The argument has been made that a city’s vibrancy is directly correlated with the strength of its artistic community. Borrowing from this sentiment is DC51, a progressive artist collective based in the District. Recently, DC51 expanded its ranks to include not only visual artists but also musicians. In celebration of this growth, they’ll be holding a concert at the Rock and Roll Hotel tonight at 9 p.m. featuring several hip-hop influenced acts: Drop Electric, Christylez Bacon, Godisheus featuring Head-Roc, and the Cornel West Theory.

We caught up via e-mail with Drop Electric percussionist Ramtin Arablouei to get his thoughts on the importance of organizations like DC51 to the local arts scene.

Tell us a little bit about Drop Electric’s involvement with DC51.

Drop Electric first became involved with DC51 after we performed at a benefit for the Women’s Drumming Empowerment Project at the Belmont House in Adam’s Morgan with fellow DC51 act Evil Empire. I knew about the artists in the collective after seeing their work around town for a few years prior to that point. When we started our band a year ago I was really taken aback by how little cooperation and community there was among D.C. musicians. I always had the idea to create some type of collective for D.C. musicians where people could openly collaborate and pair up for shows. About that time DC51 decided to bring in some musicians to its collective. We were asked to get involved with the collective and we jumped at the opportunity. I thought to myself, “Why reinvent the wheel? These folks really have it figured out. I want to be a part of that movement.”