Rockin' the streets

The hip-hop underground comes back

by Brian Coleman

Back in 1979, when "Rapper's Delight" exploded onto the worldwide music scene, rap music was, by necessity, an independent, underground medium. Most major labels were sure this fad would fade faster than industry sales were shrinking at the time. And though some majors "experimented" with rap music throughout the early to mid '80s, it would remain an independent musical form for years (the quirky radio success of "Rapper's Delight" notwithstanding). Artists at the time were more concerned with getting their music out on the market than waiting to get signed, and the DIY aesthetic ruled an art form that was born on and thrived in the streets of urban America.

Throughout the '80s, rap steadily gained popularity. Multi-million-selling albums like Run-DMC's King of Rock (Profile, 1985) and Raising Hell (1986) and the Beastie Boys' Licensed To Ill (Def Jam, 1986) (not to mention underground blockbusters from Schoolly D and Boogie Down Productions) could not be dismissed as flukes; rather they proved that there was indeed a large rap audience out there. This immense profit potential made for an offer the major labels couldn't refuse. Indies like Def Jam, Tommy Boy, and Cold Chillin' quickly got swallowed by the likes of CBS and Warner Bros., and suddenly six-figure deals were being signed. Through the mid '90s the major labels, with their "follow the leader" signing and promoting mentality, maintained their hold on rap and hip-hop.

But in 1995, things began to change. Rappers started putting out their own records again in noticeably larger numbers, and small independently owned and distributed hip-hop labels began popping up all over the place. They certainly weren't trying to sell millions -- it was more like the indie-rock world, where album or singles sales of 5000 to 20,000 units are considered "hits." Most artists simply wanted to get their music out to as many people as possible. Some may have been fed up with waiting to get signed by a major; others likely did it to start the buzz necessary to get a deal. Or maybe they realized that the idols they had grown up with -- masters like Kurtis Blow, Run-DMC, Chuck D, Rakim and L.L. Cool J -- had over time been supplanted by cartoonish gangsta figures -- Snoop Doggy Dogg, the Notorious B.I.G., and Tupac -- whose image is as dependent on their videos as on their beats, lyrics, and delivery. For whatever reason, enough people were disenchanted with mainstream rap for the underground to start buzzing again.

Not that most of America noticed at first. Underground hip-hop is still spread by 12-inch singles and mix tapes, which you'd be hard-pressed to find at Wal-Mart. But shockwaves like this start from hardcore "heads," industry insiders, and underground hip-hop stores and spread outward. Labels like Fondle 'Em, Bulk, Solesides (partly owned by DJ Shadow), Stone's Throw, Bomb, Funky Ass, Official, Brick, Rawkus, Mass Vinyl, Dolo, 10/30 Uproar, and Tape Kingz have been cutting a fresh swath through the hip-hop world of the '90s, using their freedom from label pressure to explore experimental beat scenarios, adventurous lyrics, and a healthy disregard for what may or may not become a hit. Aside from the fact that underground releases are sonically less "produced" than your typical Puffy Combs or Coolio track, there's an obvious difference in attitude -- evident in lyrics that often attack established stars and their "playa" and designer-label lifestyles while ignoring the usual gangsta scenarios and image hype. You can also see a difference in how artists and labels go about making their records.

Take Bobbito Garcia -- a busy man whose presence and attitude make him a perfect ambassador for the new indie boom. Aside from being a popular New York radio DJ with partner Stretch Armstrong (on the urban FM outlet Hot 97 and Columbia University's WKCR) and a columnist for Vibe magazine, he owns and runs one of the more interesting and consistent underground labels around, Fondle 'Em Records. As the label's name hints, Garcia is hardly a sober corporate type, but putting out records is still serious business to him.

From past work doing promotions for Def Jam and an unsatisfying indie-distributed-by-a-major deal in the early '90s, he knows the ropes of the major-label hip-hop machine well and consciously works to make Fondle 'Em the antithesis of bloated cutthroat corporate musicality. He pays 50 percent royalty rates, does not own any artist master tapes, does not have any artists under contract, and refuses to send out promotional copies of his releases. One might say that this is suicide in the rap world, where over-the-top publicists with major-label cash to spend are the norm, but Bobbito and his crew aren't interested in getting a push from anyone who isn't on their wavelength.

This philosophy can be seen in Fondle 'Em groups like the Cenobites (who have a scathing attack on the industry called "How the Fuck You Get a Deal") and Siah & Yeshua Dapo ED (with overly abstract lyrics and an 11-minute opus on their recent EP). Garcia explains his business philosophy this way: "I've seen artists get lost in the major-label game and lose heart and the direction of what they're doing. I'm not trying to tell people not to go for a label deal, but every artist on Fondle 'Em knows what I'm about and knows what I can give them. If they're interested and I'm down with the tracks they produce, then I'm more than happy to have them on my label."

An important and oft-cited reason for going the indie route is that when artists are freed from the pressure to produce a hit record, their work is more likely to take chances and go against the grain. But that doesn't mean that the underground can't sell a lot of records. The breathtakingly bizarre Dr. Octagon album, released in 1996 on the tiny San Francisco-based Bulk label in the US and on the somewhat larger Mo Wax imprint for the rest of the world, has sold upwards of 70,000 copies and has led to a multi-record deal for veteran rapper Kool Keith and the project's producer, the Automator, with the new DreamWorks label (see our review of Dr. Octagonecologyst opposite). Although this is the shining success story of the underground boom so far, the example has certainly caught the attention of A&R execs at labels across the board.

One explanation for the success of Dr. Octagon is a newly prosperous independent distribution network that affords a small record (or label) the opportunity to become a much larger phenomenon. In the early '90s an indie record could conceivably sell well in New York or on the West Coast; success was likely to stop there unless it was picked up by a major. But with national distributors and exporters like Fat Beats, TRC, BUDS, and Big Daddy, a hot record can go from a modest initial pressing to sales of 20,000 or more, pushed virtually by word-of-mouth alone.

The new underground scene, unlike the original rap boom, isn't confined to the five boroughs of New York City. Although Brooklyn may be currently leading the pack in volume of releases, great records are coming out of the Bay Area, Toronto, Boston, Baltimore, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Some regional generalizations are possible, but there are exceptions everywhere you look. Bay Area rappers (like Solesides' Lateef & Lyrics Born) tend to be more "abstract" and less serious lyrically. New York is still the home of the "reality" rap and harder beats. Boston, Canadian and Chicago rap crews have no consistent stylistic allegiances and can show hints of either coast's style on any given record. (In Boston, check underground rappers God Complex for Bay Area abstract stylings and Manuel for New York street style.) That a great underground record can come from anywhere these days is a sign of the worldwide reach of the music and the infrastructure that allows it to travel far from its home base. (Once again the parallels with the indie-rock scene become obvious when you think of non-homogenous local "scenes" like Athens, Minneapolis, Seattle, etc.)

Peanutbutter Wolf (a/k/a Chris Manak) is another important player in the new underground world. Based just outside San Francisco, he is an innovative DJ and the owner and producer of the Stone's Throw label -- home to his own music as well as artists like Charizma, the Homeliss Derilex, DJ Babu (the Turntablist), Fanatik, Rasco, and Encore, plus an upcoming Rob Swift (of the X-Men) album. Like Bobbito Garcia he also has an inside knowledge of the major-label scene, having been previously signed to Hollywood Records. Putting out independent hip-hop isn't making him rich just yet, but he prefers it to his past experiences.

"I think that putting out your own music gives you a satisfaction that is tough to achieve on a major label," he explains, "because they generally want something different from what the artists want to provide. When you compromise for the sake of what someone else wants, then it's not really your music anymore. I wouldn't say that I'd never consider another major-label deal, but I'm happy right now putting out music I love. If the majors are interested, they can come to me."