Rachel Crick Photography

When it rains it pours….It has been raining in Denver for the last three days straight. This is a phenomenon in Denver, it was like we stole Seattle’s weather. When I say it rained….boy….I’m talking DOWN POUR. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do portraits of members of the Bay Area’s Hieroglyphics crew, but with my camera tucked in my jacket, we dodged buckets of water and got the job done. Conversation with each member of the group was as varied as the portraits I got. Long distance relationships, step children, girl problems, new born babies, crack addicts…. The list goes on and on.

Being a fly on the wall can sometimes be an interesting experience. While sitting in the corner of the green room furthest from the wall of blue haze, I listened as the emcees in the room pondered….. “Yo! A show of hands of all the emcees in the room!!!! How many of you have had their Mother’s end fight for them?” and “I know Pac is rollin’ in his GRAVE listening to that Jay Z shit…who the hell takes a metaphorical song about a man and his gun and turns it into a crap song about a man and his BOO???”

As the only woman in the green room at the Fox Theater last night for the Hieroglyphics, Blue Scholars, Tanya Morgan show, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise when the stage manager asked me if I was Tanya Morgan. And yet, it did…”Hey Tajai, he wants to know if I’m Tanya Morgan…” Will the real Tanya Morgan please stand up.

Hip Hop in Boulder is a fabulous thing. Shows are well attended and the audience is pumped. It was no difference last night. Two out of three members of Tanya Morgan Von Pea, and Donwill, (According to Donwill, Ilyas had been kicked out of the group for the month for not paying required monthly dues….) with DJ Low Key on the tables ROCKED the house. I’d never seen Tanya Morgan live, and I won’t miss them again.

Listen to: Tanya Morgan “Tanya Morgan is a Rap Group”

Hiero newcomers JC and Knobody set it off as well, although I gotta say I preferred Knobody’s set, his beats were old school King Tee type joints….full of Bass, thumpin’ true West Coast style.

Listen to: JC feat Casual, the Grouch & A+ “White Chaulk”

Listen to: Knobody “Supa”

The biggest surprise of the night to me though was Seattle’s own Blue Scholars. Being a Seattle native, and a former hip hop snob, I was shocked at how much I enjoyed Blue Scholars. They were fantastic. I’ll probably actually even buy their album, which is a shocker as I usually only buy De La Soul albums at this point in my life. LOL

Listen to: Blue Scholars “27″

Hiero killed it of course. Casual, Opio, Pep Love, Tajai and A+ all brought it to the stage. Check for Opio’s newest release, Vulture’s Wisdom, out now. Hieroglyphic Records puts out albums all year every year, so be on the look out for all their new releases. If you haven’t seen them live, there’s still time.

Listen to: Opio “Original Lyricist”

REMAINING TOUR DATES

Thu	09/18/08		San Francisco, CA		The Fillmore
Fri	09/19/08		Chico, CA		Senator Theatre
Sat	09/20/08		Sacramento, CA		Colonial Theatre
Mon	09/22/08		Bend, OR		Midtown
Tue	09/23/08		Eugene, OR		McDonald Theatre
Wed	09/24/08		Portland, OR		Roseland Theater
Thu	09/25/08		Spokane, WA		Gonzaga University
Fri	09/26/08		Seattle, WA		Showbox At The Market
Sat	09/27/08		Seattle, WA		Showbox At The Market
Sun	09/28/08		Vancouver, BC		Richard’s On Richards Cabaret
Mon	09/29/08		Victoria, BC		Element Nightclub
Wed	10/01/08		Sparks, NV		The New Oasis
Thu	10/02/08		Santa Cruz, CA		The Catalyst