So the Denver Post held a big music poll called the 2007 Underground Music Showcase, which is supposed to recognize the best in local music. They poll over 100 or so "music" people, like writers, club owners, promoters, and people involved with the music scene. They offer their Top 20 artists in Denver and rank them as such. Well guess what folks, hip-hop was hardly seen.
Of course, it would be foolish to think that any hip-hop artist would make the Top 20 in this type of methodology, but out of 300 artists only 9 sort-of hip-hop artists, with only a few of those 9 really doing anything anymore? With how big our scene is here, there's something wrong with that. Let's run down to see who's here:
#35 - 3Oh!3
#51 - Flobots (considered funk in some areas)
#109 - Future Jazz Project (considered jazz in some areas)
#123 - Dent
#157 - Dojo (I thought they broke up?)
#168 - Roadside Profits (now, I know they broke up and haven't released anything since 2003)
#202 - Azma
#202 - Break Mechanics (they broke up too right?)
#255 - Basheba Earth
Yeah, that's it. I guess part of the blame would also go to the people the Post chose to vote. Most of the folks on the list are people not involved in the local scene, and even some of the club/venue owners on the list have flat-out dissed local hip-hop artists when asked if a hip-hop sho could be thrown in their venue. And then, of course the event, which goes down on Saturday August 11 at various venues, has Dent as the only hip-hop artist - out of 80 bands! There's also no hip-hop DJs to be found during the event either. See the lineup for yourself here.
Anyway, on to some music. Joe Thunder hit me off with a bunch of exclusives from some upcoming projects not too long ago. He and Selector Sam have a new mixtape out right now though with B Blacc and F.O.E. called the Drama Kings. You can download that joint for free here. Plus I have a couple of more joints here, and leave your opinion. If you think so-and-so needs to give up on rapping or find a new producer or if it's just not your steez, let everyone know. You can keep it anonymous like others have... simple as that. These artists want feedback. Enjoy.
"Now That's Passion" - On Point
Joe Thunder/Selector Sam Exclusive feat. F.O.E., Mezzly, Duce Wyld, 800 the Jewell
Joe Thunder/Selector Sam Exclusive feat. PAAS
"So Yo Remix" - 800 the Jewell feat. Mezzly, B Blacc, & Dez (Joe Thunder/Selector Sam Exclusive)
Joe Thunder/Selector Sam Exclusive feat. Distrakt, J Cook, & Mr. Verbal
"Let It Go" - Avius
"We Back" - Pinmo X
Check out the new episode of Out Tha Box TV. You're wondering who Boozilla is? Peep the history:
And make sure you check out my MySpace page comments for other info like DJ Bedz competing in a National DJ competition sponsored by Pepsi. Let's rep Denver hip-hop on a national level ya'll!
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24 comments:
Pinmo X... GO STUDY HIP HOP! Stop giving Denver a dumb crunk vibe.
Nice work Joe T.
Avius keep keepin it real.
On Point? Wow, your track was pretty darn raw, dope shit.
Time for Joe T to fuck wit new people... No disrespect but just my opinion that you need to change the vibe of your mixtapes a little from the gangsta/crunk vibe to the more classic backpack underground vibe. Kinda like the Blunt Sessions but with better emcees since Dent is losin his touch...
NOW THATS PASSION! Haha dope ass shit
If you havent learned by now, it aint what you can do but who you know. This is a bitch, yes, but its time we own up to shit as well. Obviously we know these people nominated work their connects...you not on the list?? Work the connects and you too can get some bullshit shine. Just real talk.
We as artist wanna continue to blame the scene around us without taking resposibility for the role we play in the scene. Unfortunately, your music is not enough. At what point do we take that resposibility?? And make sure that these lesser talented/credible pieces of shit go back to the obscurity in which they belong.
All that other stuff is just a'right, but I gotta give it up to my boy Avius. Him and Es Nine are keepin real hip hop alive...The "Patience album" will change ya life, Keep watchin, you ain't seen nothin yet!
Shout out to Joe T...it's about time you woke up, partna! ;0)
The best song on here is the Avisus. Joe T. I only liked 2 songs yall posted.Your 500. On Point this song was one of your better ones. Pinmo X I like your style. But you have to post some diffrent songs than you club shit. These dumbies look @ this as a representation of your music. Keep it hip hop yall.
Yooo..Its ya boi Fyght Juice...Whats good yall??..That O.T.B.T.V iz crazy..Sid on the 411..Good look on the history...Overall everyone is Representing Hip Hop the way it should be...Avius had the best song on here!!.Paas and Joe T was off the hook...Im feelin that On Point too...Colorado has some good talent and skillz...What does it take for someone to get a deal out here though??..Anyways go to milehighhiphop.com 5280 has a cd release @ the Gothic Theatre Sept. 1st...5280, Three Quarta, Insomniaks, Black Pegasus, Tre/ Illacide and more...Support local Hip Hop!!!..Peace
I can't say I am surprised with The Denver Post's list. But I didn't expect a newspaper read mostly by people over 30 years old to go the distance and include any real insight on the local hip-hop scene, even though that would at least give young people a reason to pick up the paper. And Future Jazz Project was really more of a hip-hop group when emcee P.A.A.S. was a member, and Break Mechanics, to which P.A.A.S. also belonged has been split up for over a year as far as I knew.
Good lookin out on keepin up the blog, I'm glad I found it.
Peace
P.S.: Paid Dues should've sold out at Red Rocks. Was $50 really too much for y'all? jk Show was tight though.
I'm torn between the On Point & Avius track on which is the best on here. But i think ima have to go with the On Point track. Dope beat, lyrics are hot. Yall keep bringin it.
First off Mad Props to everyone Grinding and getting there music to Q On Point, Avius, F.O.E, B Blacc, Sam and myself...
Anonymous # 2 do your home work Contact high not Gangsta, Joint Chief of Staff not gangsta, Dez the man # 1 Like Q would say Dez and his homies, Dez The Man #2 Not gangsta this cd includes features by
Main, Manifest, Paas, G7, Recta, Contact, D.O, Wezzy 730, Sol P, Dent, Deca, not gangsta!!!!
Blunt Sessions Not Gangsta
I ll put my money on Dent any day wanna battle I could set it up!!!
But good looks ...
What type of Blunts should I smoke or what type of soda schould I drink!!! if you have any more advice hollar at me Dog
Word Up Crystal..
500 I ll take that I think thats HOF numbers..
Again good looking to everyone!!!
I ll leave you with quote from the Drama Kings mix Tape
"Brothers be loving my shit but every now and then" "Hatin just a little Bit" Dez and Blacc on the Hook..
Call Me Joe Motherfucken Thunder
One more thing Good music is Good music and thats what I fucks with...
I am looking for someone to shoot a music Video if anyone knows anyone hit me up at www.myspace.com/joethizzy
Thanks
JoeT
Big up to all the cats doin it but i gots to give it to On Point, new cats fire, keep doin you.
i hate to say it, but i'm going to have to agree with mane rok. granted, the denver post's poll is totally subjective, and we could have probably included more hip-hop and dj heads on the voting list, but he has a point: if you want people to pay attention to you, you have to work for their attention, especially when a million other things are competing for it.
p.s. i've got a short piece on the reverbnation competition in the sunday a&e critic's choice section...
actually, never mind on reverbnation... the showcase was postponed (lack of interest??) until october, supposedly.
SO YOU KNOW:
This months Colorado Music Buzz has an article on none other than....
ManeLine
Big ups to D.
Also, last weeks The Onion had a feature on The Pirate Signal.
Good looks Z!!
Watch out now.
HAHAHAHAHA....Some of you cats krack me up!!! People wanna talk but can never say names...come on dog "classic backpack" did you even read this bull b4 u hit send?And you wonder why we have a bad stigma...because of people still thinking the industry is in a backpack!
Give it up homie, or jus keep doing songs for your friends to listen to in the basement because having a one track mind is gonna keep you a basement "MC"
Word up to the homie Mane....tell it like it is fam some of the atrists are part of the problem! Quit blaming others for your down falls...keep it grinding and kick these weak punks to the curb with the rest of the trash!!!
YEA I SAID IT!!!! AND NOT AFRAID TO LEAVE MY NAME!!! YOU KNOW WHO IT IS.....
FOE
King Of The Mountain
303-731-5721
foe@fatherofenemies.com
The first Joe T song with FOE etc. go hard as fuck.
Pinmo needs to shut up tho, i know thats harsh but for real...
That On Point track is fuckin ill though, we need more music like that to represent Denver.
Avius is doin it too. Yall keepin it hip hop.
Yo word up Q for posting my song(s). I really apprecieate it. Also want to thank you Crystal for your non stop support, Big up Mane, for helping a homie out, and big up Joe Thunder. Thank you everyone who took the time to leave a comment I really do appreciate the love. Keep your ears posted, there is much more to come......Also we (House of Waxx Recordings/Crunk. Bros). are throwing a FREE hip hop show @ Herbs, Sunday Aug. 19th, 9:00 pm. Come support Colorado hip hop. Featuring: The Herbin Tribe, Unapreciated Scholars, ManeLine, And "3 The Hardway" (Avius, Es Nine, and Dj Cysko Rokwel)Also Dj sets from members of the Crunk Bros Crew. Should be a real good time Y'all. Come through and Vibe out. Peace and blessings.......Avius...
I appreciate the love and support from everyone. The Rawness mixtape will be droppin soon. Also the "In Hip Hop We Trust" music video has been shot and will be coming soon as well. Much love and respect to all the artists on here.
Mark you calendars, Wednesday September 19th... SCHOOLIN EM: Back 2 School Jam @ The Gothic Theater with On Point, SpDouble, P.A.A.S., Special Forces, & Boostwell LIVE. COME REP YOUR HIGH SCHOOL> Ages 16 & up. Hit me up for more info.
Flawlessop13@msn.com
PEACE
Flawless
~OP~
Is it me or does the pimno track not belong on here??
Everybody should make their own list and post it. I bet there would be a lot of hurt feelings. I don't think there is a mass amount of dope emcees in the city honestly, I'm not sayin there's none but the the majority of Cds available in the street are pretty wack...
As for this list... How can you have an underground list with none of the local acts on it... I could name like 10 super dope emcee who are not on it...
Distrakt
PAAS
SP Double
JEW & Infinite
DJ BIG SPADE
DJ SOUNDS SUPREME
Whygee
ROOK
Innerstate Ike
Colorado Cold...
We talk shit about people leaving to make it happen with their muzik I'm startin to see why the do it.
www.myspace.com/whygee
www.purevolume.com/whygee
www.reverbnation.com/whygee
stasker3000@yahoo.com
3oh!3 is not HIP HOP in my opinion... I'm not hatin but I hate'em
Holla at me.
Whygee
If you Guys want real progress you have to go after it yourself.
You can't sit back and wait for the Denver Post, channel 9 news, Fox news etc to decide they want to do a story about Denver's Hip Hop scene and then complain about it. You have to be the ones banging down their doors incistently til some one writes the story you want written. I have hung out with a few of the hot local DJs, DJ Big Spade, DJ Emir, DJ Chonz etc... and I have seen some local cats trying to sell their CDs To these DJs and they always say "look I'm DJ this or that I play at all the clubs in town and also make mixtapes that travel around the world etc... If you really want to do yourself a favor just hook me up with one of those CDs, I'll even trade you a CD for a Mixtape."
Believe it or not Half these local artists wont even do a trade!
"I can only let it go for "5 bucks"
"Oh I don't want your CD, I Just want 5 bucks"
What? Are you serious? Come on now! I've seen the local DJs hand out CDs like they're tic tacs, The Radio Bums once handed out over 10,000 cds at summer jam, and I know DJ Big Spade DJ Emir have done several thousand at a few events as well. It's about promoting yourself viraly. The DJs market themselves better than the local artists do!
Viral marketing works like an infection that spreads (Hence the term) If 10,000 people are out there listening to your CD there are at least 30,000-70,000 or more that are hearing it and feeling it. Now they purchase your CD and or copy it and start listening and these people all have their friends listening to your CD now as well, your fan base just grew exponentially to 100,000 and should continue growing at that point. And out of that bunch there might be one that has the connection needed to launch you to the next level.
Even main artists like Akon, Ludacris and Young Jeezy all send out thousands of free CDs trying to get the word out on the streets and also into the right hands. Now if you have the opportunity to hand it directly to some of the larger DJ's in town and instead you get greedy and think "I'm the man... these DJ's should be buying my shit" then you truely are an idiot, you don't deserve to be heard and because of your attitude you most likely will never be heard.
And as far as being a purist talking about "That's not Hip Hop, blah, blah, this is not Hip Hop" wake up! It's all hip hop. Yeah most of the stuff that gets played on the radio doesn't have the lyrical depth that some of the previous eras had like Pete Rock CL Smooth Reminisce or Das- EFX, Guru, Daddy Kane, Grand Puba, etc... but it's now more of a fast food industry, they serve up a formula they can make and sell quickly and cheaply. There are good lyrics still out there and yet most of the public still eats up the crap.
It's the same as fast food. You have good Filet Mingnon, Lobster and steak But most of us eat Mcdonalds, Taco bell and Wendy's more often... we don't have the time to eat and digest the the richer foods, same goes for Hip Hop most people don't take the time to digest the complex lyrics and lyrical styles they want songs they can easily sing along to. That's just the nature of the game.
Hip Hop is a broad term, a way of life that encompases B-Boying, Emceeing, Deejaying, Urban Fashion and Graffiti. as KRS One stated "Rap is something you do Hip Hop Is something you live" Hip Hop is like a huge university, you can have smaller colleges within the university, so Crunk can be considered a college within the university of Hip Hop as can East Coast and West Coast etc... Dissin any particulasr category just says you want to hold back progress, Your trying to hold back evolution. As one genre will eventually breed another genre and eventually we will have expanded to where new styles emerge that perhaps you do like.
A ton of the newer Commercial Hip Hop like your Kanye "Stronger" and your Timberland "The Way I Are" seam to be taking sounds and styles from the Techno genre to create new dancefloor Hip Hop hits. It's called evolution. I'm going to be honest here and just say this... Many Denver local beats haven't evolved, I have been hearing similar stuff from local emcees for about 10 years now. I guess that's just the "Denver Sound" but it just seems like no one travels or links up with other scenes to expand their abilities and their sound. There have only been a few that have stood out. One of them (The Funkologist) has moved to California for the time being, the rest have made it onto a few DJ Mixtapes.
I used to like underground Hip Hop music more than the commercial stuff because it had better beats and better lyrics, truth is these days the commercial stuff has better production behind it. The underground beats have been weaker in the later years. They all sound outdated and either lack innovation or sophistication in their execution.
If you can't make at least a few Dancable hits then most likely you will never make it out the basement, cause no self respecting DJ is going to be able to help break a record that has no potential. You can have a back packish sound for all your stuff but you still need something that gets your foot in the door. And your back packish stuff should still be hot not just mediocre. Take a listen to a few tracks by Helter Skelter and Smiff n Wesson and you'll hear some cool lyrics mixed with some hot beats, yet even they didn't really get pushed hard enough to make it huge. But the thing is you need both lyrics and beats as well as a good concept for each song. Think localy and you won't make it. Think global and you might just make a big enough splash.
The Hip Hop Jedi
PS forgot to mention the production and sound of "That's passion" is pretty hot...as are a few of the other tracks. Keep up the good work and remember what I said about promotion, sometimes a few thousand freebies are better than selling 50 CDs. It's nice to see a few Local artists putting out some serious heat, now just get it heard.
No, It is 800 The Jewell!!! First of all I will keep it realer then real. If any of you know anything about Colorado Rap Music, you'll all know that it started between Montbello, Parkhill, The "A", and The "E" long before any of these catz. How do I know? Cuzz, I was there. There are only a few that have true Ghetto Passes in the town and those true can remember the real riderz that paved the way like: DTE aka Born Rugged (1990) which I was a part of (R.I.P. Carl Banks), 2960, Zaebo (Boozilla) when he was in the Bello's, BHP (Black Hole Posse), G-Som (The Trips), Soul P, and Scratch G!!! Or what about Chill and Jam, have any of ya'll heard of them? They were two of the coldest M.C.'s in the state back then. What about the producers like D/P Lovv, KP, Diesel, Terry Black, Young Dough, PLAYALITICAL, B Blacc, Dj Curtis Fox, Al ya Pal, and so on. This was long before I even heard the term "Back Pack"!!! It all started at Urban Events such as Juneteenth, The Black Arts Festival, and numerous other venues.
Now, letz set the record straight!!! I got a lot of love for all of the ladies and gent's bust'n ass to get the music scene crackin but, I cannot and will not respect the lack of History. It started almost three decades ago in places most of ya'll still won't travel and is still going down!!! In case ya forgot, this is the WEST!!! There was a compilation that came out 15-20 years ago that described it best; "No Coast Line"!!! Who rememners that?
With that said, do ya homework?
As far as anything else and who is who; who give's a f*$k who blows up 1st. It will open the door for the Colorado Scene in a whole.
Ps, who really is making an effort to get nationally known as an artist from Colorado?
You can have the "local" title, ALL Day...
But if ya lookin' for 800 The Jewell you can find me on vh1.com or google me for that fact.
Better yet go to: www.myspace.com/eighthundred
and start there.
fifth,
800 The Jewell
Jewell Tyme Music is about to turn up the heat in the city, on me!!!
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