Colorado Hip-Hop, the Undead

Jenn Cohen | December 1, 2012 | 0 Comments

Special feature to Colorado Music Buzz by Molina Speaks

photo credit: Ric Urrutia

“Hip-Hop is Dead,” said in many breaths since its birth, continual cycles of births, deaths, and re-births.

Hip-Hop first died with its inaugural commercial “rap” record. “Rappers Delight” by Sugar Hill Gang was released in 1979. Culture became product. Block parties, walls and trains full of graffiti art, emcee and b-boy ciphers, crates of soul, funk and reggae records… all reduced to 15 minutes on wax.

Hip-Hop has reincarnated itself, again and again. Fueled by grit and a desire to prove something. Beyond that: Soul. Creativity. The art of taking something old and making it new. Cities like Denver and Albuquerque are Hip-Hop’s latest revivals.

Asked to write a 500-word piece on Colorado Hip-Hop, there isn’t enough space on the page to shout out all the DJs, b-boys and b-girls, graffiti writers and emcees who deserve props. Instead, I’ll pay homage to the moment.

If you have an affinity for rap or hip-hop, know that something special is happening under your nose. That something is the energy that fuels culture nerds and scholars to continue researching and writing books about New York in the ’80s, and the West Coast in the ’90s. It brought the classic post-Golden-Era sound of J Dilla into the consciousness of Hip-Hop heads in the zero-zero decade. It is the reason rap fans debate whether or not Hip-Hop is dead, fearful of a world void of the inspiration Hip-Hop has fed to generations. Colorado is vibrating on that frequency right now.

There’s a general sense that everything travels inward from the coasts… that it takes Denver a cool decade to catch on. Considering how Colorado Hip-Hop has run amuck, there may be a hint of truth to that rational. Be it burners, turntablism, b-boying, gangster rap, club rap, conscious rap, backpack rap, green hip-hop, name a style… Colorado artists have taken their cues from the legends, and are now beginning to outshine their own heroes.

But it’s bigger than that, more than mere copy.

Beyond a sound, Colorado Hip-Hop artists are bringing something fresh to the table, finding innovative ways to “make it” in a cutthroat commercial music environment. Success in the record industry is elusive. The game has never felt more like a hustle. Colorado artists simultaneously embrace and reject this reality. There is a deep and sometimes dark undercurrent of competition. Artists rarely support other artists outside their circles. Everyone is trying to outshine everyone, including themselves, and even the wannabe stars aren’t holding their breath for A&Rs, record execs, and promoters. The result is an incredibly eclectic and vibrant scene, driven by creative instinct. Ironically, or perhaps not so, many hip-hop fans around the Denver area have no clue how Dope their city is.

If you enjoy rap and hip-hop on any level, do yourself a favor and stop lamenting about the good ol’ days. Quit waiting for corporate radio stations like KS 107.5 to serve up anything of substance. Get “on mission” and dive head first into your city’s jewels. Denver may be the next New Orleans, the next St. Louis, or the next Seattle. But then again, maybe not. And if it is, the magic may fade to the wind with the fame.

The world has changed, and so has Hip-Hop. It’s a post-post-Everything kind of time. Embrace the moment. Beyond Denver, you may never see anything like it again.

Molina Speaks is a hip-hop and performing artist, poet, youth educator and social entrepreneur based in Denver, Colorado. For more information, visit www.molinaspeaks.com.