Denver hip-hop moves slowly to acceptance

Erika Gonzalez, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 17, 2007 at midnight

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"Who's got the guts to say somethin'?"

It's a Friday night at the Mercury Cafe and The Voice Robinson is performing a song aimed at "whack MCs" who fail to deliver a deeper message with their rhymes.

"The MCs are rapping about sex and drugs and partying and status, and to me, things that don't last and aren't relevant to what true life is about," says Robinson.

Robinson might be preaching to the choir on this night. For seven years, eager crowds have flocked to Cafe Nuba, the hip-hop event that takes up residence at the Merc once a month. Here, audiences know they can see DJs, poets, films and musical artists in a peaceful, positive environment. The event is one of the longest-running success stories in a local hip-hop scene that tries to compensate for its small size with intensity and purpose.

Though no rival to Atlanta or Los Angeles, local performers vow they are making strides. "Is it at a place where it should be? No, but it's definitely getting there," says spoken-word artist LadySpeech.

The scene has had its down moments, including the embarrassing last-minute cancellation of the Hip-Hop Summit, which promised to bring national attention to Denver three years ago. Rather than retreat, many in the hip-hop community continue to create their own opportunities: starting music labels and carving out new performing venues.

Others are putting less emphasis on commercial success to focus instead on their message. "The accolades and even money will have to wait," says LadySpeech, who is more focused on community activism than fame. "I'm timeless."

Breaking out of Denver

The local scene suffers from its own set of problems: Graffiti artists complain about a lack of legal canvases. MCs grumble about the difficulty in getting their music to the masses. And many say that the local community is fragmented.

"This isn't New York or L.A., where you have a hip-hop base of millions," said Nathan Warren, publicist for the hip-hop label, 5 Points Plan Recordings. "Here, it's like everyone is fighting over that hamburger that fell on the floor."

The area has its share of people practicing the various forms of hip-hop, but none has broken out nationally. L.A.-based record industry executive Big Jon Platt, a Denver native, summed up the issue.

"I've been here four days," he said during a recent Denver visit. "In four days I should be able to know what the hottest local thing is here - and I don't know it!

"The community has to support itself, and I just don't see it. It's gotta start with fan support, radio support, support at shows. These artists have to build a fan base. That's when you have a real buzz, a real movement. "

MC William Salter, better known as D.O., plans to change that. "My mission is to sell Denver to L.A.," says D.O., chief executive officer of the fledgling 5 Points Plan.

After years of paying dues in Denver, D.O. recently moved to the City of Angels to cultivate contacts for his new label. "I've done all I can do here," says D.O., who has opened for big names such as Lil' Jon and the Eastside Boys and KRS-ONE.

The MC's latest release, Industry Guys, is available at local retailers and on iTunes. Still, D.O. said he struggles to secure live gigs or get his music played in local clubs.

"What a lot of DJs tell me is that Denver isn't ready for that. Well, how do you know if you won't play the music?"

The underground

It's not all about more exposure: Some artists say their efforts remain largely underground.

"When you hear about break dancing, you think, 'Didn't that stop in the '80s?' And that's because they don't show it on television," says break dancer Michael "Fate" Sierra. "We don't see the culture, so we don't really see what's happening."

While many crews hone their skills in local warehouses weekly, there are few opportunities to view the talent publicly. Sierra is trying to take hip-hop to audiences through Hip-Hop Elements. An offshoot of the non-profit Colorado Hip-Hop Coalition (which dissolved when founder Jeff Campbell relocated to San Francisco late last year), Elements provides hip-hop education to after-school programs, probation centers, detention centers and other venues.

"I started this to give the opportunity to teachers of all the elements to get their stuff out - to show what they have and really make money from it," says Sierra.

Mario Rodriguez has been doing that for years. Known professionally as DJ Chonz, Rodriguez makes his living from hip-hop, serving as on-air talent for KS-FM (107.5) and as a sought-after club DJ as part of the DJ collective, Radio Bums. (He's also working with D.O. on a new mix of Industry Guys).

Rodriguez wants to follow in the footsteps of celebrity spinner, DJ AM, who owns an L.A. nightclub and has a Friday- night residency at the Caesar's Palace-based nightclub, Pure.

While Rodriguez builds a hip-hop career, his break-dancing brother Delfino is working to keep the culture alive. He's teaching his daughters and other kids the art form through his crew, the Lords of Finesse. The Lords are even forming an all-female team of breakers, the Queens of Finesse.

"If cats like me don't come back, then it's going to be lost," says Delfino, who works on the city of Denver's zoning staff.

Graffiti artist Larry Bergl is teaching his craft to homeless youths.

"I'm finding them a positive escape from pain," says Bergl, a former street kid who works at both Sox Place and The Spot, which provide safe havens for at-risk youth.

And some don't think the culture and its elements need mainstream acceptance.

"It has to be underground if it's going to stay pure," says Ashara Ekundayo, founder of Cafe Nuba. "People who are using it, create it and re-create it and the mainstream will never understand it - and they're not supposed to."

Elements

While hip-hop can include fashion, activism and other expressions, the four main threads are:

• DJ-ing: More complex than simply spinning records, DJs scratch, mix, cut and sample bits of other tracks to create new music.

• Graffiti art: Images and murals spray painted on public and private property, legal and illegal walls.

• Break dancing: Commonly known as B-boying; a highly improvisational art form that includes standard acrobatic moves.

• MCing: Rapping grew out of the "raps" (known as toasting) that early MCs used to introduce DJs. Eventually, MCs grew more prominent and their skills become more complex, even including beat-boxing.

gonzaleze@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5350

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