In the music industry’s eyes, Chicago hip-hop had a disappointing 2006. Its highest profile albums, Rhymefest’s Blue Collar and Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor, didn’t meet expectations. Even the indies had a rough time: Psalm One’s solid The Death Of Frequent Flyer for Rhymesayers didn’t really catch on. Yet from a different point of view, Chicago hip-hop had one of its best years ever: Those albums didn’t move enough units to be commercial hits, but they easily succeeded artistically—in the independent world, that goes a long way. One of those notable indie releases was Issues by Coppershot, a local hip-hop duo featuring MC LongShot and producer/beat-maker Copperpot (a.k.a. Dan Kuypers). Copperpot runs EV Records, which released Chapter 7, a Copperpot solo album, and others by Modill, Treologic, and Earmint. A new Copperpot disc drops this spring, but this month, EV Records is releasing a compilation called Everything, featuring Diverse, Thaione Davis, Psalm One, One Be Lo, and others. Before its release, Copperpot talked to The A.V. Club about race, cliques, and Miami’s breasts.
The A.V. Club: This issue focuses on indie hip-hop, which is interesting because Slug, El-P, Peanut Butter Wolf, and you are all white. Do you feel like hip-hop’s racial divide has dissipated?
Copperpot: That’s the reason I got into it when I was a kid—it’s what everybody was listening to. In my neighborhood growing up, there wasn’t a racial divide in hip-hop. But I think that, with the advent of the technology to make beats in your home and record in your home, it brought a lot more people who are affluent—and that’s typically white people—into the game. I guess the divide has kind of crumbled a little bit.
AVC: You said in an old interview the Chicago hip-hop scene is really cliquey. Why is that?
CP: I can’t really put my finger on it, but I do believe that. I try and stay cool with as many people as I can, and not get in the personal stuff with all the people that I’m doing business with in the community. I don’t know what’s going on. I know it’s not like that in other places, not that I see. If you ever go to a hip-hop show in Chicago, you’ll see a lot of people standing around with their arms across their chests, thinking with little thought bubbles coming out of their heads saying, “I can do that better.”
AVC: Do you think living on the far North Side makes it tougher for you in Chicago?
CP: I don’t know. I would say no—it’s probably easier to live on the North Side than the South Side. [Laughs.] As far as the industry is concerned, I just do what I do. Where I’m from, it’s a mailing address. I want to move to Miami. It’s warm all the time, and there’s boobies all over the place. [Laughs.]
AVC: You’d have to bring it with the big bass down there.