As an Ohio native, it’s always been disappointing that there historically haven’t been many clear-cut sounds or scenes here. There were breakouts like Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and Kid Cudi, but it’s just as common for anyone who makes it big to move on and start repping LA or Atlanta instead.
Side note – Columbus rappers really get pressed when you bring this up. Sorry, but Illogic and Copywrite do not qualify Ohio as a rap Mecca.
Cincinnati in particular has only had a couple household names emerge – mainly DJ Hi-Tek – which is odd for a relatively big city with a rich history of Black music (being the home of the Isley Brothers, Bootsy Collins, and plenty more). If you really want to reach, you could argue there’s a small lineage of cloud rap in Cincy, being the one-time home of backpack label Anticon and now Pink Siifu’s whole circle, but it’s not widely acknowledged.
Anyway, despite obviously being a huge music nerd, I’ve never gotten much into collecting physical media. It’s too much of a money sink and with how many new artists I’m always finding, it just seemed impractical; but I felt like I was missing a key piece of music culture and fandom, digging through the crates or just vibing at the record store on a Sunday afternoon. As a compromise, I’ve been trying to get my hands on some super unknown, unmixed local tapes with shitty covers. That way, I’m both collecting and getting more in touch with the community.
Here are some quick thoughts on the CD’s I’ve picked up in the last month. Sorry for the pixelated ass pictures.
King Quinn – Cincinnati Zoo
This is the CD that caught my eye at the store and set me off on this whole journey with local tapes. Repping Ohio so hard, it’s exactly what I’ve been wanting to see as a hip-hop fan. The fitted, the red background, and the title Cincinnati Zoo are just so dope to see as somebody invested in the scene.
On top of that, King Quinn actually puts on for the city in his lyrics and doesn’t waste many bars. I had this playing in the car and he said “hit a U turn on Reading” literally while I was driving on Reading rd.. That’s a cool feeling that most hip-hop heads outside of NY, LA, ATL, etc. don’t often get to experience.
He also leans into plenty of hard club songs, so I’ll keep an eye out for him on the weekends. The problem is the production is average and generic at best, which seems to be a recurring theme across these tapes. No matter how talented a rapper can be, the investment and tracking down quality beats must always be a barrier to entry.
Quin B – Real D Boy Stories
This is another cover reminiscent of 00’s / early 10’s trap tapes, so I was enticed off that alone; but then you realize that a lot of these Ohio tapes are behind the ball, because this came out in the late 10’s and sounds so dated already. It’s nothing particularly bad, but just generic beats and flows without much to place it locally. There’s a Real D Boy Stories pt. 2 floating around though, so I’ll give it a try as well next time I see it.
Listen here
Quinn Music Cartel – Queen City Hustle II: Midwest Music
What is the deal with all these fuckers named Quin? I don’t even know if there’s some overlap across groups or somebody keeps slightly changing his name because I didn’t pay enough attention to their voices (I admit it); but it’s kinda weird I’ve accidentally bought three tapes by locals with the same names. This one is executive produced by King Quinn from the prior album so there’s gotta be a connection. Quinn Music Cartel seems to be a small collective or label he’s got. Maybe he’s the underground Ohio rap mogul. I think Chikin P is in this group or at least affiliated, not to be confused with Milwaukee Chicken P.
WhoCould – Imma Steal Ya TV
Alright I had some high hopes for this one given the hilarious cover and title, expecting some weird Lil B or Kool Keith energy. There’s even an old promo video I found. Turns out I spent 10 bucks on what might be the worst album I’ve ever heard. No offense if the guy ever reads this somehow since it seems like he did put a lot of thought and effort into fleshing it out, but it’s such a mess. Not like my blog is any better than his music.
It’s just so all over the place. There are feature verses from literal children over some “Hard Knock Life” style samples. Other songs have cheap electronic dance production that managed to increase my respect for Daft Punk – these are literal “One More Time” knock off’s. Other times he’s doing a Tyler the Creator falsetto to cringe worthy results (granted, I think this dropped back when Tyler was still on his edgy bullshit).
So yeah this was a disappointing listen. Respect to WhoCould for putting his all into every song though.
Eddie Himself Williams, Q Revenue & JJ Giveaway – Blueprint to the Streets
This one was almost an ensemble album given the core trio and many features (whom I couldn’t fully differentiate, apart from Erika Kane who made for some nice variety. She hung with the boys and then some.). It’s got decent rapping throughout that references the city quite a bit and doesn’t fall back on struggle bars.
The cover had me expecting some early 10’s trap production, but it was actually even more dated and low budget. That being said, I enjoyed the Dirty South, country twist on the production, rather than straightforward Lex Luger style trap. It raises an interesting conversation on where Cincinnati should fit regionally. There’s a saying that it’s both the northernmost Southern city, and the southernmost Northern city. It makes for an interesting cultural pastiche.
Listen here
More Queen City Crates to come as I build out a collection. I might also just write about some local guys I’m aware of and have seen live, such as Sons of Silverton, Brandon Isaac, Jay Hill, OTR Clique, and more.
Also, follow this dude Gage on Twitter for a constant stream of new Ohio releases: @dubbobubbo