Philly Hip-Hop Promoters Dope Shows Keeps Growing: ‘We Want It to Live Forever’
Written by djfrosty on October 20, 2023
Dope Shows co-founders Stephen Piner and Jamir Shaw have a vision for elevating hip-hop in Philadelphia and they’re ready to share that vision with the rest of the music industry.
Since launching in 2017, the Philadelphia concert promotion duo have sold over 200,000 tickets for shows including Lil Baby, Lil Durk, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, and more. They’ve become one of the most powerful independent concert promotion companies in the U.S., known for having an authentic love of music and a pound-the-pavement street team approach.
That includes hand-selling tickets for one of Lil Baby’s first headlining shows in Philadelphia years ago and promoting Rylo Rodriguez’s first show in the city on Sept. 29, also his first headlining performance there. In 2022, Dope Shows signed a partnership with Live Nation to bring shows to the company’s Philly venues like the Fillmore, the Met and Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia, as well as partnering on arena shows at venues like Wells Fargo Arena and the TD Garden Arena in Boston.
“Since day one, our slogan has been, ’Ain’t no shows like Dope Shows,’” Shaw says, attributing Dope Shows success to the authentic synergy at their concerts. Each concert is preceded by sets from local rappers and area DJs, and when it comes to the main event, the sets are often longer.
“We want Dope Shows to be a badge of honor for us and Philadelphia,” Piner says. “We want it to live forever.”
Shaw grew up in West Philly listening to Beanie Sigel and Freeway; his cousins were members of Philly’s Most Wanted. While he remembers trying his hand at rap, he soon found his calling as a party promoter. Traveling between his mother’s house in West Philly and his dad’s neighborhood in South Philly as a 12-year-old, he would hit up all the parties he could go to. There was only one problem: they usually ended in a fight.
His mom suggested throwing a party in his basement and after earning $70 from the concert, his career began. In 2016, he linked up with Piner, an all-city high school football halfback and together they promoted their first concert, Fabolous and Jadakiss’ Freddy vs. Jason at The Fillmore, which sold out. From there, they landed Rick Ross before booking Fab and Jada again at Boston’s House of Blues.
What were once conversations and vague aspirations became more sold out venues.
In February of last year, they hosted their fifth annual Birthday Bash featuring Gunna, Lil Durk, Lil Baby and G Herbo at the Wells Fargo Center. In total, Dope Shows has sold 200,000 tickets with 90 percent of tickets sold out for its events.
“Our goal is to continue building on our staples,” says Piner, including the company’s annual Birthday Bash and its Dope Fest event. “We have a couple concepts that we want to add, as well as merch and content ideas. We also want to do a national tour with an artist and grow Dope Shows in that direction.”
Dope Shows are setting their sights on the label side of the industry, launching Dope Records last year. Their first signee, artist and fellow West Philly native Toure, saw his All I Wanted Was Everything project on Dope Records earn close to a million streams in less than a week
“He’s an artist that we’re real passionate about,” Piner say. “He’s a great performing artist and sold out his first show a month ago and did an hour-and-a-half set. For a young artist, that’s a feat.”