Previously, I explained how I found local mixtapes to be a great balance between collecting physicals and tapping into my own hip-hop community in Cincinnati – there’s a certain mystique to the DIY aspect, and a sense of connectivity you don’t get from music outside your homebase.
While I’m still doing some crate digging, we can keep diving into some old-school Cincinnati hip-hop that I haven’t necessarily seen in stores yet, but have found online or through live shows. Most of these are from the 90’s and early 2000’s, so it’s cool to track the city’s evolution and nail down its historic, binding sound. While I’ve argued that there is a cloud rap pedigree here, these older tapes unveiled whole new sides of the city to me. I’ll also omit the obvious Hi-Tek, CloudDead, etc..
OTR Clique, Criminyles
I can’t at all remember how I stumbled upon OTR Clique given how niche they are these days, but they were one of the first discoveries that got my wheels turning and curious about Cincinnati hip-hop. Having lived in OTR myself (Over the Rhine, a historic neighborhood here) and recognizing so many of their local references made for an instant connection.
They hammer home my point about Cincinnati being a regional crossroads, even outside of rap music. Their covers and titles are evocative of Memphis horrorcore, while the music itself is more inline with traditional Midwest G Funk.
Tracks like “Back of the Club” with peer group Criminyles are so smooth and could get play to this day; Criminyles, in fact, have a UGK feature on their album The Religion is Crime, The Belief is Crime Pays, making for one of the biggest shouts I’ve seen for a local artist. OTR Clique member D’Meka was also with the Criminyles, so Cincinnati seems to have a decent ratio of female rappers, including Erika Kaine.
Boss Capone Da-Don-Figga
While furiously scouring the internet for downloads of Criminyles, Hoodlum Klub, and Les-Doc, I stumbled upon Boss Capone Da-Don-Figga’s Hell Town – and how could you possibly resist that cover art? As expected, he leans even deeper south in his influences, having released this at the height of the No Limit empire and with some Silkk inspired flows (that’s not necessarily a diss). There are also plenty of features, including OTR Clique, so it seems like most of these artists came up together.
Out of everyone I’ve listened to, Capone easily crams the most local allusions into his lyrics, constantly shouting specific streets, neighborhoods, and spots. If anything, it’s a testament to the well-documented gentrification of OTR; he raps that you shouldn’t pass 14th & Vine, while today there’s an upscale brewery and an ice cream shop there. Take that how you will.
*There are a couple other artists for ya. I just didn’t have much to write about them here.
Watusi Tribe, Five Deez
In a 2003 interview, Ra2Taktic label head Roc Bivins said:
“I am baffled by the fact that Cincinnati has no leverage in the (music) industry… I’ve seen more talent here in the last several months than I have in Atlanta for four years. With the Watusi Tribe, we’re trying to prove that there’s talent in this city. People can no longer ignore this.”
While I’ll address them further in my next post on current Cincinnati rappers, the duo Sons of Silverton is comprised of two veterans of the scene, Citoak and KyleDavid, formerly of Watusi Tribe and Five Deez respectively. Going back to their work in these groups expands upon the city’s boombap heritage a bit further, with these guys being more along the lines of someone like Hi-Tek (apparently connected through the Wanna Battle collective).
Watusi’s F.I.S.T. had an unapologetically Pan-African, soulful sound that is among the first I’ve heard here, while Five Deez was traditional, if not comedic and overly sexual at times. Watusi goes so far as to make Common sound like gangster rap; but really, their common thread is a “rah rah”, bouncy flow straight out of Def Squad. I could totally imagine all these guys at Scribble Jam.
While Sons of Silverton are mainstay bar performers to this day, I have to wonder who the members of these other groups were and what they’re up to these days. Seems that producer Fat Jon stayed very active and even worked on Samurai Champloo.
Expect another article with a focus on more recent artists as the shopping spree continues.