The cover of Denver hip hop collective ‘s latest LP exemplifies the troupe’s music. “High Five” is featured in blocky, old-school graffiti style above a boombox with smoke flowing from its speakers.
The boombox: For upcoming generations, this must be an image of an antique only used today for novelty or nostalgia. But for those of us who were around during the origins of hip hop, this is likely where we first heard it. Radio stations ignored this new art form, so hip hop took the airwaves through boomboxes on the shoulders of b-boys and set in circles of breakdancers.
High Five draws inspiration from this era of hip hop: it’s origins. Today, hip hop music takes on many characteristics of other genres, incorporating dynamic production that goes beyond two turntables. High Five doesn’t exactly revert back to the simplicity of a DJ and an MC alone, but the style is sample heavy with the classic cracks of snare. This is MC-focused hip hop, which is necessary considering the collection has four MCs: B-Rex, Guidence, Crimsen and Question.
The musical style created by producers D.H. Lawrence and Just Say PLZ may reference old school, but the lyrics woven by the MCs are at once current and familiar, often rhyming about weed, hence the smoke coming from the boombox speakers.
It’s telling of how far hip hop has developed that a hip hop style built out of classic sounds can feel so fresh and new. But that’s how High Five sounds. This is a troupe comprised of talented producers and MCs who are bringing old styles to new audiences, and word is they pull it off live. Appropriately, High Five will be opening for Naughty By Nature on their 25th anniversary tour at . Below, steal “Turn It Up” by High Five, which features a killer sample of the Van Morrison song of the same name. Then, listen to the whole album at High Five’s page.
Please note that downloads offered via Steal This Track are intended to whet your appetite, and are NOT CD-quality recordings. If you want those, please support the artists by buying their music and/or seeing them live.
If you’re a Colorado band or musician ready to expose your fresh sounds to the readers of Reverb, email your tracks — along with any interesting facts about them, as well as a photo or album art — to Steal This Track for consideration. We only feature tracks not available for free elsewhere.
