Do you sense it? The coolness, the sudden crispness, all the changes taking place right before your eyes. I am a big fan of the shifting seasons, but fall in all its glory is not at the forefront of my thoughts. Before the need to pull out sweaters and scarves, before the want to rake up leaves just to make a mess of them, the Madison hip-hop scene finds itself at the front of my mind. Something is happening. Despite all the qualms people have with the culture in the city, it is changing. Right before our very eyes.
I can hear it already. "Hip-hop? This is Madison, Christine. Wisconsin. We do not have a hip-hop culture." Think again, my stereotype aficionados. Think again. Clearly you have forgotten last year's headlining protests against new dress codes at downtown bars Brothers and Johnny O's. The prohibition of hats and jerseys were in direct reference to hip-hop. Clearly you were not around during the days of hip-hop nights at the Annex. Now primarily punk and rock-oriented, it is hard to believe the venue was once at the forefront of promoting local hip-hop talent.
With violence taking its unwarranted place as the symbol of area hip-hop influence, the Annex bookers found themselves in good company when they began steering clear of artists boasting floetic rhymes and hot beats. The theory went that if the MC had talent, he was likely to have a following. In any other case, this would be a good thing. But when there is more than one able MC in a relatively small city, those enthusiasts were bound to collide. Whether throwing punches or pulling out pistols, no one wanted that collision to take place in their club. No one could afford it.
And so the genre became quiet in the city. So quiet, so pushed back behind local rockers and jammers, that it took a Nikka Costa poster to make me see the recent change. Of all places, Club Majestic will host Costa at the end of this month. I write "of all places" because the Majestic has been the one club around town that — night after night, regardless of local complaints over the months — kept its lineup of strong local DJs. Everyone else decided to focus on pop-rock, hard rock, garage-rock, punk rock, indie-rock and/or folk-rock. Anything hyphenated to rock. Anything but hip-hop. Few venues offered any kind of these artists live.
Noticing the Majestic make its slow transition away from local hip-hop — perhaps next Wednesday's Duncan Sheik show will be of interest to someone — made me wonder where the sounds were going. Oddly enough, while the last hip-hop home moves away, most clubs around town are beginning to reopen their doors. The High Noon hosted the Rob Dz Experience's album release party this past September. This weekend's scheduled King Club performance by the Crest is becoming a much more common showing. Even the tiny, obscure Natt Spill will host a spinning by DJ Bro free of cover this Saturday.
Much of this is undoubtedly due to the efforts of www.madisonhiphop.com. The organization sponsors events such as next month's "The Show" at the King Club for the sole purpose of spreading the reality of hip-hop music in Madison to listeners.
Even more of this change in attitude is due to the artists themselves. Local power wordsmiths El Guante, Starr and dumate's Mr. Parker are all scheduled to be on hand at the King Club Nov. 10 for "The Show." These, among a long list of others, are the movers and shakers downtown that use their rhymes, their rhythms, their individual expressions to demonstrate true local genre talent. If the violence Madison media loves to call hip-hop is mentioned, it is only denouncing it, because change has come.
Alongside those making appearances at the King Club, making listeners move and shake, is the incomparable Rob Dz. I have a hard time not giving in to the self-proclaimed "overweight lover." His lyrics slant to the comical, they come back to the insightful, ride right around to the inspirational. He can sound as smooth as D'Angelo, as carefree as Kanye. And the band rounding out his live Experience offers some of this city's best hip-hop sounds.
Like the attitudes toward both the genre and the culture in the city, the Rob Dz Experience's recent release Soul Anthems has been a long time coming. For more than three years, Dz worked with producer and Experience keyboarder Rick Flowers to put together a nearly flawless expression of true soul.
Witnessing the Rob Dz Experience live comes with the b-boy and Flowers, in addition to dynamic drummer Joey B. Banks, back-up singers Marcus Fleming and Toya Robinson, bassist Bruce Alford and guitarist Bobby Bryan. This seven-piece outfit creates anything but the passé vision of hip-hop. It is mature, intelligent, confessional, groovy, jazzy.
This all translates impeccably on record. Over a mellow, improvisational sounding bass line, Dz invites the listener to "Sit back, relax / listen, analyze / dig the experience / because the experience is my life." From that very moment in the intro, it is impossible not to appreciate his experience.
The album, a willing representation of Dz himself, demonstrates the ideal of Madison hip-hop. He makes use of a wide variety of the richness available from local musicians — the legendary Clyde "The Original Funky Drummer" Stubblefield, the energetic horns of the Youngblood Brass Band, the playful Adem Tesfaye. It involves collaboration, not conflict, shouting out to the national culture as well as making a point to incorporate regional roots.
Admittedly, hip-hop includes the clothing, the art, the soul and the attitude. It is a state of mind, a state of being far beyond the music. But the change can come much more easily when the music is this transcendent, shifting the focus away from image to the ideology. This does not include female objectification, nor praise for the drug life, glory of grand rides or arrogant expression. If that is your impression of Madison hip-hop — understandable if encouraged by your similar misconception of national hip-hop — open your eyes. The change is as apparent as the new season, and just as inevitable. Pull down those scarves, throw on a sweater and take advantage of the new club lineups and bask in that chill sound of the soul.
