level tries to mix things up.

“You might hear some Beastie Boys and then some Black Sabbath, and all of a sudden, some Iron Maiden with rap on top of all of that,” Hardaway said.

Maunder said he hoped to have a big crowd from TCU at the pep rally on Friday and was looking forward to the game on Saturday.

“I hope the Frogs rally and come on out, get excited about the game and get ready to beat our little ponies,” he said.

TCU vs. SMU Hip-Hop Pep Rally Party
The Moon Bar, 2911 W. Berry St.
Sept. 30, 7:00 p.m.
$5 cover charge
Featured acts: Kyeyote, Doug Funnie, Lou Charles, Leon The Professional, Boss Level