Poor Vida - Underground Hip Hop

The Breakdown - Poor Vida Affiliated 2012

Written by Satori Ananda Thursday, 10 May 2012 10:21

** Editor's Note **

The Breakdown is a new section of the Poor Vida website, written by our friend Satori, who is a promoter & activist in Dallas. You probably know her, and if you don't, you probably should. This new section will feature Satori speaking on a variety of topics - album reviews, video breakdowns, social commentary, etc. Basically, Satori will be speaking her mind. Knowing that her razor sharp focus may not always cast some subjects in the kindest of light, we asked her to kick off this series by turning the spotlight on our own most recent project, the Poor Vida Affiliated Mixtape. So grab a copy (posted at the end of the article), and check out what she has to say.

When I got my copy of Poor Vida Affiliated SXSW2012 I didn't listen to it for a couple of weeks. I kept seeing it in my car but for whatever reason I didn't make the commitment to open the plastic. I walked in one afternoon at SamUiLL and Pihon's crib and heard a rockish beat being played with a catchy hook and background being sung by a female I didn't recognize (it ended up being track 5 by A.S.A.P). I looked on the table and saw the Poor Vida Affiliated sleeve and was rewarded with my 1st of many listens.

So straight up I expected to see some familiar names on any Poor Vida production. I knew it would definitely have a Drama the King track, a Neva Dug Disco crew joint, and probably some Mozez tha Great. I wasn't disappointed and the strong opening by Art-of-Fact & Molekular was definitely the welcome mat I was looking for. "One Mo Gain" and a couple other joints from the project made their way into my personal rotation. When Art of Fact said "didn't have to chase my dreams / music chased me in em" it kinda set the tone for me.

Red Bull Skooled Tour - Poor Vida Wrap Up

Written by Colin Roy Tuesday, 06 March 2012 19:16

Poor Vida & Rec Shop hit the road with the Red Bull Skooled Tour, and damn! Texas got skooled. The tour took the shining stars from cities all over Texas, including A.Dd+, DJ Sober, Worldwide, Kydd Jones, and The NiceGuys, and teamed them up with some of the biggest acts from the Lone Star, like Bun B, Paul Wall, Manny Fresh, Chingo Bling, Michael 5000 Watts, plus a few other industry insiders. Throw them all on a bus, shake it up with a little Red Bull (and maybe some vodka), and you have the recipe for a killer underground tour, with a few lessons from those that know included. The Skooled tour included performances in Houston, Ft. Worth, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and Corpus Christie, as well as visits to premiere hip hop spots in each city. Check out the video, shot and edited by Dallas' best director, Teddy Cool, and see what we got ourselves into...

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How DFW Cypher will save Underground Hip Hop

Written by Dick Sullivan Wednesday, 18 January 2012 10:05

DFW Cypher When I composed my 2012 wish list, I made eleven pretty lofty requests and one that was pure snark. Among the sincere wishes, perhaps none was more of a stretch than to see underground hip hop gain a foothold in North Texas. At least that’s why I thought it was a stretch. It turns out five Dallas emcees struggled with the same goal about a year ago and decided to direct energies toward that end. The fruit of that struggle is now known as DFW Cypher, a grassroots collective with one goal: to lend a bullhorn to underground hip hop in DFW.

A cypher is nothing more than a huddle of emcees trading freestyle rhymes. Unlike a battle, there is no face-to-face exchange of ad-hoc insults, but there is the same rawness of being put on the spot. A good cypher gets at the root of what makes hip hop so engrossing: individuals out on a verbal tightrope. DFW Cypher’s aim is to use that tool as a way to promote the area’s hip hop.

DFW Cypher formed in the late winter of 2011 when Frank “ASAP” Torres, Justin “GOAT” Griffith, Julio “Kilo Art-of-Fact” Corderro, Kyle “Molek Ular” Elrod, and James “Jack Rabbit” Clark decided to film a cypher and upload it. That first video, filmed in a Kitchen and produced by Molek Ular, went so well that the same group decided to do it again, with a new roster of emcees. This time, they had the help of veteran videographer Teddy Cool, the only non-performer of DFW Cypher, who came on board after finding the first video. “I saw this cypher concept and [thought], ‘That’s dope. That’s exactly the kind of music I want to push forward in this community. It’s simple. It’s hip hop.’” To date, the group has produced five cypher videos and don’t plan on resting any time soon.

Jump over to D Magazine to read the rest of the article by Dick Sullivan

Read More below to watch all the DFW Cypher Videos