DALLAS
GOT NEXT Words by Matt Sonzala
Disclaimer: This is by no means meant to be the definitive history of Dallas hip-hop. It’s merely a look at some of the events and turning points that lead up to today. Dallas is a dynamic city with a hip-hop scene that is definitely on the verge, but the success it is about to see by no means happened overnight. A lot of people put in work to bring it to where it is today and it would be impossible to mention them all. Also, for up and coming artists who may feel slighted for missing out on the photo, or not being mentioned in this piece, please send your materials to Ozone Magazine, at the address in the front of the book and we will consider you for future coverage. Thanks, and enjoy this look at one of hip-hop’s hottest cities).
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n hip-hop, many regional scenes become “flavor-of-the-month” success stories. One day the industry’s focus is on Los Angeles, the next it’s on Atlanta, then it’s back on New York. Houston, TX, is currently living through one of its highest periods ever with all eyes on the syrup-soaked city. People are talking about Houston as if the slowed down sounds coming from it are the newest, freshest, most groundbreaking reverberations ever to rumble from the South. Fact is, the sound of Houston is more than ten years old. For the past fifteen years groups like UGK and DJ Screw’s Screwed Up Click have been rapping about sipping syrup, candy paint and sitting sideways over lackadaisical beats that fit the pace of the city like a glove. The Houston sound is not new; the world has just finally caught on. Four hours north in Dallas, TX, there’s another scene emerging. If you take the time to look you’ll see that the second largest city in Texas is overflowing with artists bringing new sounds to the table and a flavor all its own. Big Tuck & DSR, Play-N-Skillz, Money Waters, Steve Austin, Pikahsso, Kottonmouth, Big Ben and Grifter are all set to blow. But Dallas, like Houston, is no overnight success story. Like many cities across the U.S., their local hip-hop scene is deep and rich with history. But unlike many cities across the U.S., Dallas has already had its share of major hip-hop success stories, though none ever really were able to stay the course. Take a look at other styles of music and
Photos by Jaro Vacek
you will see that it is certainly possible to make it out of Dallas. Norah Jones, Erykah Badu and Edie Brickell are all leaders in their respective genres and all came straight out tha D. In the late 80’s, when the hip-hop world was just starting to focus on West Coast artists like N.W.A and Too $hort, Dallas became a huge market for their music, due in part to a community radio station that is still around to this day called KNON and an adventurous group of DJs. Jeff Liles would play uncut N.W.A jams late at night on his radio show, mixed with hard rock and industrial bands from the period. His show, Life is Hard, was one of the first if not the first show in the nation to ever play N.W.A on the radio. In fact, he was later kicked off the air for playing the classic song “Boyz in the Hood” unedited. His show had a good urban following mostly because it followed one of the earliest and strongest hip-hop radio shows in the city, the All Hearty Def Party which was hosted by DJ Snake, Big Al and Cassanova Rock, also known as Nemesis. For years this was the only place where you could hear rap from outside the East coast on the radio in Dallas. On Thursday nights, EZ Eddie D and his crew would spin primarily East coast underground hip-hop. His show Knowledge Dropped, Lessons Taught can be heard to this day on Saturday evenings from 5 – 7 PM on the same station. (Later on Saturdays from 10 PM – midnight is the Dirty South Block Party, hosted by Bobo Luciano, Pikahsso and DJ Fish. More on them later). “KNON was huge in the mid to late 80’s and early 90’s.” Cold Cris, an early break dancer turned rapper from the groups 2AWK and Mad Flava remembers. “There was about four or five hip-hop shows at that time and people used to really listen to that station to find out what was going on. When Snake and Big Al and Cassanova had their show they used to throw parties and they would sell out the Red Bird Armory in Oakcliffe, they threw huge parties and people used to listen to KNON religiously. They used to play a lot of new music and break a lot of acts. DJ Curly was on there too. Dallas even had two urban commercial stations at the time. K-104 has been around forever and 107.5 was the other.”
(l to r): David Chris, Young Muhammad, Craig Sweet, P.T., DJ Princess Cut, Rob Free, KD Da Duke, George Lopez, Big Tuck, Tum Tum, Ron Don, NFL, Trinity, NFL, Double T, Fat Bastard, Big Hood Boss, Lil Ronnie, Don Dada, Lumba, Mr. Lucci, D-Lou, K-Roc