South Park Coalition crushing ATX

Mississippi born, and Houston raised, legendary and influential producer, rapper and trend setter, known as Dope E or Murdoq, has been residing here in the Capital City, and playing shows of a different nature than fans of his are probably used to.

On Feb. 19 at the Karma Lounge he performed with Hatch, a Denton based "jazz fusion, drum and bass, hip hop" group as described by their bassist Elliot Morgan.

Dope E has produced and rapped on legendary hard core rap albums since 1991, with himself and his collaborators being based out of South Park, and hailing from the S.P.C. (South Park Coalition formed by K-Rino in 1987).

Before there was Z-Ro, Soldiers United For Cash, Chamillionare, Slim Thug, Paul Wall, and the whole Swisha House camp, not to mention the wealth of other rappers and rap groups that have come out of Houston, and the south in general, Dope E and the S.P.C. are the patron saints, and innovators of the unique sound and rhyme pattern that has given Houston its premiere title as a city that produces some of the truest in the rap game.

Klondike Kat's "The Lyrical Lion," Point Blank's "Mad At The World," Gangxta NIP's "Psycho Thug," and K-Rino's "The Worst Rapper Alive" are just a few of the projects Dope E holds production credits on.

The greater fan base of southern rap music may not know these albums, or artists, but what these artists did for the genre is unparalleled, rhyme wise, beat wise, and attitude wise.

Klondike Kat's melodic mix of street tales composed with raw soulful singing preludes a genre saturated with vocoder (a pitch control midi tool used by artists T. Pain and Lil Wayne) R&B rap. Gangsta NIP pioneered the "horror core" style of rap, honing his psycho-style in the late eighties in Houston rap battles. K-Rino, the godfather of S.P.C., has consistently delivered intelligent, thought provoking, Afrocentric raps for almost a quarter of a century while going virtually unnoticed by the greater rap community.

S.P.C. paved the way for other legendary rap groups and according to Dope E when asked about where he feels S.P.C. fits into the whole legendary Houston rap group discussion concerning the volcanic rise of the Screwed Up Click (S.U.C./Soldiers United For Cash) and then their namesake and many its members' tragic deaths, he had this to say, "a lot of S.P.C. members have been told by other Screw members…those our protégées man you know, the younger cats that came up under us that were influenced, by us, probably not totally lyrically, and in beats and things like that, but it's okay…we gave birth to a nation, by years and years of hard rap…"

While the raps Dope E delivered over Hatch's driving bass, keyboards, and various percussions was not what I anticipated, it shows that this unsung veteran of the rap world is out there, and still undaunted by the status quo. Dope E also stated that "being around live band activity is nothing new to me bro…"

Concerning Houston's well deserved echelon in the rap world Dope E said this, "we were the pioneers of hip hop in Houston, Texas….so much good has come from giving birth to that nation,"