Topic: Joe Good and Stik Figa feature
- May 11, 2006 12:40pm by LouisSkolnick
http://www.cjonline.com/stories/051106/ent_rappers.shtml
Published Thursday, May 11, 2006
Area rappers represent
Musicians tell fans where they are from to prove good rap doesn't have to be East or West Coast.
By JJ Duncan
CJOnline.com
N.W.A. was "Straight Outta Compton," and KRS-One came out shouting "South Bronx," but not every rapper was conveniently raised on a coastline.
Midwest hip-hop artists have long had a difficult time establishing an identity in the beach-centric landscape of rap music and culture. While several successful acts hail from the Midwest, such as Kanye West from Chicago and Nelly from St. Louis, the region has never produced a coherent style.
So what do you do if you're a rapper from the Interstate 70 corridor of Topeka to Kansas City? If some of the most promising upcoming artists in the area are any indicator, you tell the truth and represent.
Kansas City rapper Joe Good's new mix-CD "Hi, May I Help You?" is receiving plenty of praise locally, and he attributes it to his newfound forthright approach to telling people where he is from. His new track "In Ya Mouf" sends a blunt message to Kansas City artists not to sound East Coast or West Coast, but like themselves.
"I just decided I may not be the best rapper out there, but I'll rep' this city harder than anyone around," said Good, whose real name is Jamal Gamby and who normally appears as the emcee half of Soundsgood.
That's a change from 2001, when Kansas City rapper Tech N9ne did something almost unheard of for the area. He told scores of new fans where he was from in the club track "Einstein" as he chanted "K-C Mo, roll." The track appeared on his independent break-through "Anghellic" and inspired more artists to represent where they were from.
That message wasn't lost on Topeka rapper Stik Figa, real name John Westbrook, Jr., whose new EP "The Skinny," features popular Kansas City producer and Tech N9ne collaborator Surgeon General, real name Steve Garcia.
In the two tracks from that CD featured on his Myspace.com page, he proudly declares his affiliation with "Top City" in his rhymes. Though he said he loves to hate his hometown at times, he can't claim to be from anywhere else.
"I got tired of lying, basically," said Figa, who has traveled and lived in the southeast United States to further his work in hip-hop. "I was going around and you tell people where you're from and people don't know Topeka. So instead of avoiding it, I've started to say it. When you say you're from Topeka in your tracks, it lets people know there's talent here. It opens a door."
Good has the same idea. Even the name of his new CD "Hi, May I Help You?" represents Kansas City, Mo. He got the title from popular Kansas City eatery Gates & Sons Bar-B-Q, where "Hi, may I help you?" is the first question you hear shouted at you when you walk through the doors.
Good has reason to be proud of his identity. He's worked to develop a sound and identity that best rides the gap many hip-hop enthusiasts perceive between gangster and intellectual hip-hop. That gap is one of the most volatile issues in rap music right now. It splits West Coast (gangster) and East Coast (intellectual or backpacker). Worse, it sometimes splits the impoverished from the middle class, and even black from white.
The way artists approach that gap varies. Some are comfortable to sit on their side of the line. Some recognize the gap and reach out to the other side. Some pretend it isn't there at all, appealing to whoever will listen. Some contend the gap is an artificial rift created by those who seek to divide hip-hop culture.
It's a tricky and uncomfortable topic.
As for Good, he tries to appeal to both sides. On one hand he has Soundsgood, whose fans have generally been in the more intellectual circle, in part due to the avant garde beats of DJ Miles Bonny. On the other hand, his solo work on "Hi, May I Help You" sounds more mainstream than anything he's previously done, and the lyrical style is more of what people think of as West Coast.
Good said he thinks success will come to those local artists unashamed of where they come from -- regardless of which side of hip-hop they are on.
"I think we need to be comfortable with each other," he said. "I've never been ashamed that I listen to some of that gangster stuff. I like what I like, and I've really got love for Midwest stuff. I'm not just saying that. It's happening. People are making music here today."
Good recently hosted the annual Mic Mechanics emcee battle at the Bottleneck in Lawrence, where Stik Figa placed second. Figa out-rhymed competitors for three rounds before losing in the finals to Kansas City lyricist Godemis of C.E.S. Cru.
Figa said he thinks part of his appeal is that he straddles that same line. He said he tries to have one foot on the pop sensibilities that make mainstream hip-hop marketable while still "using words like nihilist."
"What distinguishes me is that I'm not completely underground hip-hop," Figa said. "I'm not, and I don't have anything against this style, like [Lawrence hip-hop duo] Archetype, which is really heavy, dense, dark hip-hop like in the vein of what college radio is all about. That's not really me. Then on the flip side you have the gangsters.
"I'm no gangster. I never shot nobody. I never sold no dope. I can't rap about that."
What Stik Figa can rap about is what he does know, and that's growing up in Topeka.
Figa said he began rapping when he was 13 because it was the thing that was going on at the time. He describes himself as being "kind of a square dude," so he picked up on rhyming the same reason a lot of guys pick up the guitar around that age -- to impress girls.
"I can only speak on what I know," he said. "I didn't grow up in New York. I never break danced or painted graffiti. What I know is cheap livin', good barbecue and the city of Topeka."
Good said he's trying to gleam what many of his favorite rappers do by throwing in lots of references to the city where he's from. He's currently collaborating with friend and fellow Kansas City rapper Mac Lethal, David McCleary Sheldon, who helped put together "Hi, May I Help You?" The two are developing Good's first full-length solo album, which will expand upon some of the work on the shorter mix-style CD.
Stik Figa and Joe Good agree their local scenes are reliant upon the local fan base. Joe Good goes so far as to appeal to fans to help him out in the song "Billz," ending the song with this line: "Starvin' artist in the house. Feed the needy, buy our CD, help us out."
Stik Figa emphasizes that for the local scene to grow, fans have to be there to support it. He said that doesn't mean they have to buy bad music to help the scene at large, but if they dig through some local artists, he thinks they'll find something they like.
"Everyone thinks they can rap lately," he said. "But if you sift through it all, you'll hear some dope stuff. I'm dope. I'm allowed to say that, right?"
