A
pril 25th started off as a moderately warm day in Kansas City, slightly overcast with predictions of rain. By mid-day, the temperature dropped nearly fifteen degrees and a hazy drizzle set upon the city. Though an unstable climate threatened to halt a historical moment in KC Hip Hop, not even an ominous cloud cover was able to overshadow the positive vibe in the air. It was a day of new beginnings. It was a day when over 30 artists and DJs would put down street beef, color clashing, and underlying hostility to unite for a photo signifying one cause. Unity, often quoted as being one of KC’s biggest hurdles, found its way to the heart of the city’s new Power and Light District that Friday afternoon. As everyone crowded together for a snapshot that would capture some of the city’s greatest talent, ground was broken. “We saw unity today,” says Travis O’Guin, Co-CEO of Strange Music. “We saw a large amount of artists come together peacefully and be a part of the photo shoot. We’re working with each other a lot more. I really think the city is slept on because of the [lack of] unity. Once you start having success, instead of endorsing and congratulating that, often times it’s hated on. That’s the difficult part about this city, but now people have gone out and done their own thing and a few different labels are having some independent success. Now that there’s more unity, I think there will be a hell of a lot more exposure for Kansas City. We’re gonna do everything we can to ensure that we put this bitch on the map, with Tech [N9ne] and everybody else that’s involved.” Because the mainstream music industry has side-stepped Kansas City (even when the spotlight was on St. Louis), local indie labels have had to open doors for themselves. One of the labels with the strongest footholds is Strange Music. As the brainchild of Tech N9ne and Travis O’Guin, Strange Music has virtually become a touring and merchandising powerhouse. After enduring a few setbacks with distribution and major label partnerships in the past, Strange Music now has a more solid situation with Fontana/Universal. Tech N9ne’s new album Killer (with guest features from Ice Cube, Scarface, Paul Wall, Mistah FAB, Shawnna, and others) will be the third release under Fontana/Universal. Things are finally looking up for the “Kansas City King.” In addition to Tech N9ne, several other artists on the Strange Music roster are enjoying the success that comes with independence, like Kutt Calhoun, Skatterman & Snug Brim, Ill Bill, Grave Plott, and Prozak, who all have albums scheduled to be released mid-2008. Krizz Kaliko, who lends his opera-like voice to many of Tech N9ne’s choruses, recently released his album Vitiligo. When it comes to characterizing the style of Kansas City, Krizz Kaliko explains, “We’ve got our own distinctive sound, swagger, language, our own dances, everything – just like the Bay, just like down South. But there’s a ghetto in
(artists pictured in the photo above include the following, in alphabetical order): Bishop, Black Walt, Cash Image, D Locc Da Chop, DJ Fresh, Hobo Tone, Hustlamade Bugz, Kutt Calhoun, Krizz Kaliko, Paul Mussan, The Popper, R.O.B., Rondoe, S.S.P., Skatterman, Snug Brim, Tay Diggs, Tech N9ne, Toothpic, Van Brunt Ent., Xta-C, Young Don D. Our sincere apologies to anyone we forgot.
every city and it’s pretty much the same [everywhere]. That street edge is usually a major component of the music in Kansas City. On Strange Music, we got all of the elements – hood, rock, East Coast. Myself, I try to make my own lane. The lane I made for myself is called The Funkra, which means funk, rock, rap, R&B, and opera. It’s musical gumbo.” “Musical gumbo” is a term that well suits Kansas City as a whole. Kutt Kalhoun says, “We got a collection of everything. We get a mixture of the East, Down South, the West. All that comes through Kansas City. We’re like the core of everything. We’re known for our lyrical styles and patterns in our music. I think the showmanship value of what we got is very unique. We’re very creative. When you come to Kansas City, the basic apparel you see is creased jeans and a nice, crispy t-shirt. KC had the Rockport boots. That’s the whole Kansas City theme right there. We don’t try to be like nobody else. You got down South, the way they do they cars. You got the East coast, the way they wear they clothes and do they thang. You got the West coast, they’re more on some Dickies stuff. We got a mixture of all that, but we run with our own style that we created for ourselves. That’s just in our swagger.” Straddling the Missouri/Kansas border, Kansas City rests in the dead center of the U.S. map, making it the merging point for all four regions. Because of its location, pinning a definitive label on the KC sound is difficult. “We take all those different sounds, mesh ‘em together, and come up with something super, super hot,” says Kenny Diamondz, host of Underground Heat on KPRS. Underground Heat is one of the few outlets for the city’s emerging artists. Recently, Van Brunt Entertainment’s artist Cash Image received hundreds of local radio spins with his single “In My Chevy” produced by Don Juan. Introduced by Underground Heat, the single spread from a mixshow to regular rotation, later reaching airwaves in markets outside of the city. Other KPRS residents like JT Quick, Sean Tyler, and DJ Fresh also play an important role in the development of KC’s presence. In the late 90s, DJ Fresh put together an album called The 50 Emcees where he highlighted the city’s top talent. Grant Rice, who formerly toured with Tech N9ne and is presently a member of The Regime with Yukmouth, credits the album for putting him on. He recalls, “DJ Fresh put flyers out everywhere saying he was putting the 50 best rappers in Kansas City on the album. Everybody was trying out. I got OZONE WEST // 23