Hip Hop 918
Guthrie Green
Tulsa
Sept. 14, 2024
It’s been 23 years since Ludacris and the late Nate Dogg dropped their hit single “Area Codes.” 918 wasn’t mentioned. At that time Tulsa had an unnoticed musical footprint. Fast forward to today, when Tulsa has its own hip-hop festival called Hip Hop 918, which launched in 2018 to celebrate the elements of the genre and pay homage to some of the best to ever do it.
This year’s festival starts with Steph Simon, one of the best hip-hop artists to come out of Tulsa, and one of the most selfless. His DIY career has helped propel him into new roles that he’s using to lift others up. As program manager for Hip Hop 918, he curated the talent that would hit the stage, which didn’t include him but did include students from his TMC Records music program at McLain High School. Artists that age don’t usually get the chance to perform, but these are students who have always been up against the odds, and like the true diamonds they are, they came on shining.
Hip Hop 918 is a representation of both the past and the now. Women run hip-hop today, something Ali Shaw and the Female Spittas highlighted with an all-female rap cypher from Kendra Mars, Bambi, Lily Auset, Avian Alia, Changing FrEQuencies and Jerica Wortham. The first three were hard-hitting punchline queens while the last three put a mirror to the culture. The Female Spittas cypher reminded everyone that it’s a woman’s world.
The next part of the show turned into what seemed like a wrestling tag-team match, as Earl Hazard, Dialtone and Damion Shade took turns on stage backed by The Chris Combs Trio. Earl Hazard was the first, his subliminal syllables showing how sharp his tongue is. If I were to say, “Dialtone is so Tulsa,” you might reply, “How Tulsa is he?” — and I wouldn’t reply with a sentence, only the anthem called “Tulsa Bounce,” which is the sound of Tulsa hip-hop. The last artist tagged in was Damion Shade, who raps from his spirit, like an out-of-body experience. When he says “levitate,” the crowd levitates. And when he finished, the feeling of the culture was unanimous.
Always remember those that paved the way — that’s what Playya 1000 and The Deeksta reminded us with their hit 1994 single “Sunday Afternoon.” This one song took the North Tulsa duo around the world, all the while repping the 918. Now, 30 years later, the same song helped welcome them back to where it all started. They are still sharp as ever on the microphone and even added some choreography that wowed the crowd. They are our legends. They are Tulsa hip-hop.
Now we get to the headliners: The Pharcyde. Hip-hop legends, no doubt. I’m sure Tulsa wasn’t on their bucket performance list. Now more seasoned than in their ‘90s heyday, they’re undoubtedly performing in places they probably have never even heard of. That’s until they arrived and realized just how much of an affinity Tulsa has for hip-hop music and its legends. They teased the crowd by leaving their most popular songs for the end of their set. Two lucky concertgoers with a Sharpie-written sign got on stage to rap a few bars to their hit single “Runnin’.”
The naysayers will say that even in the new version of “Area Codes” by Kaliii, Tulsa still wasn’t mentioned. They’re right. Tulsa still has a long way to go, but events like Hip Hop 918 are showing hip-hop legends like The Pharcyde that Tulsa stands for the genre, this same genre that has taken Tulsa’s own legends to other parts of the world. And like a blending of the past and the future and the now, Tulsa represents all elements of the culture. Hip-hop is so 918.
Next for Ryan: “Written Quincey Unplugged” at LowDown, September 21
