San Diego has a large and vibrant music community, made up of all styles of performers and genres. However, one part of the scene, though supported by a hardcore group of music fans, remains under rated and largely underground ” hip hop. While there are dozens of respected hip-hop performers based locally, airplay and more importantly, venues to play in, are much more scarce.
Luckily, the beach community has the 710 Beach Club for occasional shows, offering local hip-hop artists an opportunity to work their beats on the public. On Friday, April 25, the club will showcase The Upstarts, featuring lead MC Profile, Price (MC) and Iron Mike (DJ/drummer).
The trio came together in 2001 after Profile, a former MC for the group Sound Provider, started a short-lived solo project.
“He brought me on to back him when he had a show with Talib Kweli,” Price said. “So I did his backs and did couple verses of my own. Since then it’s been on.”
The group’s music takes its cues from an eclectic mix of influences, from the obvious such as Rakim, De La Soul and Stevie Wonder to punk rock heroes Bad Brains and Minor Threat.
The punk influence extends to their graphics. It’s likely this attention to detail that has won the group a growing fanbase worldwide. Though still relatively unknown at home, Japan’s Subcontact Records released their debut album, “The Know How” last summer, selling 2,000 copies in it’s first week. In today’s downsized music economy, those are huge numbers. Almost all were sold outside the U.S.
“Japan, Russia, Spain and Brazil and the Philippines have been showing us a lot of love,” he said.
He considers the albums success to be down to its mix of participants.
“The larger ‘Upstarts Society’ is a collaboration of artists and musicians centered around the core trio,” Price said. Indeed, the album features an impressive supporting cast, including rappers Grap Luva and Kev Brown and soul singer Latanya Lockett as well as production from up and coming producers Freddie Joachim (Organology), Quayludes (Blitzkrieg Militia) and W Steele.
For his part, Price said he feels it’s important to mix message songs and party tunes on an album.
“I think albums should have little of both,” he said. “You have to keep your listeners on their toes. If they always know what you’re going to say, you become irrelevant.”
While he is happy with the group’s global success, he confirms that recognition for local hip hop, is limited and that, in turn, affects the size of crowds turning out for events.
“The scene is kinda on the low,” he said. “I think higher education, more attention from the media, could improve the numbers.”
Though the band would like to tour, at the moment they are only performing locally. Even that has its perils.
“We did a show at this club that had another club below it,” he said. “Every time we started a song techno music would come screaming from below. It sucked,” he said.
It’s perhaps a bit ironic that a local combo’s biggest support actually comes from outside the community, but it’s a testament to the hook-filled nature of the Upstarts material that they have such broad, international, appeal.
The case of the Upstarts is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to local talent, but a great place to start when it comes to local MC fronted music. Hip-hop in San Diego may be largely off the radar, but for anyone willing to investigate, there is an embarrassment of musical riches waiting to be discovered.