All Black Affair a personal promotion

Mark Weber/The Commercial Appeal

Kevin Hardaway combines his love of biking and music to promote the All Black Affair.

There are plenty of would-be MCs and producers out there, struggling to get their voices heard.

Kelvin Hardaway, 28, decided to be seen instead, employing his graphic design skills to forge a solid reputation in the urban music scene.

Mark Weber/The Commercial Appeal

Kevin Hardaway combines his love of biking and music to promote the All Black Affair.

Back in the 1990s, when he was a student at Carver High School, the South Memphis native would sketch out his designs on reams of plain white paper. Once he was finished with a flier for a party or show, he'd head to Office Depot to make copies, which he'd distribute via classmates, fellow music fans and neighborhood friends.

Nowadays, Hardaway depends on modern promotional tools like MySpace, text messaging and his computer, which he uses to design eye-catching postcards and posters for clients ranging from clubs like Fire and Ice, the Premier and Club 901; to movers and shakers on the local underground rap scene including teen party promoter Shun Gunn, rappers Miscellaneous and Zedzilla, and DJs Freddy Hydro and Big Tiny.

Right now, Hardaway, a computer programmer by day, is hard at work on his own event, the All Black Affair, which is scheduled for Saturday at the Royal Knights Motorcycle Club.

"A few years ago, another promoter, E. Massey, and I put on the Pink and Black Affair at the Airport Inn Ballroom," Hardaway says. "This time around, I decided to branch off and do something on my own."

The Royal Knights' hangout, at the corner of Mississippi and Lauderdale, proved to be the perfect location.

"Even though I live in Hickory Hill now, South Memphis is where I started from," Hardaway says. "The people in that community are the people who helped me get my parties going from day one."

Plus, Hardaway, an avid motorcyle fan -- he drives a green Kawasaki 750 -- has an inside connection with the biker club.

"That's my uncle's club," he says of the Black Knights Motorcycle Club. "His name is Johnny Griffin, but everybody knows him as J. Cool."

For the All Black Affair, the focus will shift from fast-moving motorcycles to fast-paced dance music as Hardaway mans the wheels of steel as the house deejay.

"Everyone knows me as DJ Snoop," he says. "I got the name from my uncle, but I'm affiliated with the Ripp Squad DJs. DJ Randy and I will be playing old-school R&B, hip-hop, and urban music."

The All Black Affair

10 p.m. Saturday at the Royal Knights Motorcycle Club, 663 Mississippi.

Tickets are $7 in advance or $10 at the door.

For information, call 864-1504

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