It Takes a Nation

ip-hop in the Triangle is blowing up.

Thanks to the efforts of rabid student fans, dedicated artists and the financial support of UNC, a student-led organization called Hip-Hop Nation is leading one of the most important musical and cultural movements in the Triangle.

Founded at UNC in 1997 by students Kevin Thomas and Niko Cunningham, Hip-Hop Nation provides performance space, a recording studio and a way for hip-hop heads to organize themselves. It's about more than music; while Hip-Hop Nation has been integral to the success of local acts like Sankofa and Tyfu, the organization also claims a diverse roster of poets, artists, dancers and DJs.

Listening to the words of key players like Hip-Hop Nation President Briana Parkins and Sankofa's "Cream MC" Stefan Greenlee, there is a strong sense that everything in this scene, like Chapel Hill's rock scene in the early '90s, is clicking.

"UNC has been very receptive to us," said Parkins. "We had no problem getting [startup] money, or even extra money." The organization received $20,000 from the UNC Student Congress to build a small recording studio in the F.P. Graham Student Union building last year. Today, the studio provides recording space for musical groups, as well as solo MCs and DJs who want to lay down beats for upcoming shows.

Hip-Hop Nation's most visible aspects, though, are its concerts, which feature public performances by all types of artists. In the past, the organization has sponsored spoken word performances and an MC battle (that was ultimately won by Omatadi, a Raleigh MC and radio DJ). Tyfu, a local nine-plus member collective whose sound and delivery recalls that of Wu-Tang Clan, have also been regular performers. In fact, they are the first hip-hop act from the Triangle to sign with a major record label (Chapel Hill's stalwart Mammoth Records). The group is releasing a new single next week.

In addition to concerts, Hip-Hop Nation has provided a forum for artists to meet and collaborate. Acts such as Samadhi, Crymson Guard and The Lower Thirds have all benefited from Hip-Hop Nation's resources. In fact, the first-ever Hip-Hop Nation-sponsored show produced the band that ultimately became Sankofa.

Sankofa's story begins in the summer of '97, when an impromptu jam session at Chapel Hill's Lost City Lounge between Greenlee and drummer Stephen Levitin led to an exchange of phone numbers. The two later agreed to perform at the Hip-Hop Nation concert that October.

Indeed, Sankofa's message is unpretentious, uplifting and infectious. On both of their records, the band avoids the brassy arrogance and hackneyed beats that dominate today's charts. Greenlee's super-smooth cadence, adept, intelligent lyrics and rapid-fire beatboxing easily put mealy-mouthed moguls like Master P and Puff Daddy to shame.

Greenlee, who grew up in a poor part of Greensboro, speaks with a voice informed by both his past and present environments. "A ghetto is a ghetto, no matter where you are. Cats in Greensboro like to battle [trade verbal barbs in their lyrics] a whole lot. Everyone is competitive-it's all about skills." On the band's debut album, Greenlee deals with his move from an urban environment to the whitewashed world of Franklin Street-only one who has seen both sides can connect in the way he does.

That kind of intelligence is an aspect that sets Sankofa and other North Carolina artists apart. "Artists in the Triangle are more intellectual than normal MCs," Parkins insists. Although North Carolina may not have a certain "sound" like those of the West Coast or Dirty South, Greenlee argues that verbal skills are what makes North Carolina MCs unique: "People here are talking about something. I think North Carolina has some of the most skilled rappers in the world."

Sankofa is also breaking boundaries on the musical side. Five Elements displays the band's acid-jazz aptitude, while also bringing new elements to the table. "Harambe," the album's second track, uses nothing but traditional African instruments to back Greenlee's lubricious flow. "North Kack," a shout to North Carolina, features Wells doing soulful background vocals. The album even has an instrumental song. As the name Sankofa implies, Five Elements looks backward and moves forward, coupling the lyrical influence of artists like Rakim, Special Ed and Black Thought (of the Roots) with a sound that is like nothing else out there.

Sankofa doesn't look like anything else out there, either. The band's entire rhythm section-Brandau, Levitin, and Wells-is white. Greenlee wouldn't have it any other way: "When we started out, we would go places, and people would look at us like 'who the hell are these guys?' Then we'd play and everybody'd be hype." He says the white members are accepted because they don't front a false image. "We do great together-those cats have soul, but they don't try to act hard. We just keep it real. Keepin' it real means being true to yourself and being true to your music."

And when you see Sankofa's audiences-at shows ranging from the massive 102 Jamz SuperJam to opening for the Roots to gigs at frat parties and high schools-you realize that it's true. "At a Sankofa show, the crowd looks just like the band-it's just a mix," Greenlee said.

In a world where music and culture are splintered into subcultures and subgenres, Hip-Hop Nation and its artists have been a force for bringing people together. "We are one of the most diverse organizations on campus," boasts Parkins. "We appeal to people through music. Music cuts across everything."

Greenlee agrees: "We bring people together. We are diversifying people's cultural influences." While Nan Keohane's "expressions of support" for diversity initiatives ring hollow and The Chronicle's columnists whimper about "the anemic amount of racial inter-mixing at social and academic events," Parkins, Greenlee and other UNC students are bringing faces black, white, purple and otherwise to their parties, making unity happen organically.

"It's all about the love at these shows," Parkins said.

Both Parkins and Greenlee agree that Hip-Hop Nation's intellectualism-everyone's steadfast devotion to the study of hip-hop culture-sets the organization apart. Fans, even more than artists, Greenlee says, are the driving force in the culture of Hip-Hop Nation. "The people who are in it for the love are the people in the crowd. I try to make music for the people who love it."

Perhaps these sorts of sentiments are why an organization that is only two years old can already boast a studio, at least two very successful acts and an impressively large multicultural audience. Hip-Hop Nation succeeds where others fail because its members are believers-and they give people something to believe in.

"Music is always the force behind revolution," Greenlee said, his syllables rolling off his tongue like an activist's. "That's why a band used to march in front of the army going to war-to get people hyped."

And thanks to Hip-Hop Nation, people are.