“I’m KC!” I don’t wear Kansas City-branded t-shirts and I’ve never used a #kcpride hashtag. Yet as the Popper performed his latest anthem about Kansas City in a parking lot on Troost Avenue on Labor Day, I realized that I may be Kansas City’s truest music enthusiast. Not only did I begin documenting my longstanding devotion to the sound that made the town famous at Plastic Sax in 2007, I have concurrently chronicled the rap scene that’s produced the only other hometown sound to make a significant global impression during that span.
In the four-and-a-half hours I spent at the free outdoor event sponsored by 7th Heaven, Rich the Factor, the Popper and Don Juan were among the prominent artists who expressed appreciation for their longstanding partnership with the scrappy retailer. Bucking music industry trends, CDs are sold alongside the apparel lines of Kansas City rap heavyweights at the store.
As I wrote in a 2016 album review, Rich the Factor is “a veritable legend on the streets of the city’s urban core.” He affirmed his status during an auspicious headlining performance. Don Juan performed “I Am the Street” after boasting that “I started that Tech N9ne sh*t” and reminding onlookers of his affiliation with the late Mac Dre. Rush Borda, Chauncey Clyde and the teen duo Candii Gyrlz were among the other notable acts at the makeshift rooftop stage that validated my obsessive dedication to the most essential Kansas City music.
I posted video snippets of sets by Rich the Factor, Don Juan and The Popper to my Instagram account. I also documented 7th Heaven’s Taste of Troost party in 2009.
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I named the forthcoming Gorillaz show at the Sprint Center my concert of the month for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.
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The Project H is KCUR’s Band of the Week. My on-air segment will appear online in this space.
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I write weekly concert previews for The Kansas City Star.
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I recount my experience at the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival in Tompkins Square Park at Plastic Sax.
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I hope the reports that the Kansas City musician Ben Juneau has died are incorrect.
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Walter Becker of Steely Dan has died.
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Holger Czukay of Can has died.
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I opted to attend Noise Fest at Davey’s rather than the Kansas City Irish Fest at Crown Center last weekend. Most of the acts I saw at the shambolic event sponsored by Leavenworth’s Big Pharma Records were merely uninspired dudes who manipulated feedback and static. Only Pussyvision’s riveting freakout redeemed my break with tradition.
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A$AP Mob’s Cozy Tapes Vol. 2: Too Cozy is rude, childish and without any redeeming social value. Needless to say, I'm all about it. Here’s “Perry Aye”.
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The members of Algiers and I clearly like a lot of the same records. It’s odd, consequently, that I can’t get into The Underside of Power. RIYL Solomon Burke, futuristic gospel, Elvis Presley. Here’s the title track.
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Eric Revis’ astounding Sing Me Some Cry is RIYL Ken Vandermark, temerity, David Ware.
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While it’s not exactly complex, Lil Uzi Vert’s Luv Is Rage 2 is shockingly multidimensional. Color me (very) impressed. Here’s ”How To Talk”.
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New Order’s Power, Corruption and Lies turned my world around in 1983. Even with its overt tributes to Suicide and David Bowie, I hear LCD Soundsystem’s American Dream as a heartfelt homage to the seminal release.
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If Tyler, The Creator is really as miserable as he sounds on Flower Boy, he’s likely going to be utterly despondent when he's 50. RIYL: cranks, Earl Sweatshirt, misanthropes. Here’s ”Who Dat Boy”.
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I can’t be sure that I’ve listened to Ozuna’s ridiculously slight Odisea. His reggaeton is the wispiest music I’ve heard. Here’s “Una Flor”.
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I don’t loathe Portico Quartet’s Art in the Age of Automation because the ensemble has shifted away from jazz. I simply can’t stand the sound of soulless ringtones.
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P.O.S’s verses on Shredders’ ”Flipping Cars” are stupendous.
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The gratuitous volume employed by Mogwai at a Matador Records showcase at SXSW in 2001 came just shy of making my ears literally bleed. I was unable to flee because I was working the show. I’ve held a grudge against the Scottish band ever since. Even so, I’ve fallen hard for Every Country’s Sun.
(Original image of Rich the Factor by There Stands the Glass.)
