Colorado is a hip-hop gem hidden in plain sight, smack dab in the middle of the country. Denver itself is a force for the colorado hip-hop scene as the clear epicenter of the culture in the state.
As I’ve been digging through the Colorado hip-hop scene, the Westword, began publishing a series of articles on the history of Denver hip-hop. The first article in the series interviews Francois Baptiste, an emcee who co-founded 3Deep Productions.
Another emcee featured in the series is Mike Wird, who has spent the past couple of decades shaping the scene. More recently, by giving back to the youth through workshops at Youth on Record’s Youth Media Studio in Denver. Youth on Record empowers Colorado’s underserved youth to achieve their academic, artistic, and personal best by employing local, professional artists as their educators.
If you want to read a great breakdown on the Colorado hip-hop scene from someone who was there, check out this article by DJ Cavem. He provides great insight and some interesting tidbits of history.
For instance, the legendary hip-hop duo, Tag Team, met while attending high school together in Denver. They had massive success with their single, “Whoomp! (There It Is),” which was released in 1993, reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart.
Then there was the group, Flobots, who earned mainstream one-hit-wonder status with their 2008 hip-hop and rock crossover single, “Handlebars.” As of today, the music video has over 47 million views on Youtube.
The State Of Underground Hip-Hop In Colorado
Today the Colorado hip-hop scene is buzzing with festivals, events, and talent emerging from all over. We recently compiled a list of 10 Denver artists to watch out for in 2019. No double dipping here, below I listed completely different artists than what’s on that list, so make sure to check out both!
I want to give a major shoutout to Jiggy Hip-Hop for helping a girl find some rappers quickly. In 2018, they put together a massive list of rappers from Denver. Their Instagram also has some great quick facts about a lot of dope artists from Colorado.
Also, shout-the-fuck-out to Gummy Soul and Wally Clark. I stumbled across this beat tape, bananas., on Bandcamp. It’s quickly become one of my favorite albums to listen to, but I couldn’t find it on Spotify. Also, can we all take a moment to appreciate that album artwork?
Colorado Hip-Hop Scene Playlist
Follow These Underground Rappers From Colorado
Pries
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Jay Triiiple
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Xiuhtezcatl
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Vivid Scientific
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Myell Westcoast
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Trayce Chapman
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Doobie Danx
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