The Oilhouse Drummer Show
Soundpony
Tulsa
Jan. 27, 2024
Hip-hop has always been a young person’s sport. Unlike in other genres, the pioneers don’t often get the same respect as the hungry, up-and-coming artists. At best, they’re still doing shows and performing new music; at worst, their public appreciation is mainly being approached by some drunk guy who says he knows them from somewhere. But then there are times when the clouds open and the sun shines on the legends. On a Saturday night last weekend, downtown shined on Tulsa hip-hop, and it was the pioneers who got their respect at one of the places where it all started: the Soundpony.
Soundpony has weathered the storm of old money going out and new money coming in as high-rises and million-dollar buildings now surround it. Still alive and kicking, it drew in a packed house to celebrate Tulsa’s legendary Oilhouse hip-hop collective and its classic Drummer Show, resurrected for the first time since 2015. To some, this might have felt like a Wu-Tang Tiny Desk Concert: at times the stage was packed with five to six rappers. To me, it was reminiscent of those lunchroom days when a friend would start drumming on the table while the best MCs in the school would rap in the middle of the crowd, each word like a sharp jab and each metaphor a haymaker towards the opposing MCs.
The idea behind the Drummer Show is to let MCs loose over beats laid down live by some of Tulsa’s best percussionists. Two sets of drummers — Josh Raymer (COMBSY, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey) and Nathan Price (BRONCHO), followed by Mitch Gilliam (Lizard Police, Blind Oath, and a regular contributor to Root) and Stuart Hetherwood (Blind Oath) — created the tempo and the rhythm as Tulsa’s hip-hop royalty riffed on top. This was also a reunion for Oilhouse and Lizard Police, who in the beginning would share a Soundpony ticket as they both navigated getting launched in the music industry.
Algebra (by day, the middle school principal at Tulsa School of Arts & Sciences) started the cypher off and reminded everyone why his transition to teaching was so effortless: he’s been teaching wack MCs how to rap way before he stepped in a classroom. Next was Steph Simon — there’s no doubt he has the torch today, but when he was just starting out, it was him in the crowd of concertgoers hoping to get a chance to rap with some of the best MCs in town.
It became a true full-circle moment when he passed the mic to a young Sneak The Poet, who was just as mesmerized by the sheer number of talented rappers onstage as Steph was when he first started going to hip-hop shows downtown. There was a feeling of comradeship and homecoming in the air as the microphone passed to artists Damion Shade and Mike Dee, long considered some of Tulsa’s strongest MCs, who both showed that they knew their domain. The Soundpony PA isn’t the best, but as the microphones cracked these veterans knew how to adjust and regain control of the sounds flowing throughout the speakers.
The second set started with Dialtone lending a couple of bars as he remembered being newly 21 and going to these shows to sharpen his skills. There was a doctor in the house this night as Doc Free cut through the beat with surgical precision. And you can’t say “downtown hip-hop” without mentioning Mr. Burns (who, like other performers in this show, has worked at Soundpony through the years). He was in rare form as he did a rendition of Mos Def’s song “Umi Says” that had the crowd joining in to sing “I want my people to be free, to be free, to be free.”
The night culminated with best friends 1st Verse and Pade sharing the stage just like in their Central High School lunchroom days. Hip-hop has taken them to heights I’m not sure they could’ve dreamed of in that cafeteria. And the best part is that they’re still dreaming.
Even if it was only for one night, downtown Tulsa knew who brought hip-hop to downtown Tulsa. It was a reminder that the greats are still around. Maybe you won’t see them on the stage as much these days. Maybe they’re teachers. Maybe they’re bartenders. Maybe they’re film producers. But there are no “maybes” about them being hip-hop.
Next at Soundpony Lounge: “EASTIE BOIS” FT. DOC FREE + YUNG HALLOWEEN + YUNG QWAN, February 10
