A Quaint Q & A with Miss Rachel

Rachel

Q: How long have you lived in Denver?
A: I'm born and raised in Denver, grew up on the west side (Evans & Federal, what?!) and currently reside in the Cole/Whittier neighborhood. My blood type is Denver.

Q: At what age did you fall in love with hip-hop?
A: I actually can't think of a time of my life where I haven't been in love with hip hop. This is a very Brown Sugar like question, right? The first cassette I bought was MC Hammer, Please Hammer Don't Hurt Em.

Q: OK so what was your fist CD?
A: Strangely enough, I have no freaking idea. I remember having this Boys II Men CD that would never play though, which broke my heart. I know for a fact that I bought 36 Chambers about 90 times, people had a tendency to have sticky fingers with that LP.

Q: Who are some of your favorite artists of the 90's 2000's and why?
A: Jay, obviously. I'm a huge Jay-Z fan. I think out of everyone, his discography is the best the whole way through. I can't say that Dre & Snoop  didn't have a huge impact on my perspective of music. I loved The Chronic.  I still rock it in the ride. Slum Village, J.Dilla... The Roots, Pharoahe Monch, Native Tongues, Boot Camp Clik.. I could go on.

Q: Favorite producer 90's and 2000's and why?
A; Pete Rock. There's something about Pete Rock that always captivates me. I love beats! Half of the time, I'm not even listening to whoever's rapping. I've always liked what Eligh from the Living Legends has done production-wise, his style is weird and thoughtful somehow to me. I have a favorite producer for everything depending on what I'm doing. Like, anything from Houston/ATL is the car soundtrack. I listen to Ella Fitzgerald when I am in the kitchen.

Q: Did you ever want to be a rapper?
A: I actually toyed around with the idea of releasing an album about a year ago. I know some of the most phenomenal artists in the game and I feel like I've wasted my resources by not doing *something*. Let's be straight though - I'm not a rapper. I'm more of a behind the scene kind of girl.
 
Q: What would've been your rapper name?
A: I actually hate aliases. That's essentially how Miss Rachel came about, Judge (from Basementalism) used to call me Raquel on air which I hated. I still have people who ask me if they've been pronouncing my name wrong for the past 5 years.
 
Q: When did you become so heavily involved in the Denver hip-hop scene and why?
A: I'm a pretty loud, sometimes crazy girl most of the time. I think it was a natural fit - I was doing something that I loved. I love that people think  that Denver is a cow town and we don't have any grasp of what's really good with music in general. Denver's like my little secret, and once I recognized some of the raw talent right in front of me, I had to do what I could to support it.
  
Q: Who are some of your favorite local artists?
A: Honestly, I think the DJ scene in Colorado is one of the best.  Chonz, Low Key, Vajra, Cysko Rokwel (Shouts to all Crunk Bros / Radio Bums fam).  I have a lot of love for LIFE Crew / House of Waxx / Jewell Tyme as well.  I'm excited to see where they take their art in the next few years.

Q: Any outstanding performances by local artist?
A: In 2005, LIFE Crew threw a sold out show at the Bluebird. I didn't actually get IN the event (which to me made it pretty outstanding) because they were at capacity at midnight. One in, one out... and no one was trying to leave. The after party at the Gypsy House was too much fun too. Really, I'm all about being with my crew & my friends. Anytime I'm blessed with good people and the music's alright, my night is complete.

Q: Do you remember what event you were at that made you say to yourself,  "I like this."?
A: I can't say there's been one defining moment that stands out in my memory.I'm lucky to continue to have amazing experiences with music all of the time.

Q: When did you become involved with Basementalism (Radio 1190am KVCU) and what was your role there?
A: I started Basmentalism in early 2004. I did the event and promotions coordination for Basementalism which meant that I was out & about a lot representing the show. I also co-hosted for a few years. I can't really say enough about the whole experience. I've learned so much, have made lifetime friends, and have been to some of the most incredible shows ever.
It was always family, we always had so much fun. Shouts to the whole family, past, present, and future.

Q: Where you jealous of Mike "Adict" Merriman when he went off to L.A. to manage The Procussions?
A: Not in the least, a much more fitting word would be proud. I started Basementalism after Mike & The Procussions had moved out west. Mike's hustle has always been an inspiration for me. I'm continually impressed with what Mike & The Procussions as a whole have done in the past eight years. Going on tour with Tribe is nothing to shake your head at. Much love to Mike, Res, Stro, and J. They've done, truly, what no one from Colorado has done before.

Q: Remember the Freshsites forum?  What happened to that?
A: They closed it after all of the little tagger bangers took it over. I actually used to help a bit with the events section, love to Gunther B.

Q: Did you ever know Thotskee?
A: Probably. People's faces kind of melt into one big music super star giant.

Q: Did anybody ever know Thotskee?
A: I heard he was an urban legend.

Q: What are you doing now?
A: Right now, I'm focused on starting a new night, happy hour style for the summer. I took about a year off from promoting after I left Basementalism, so I'm hungry for new projects. I just launched by blog, popularlemonade.com about a month ago. My main goal is to keep grinding on that and hopefully launch some side projects from that success. I'm in mogul mode right now, it's not even funny.

Q: Tell me more about Happy Hour for the summer and popularlemonade.com
A: Happy hour as it stands is a secret project which is still in the making. I can't say too much more about it this time, but I will tell you that I'm working with one of my favorite djs in Colorado.   Popular Lemonade is my baby right now. We all know that there's a gadzillion blogs out there that all copy & paste the same junk. That's not my objective. I want to write about things that interest me as a 27-year old female who's involved with hip hop. My objective is to really launch the blog this summer, work on some co-sponsorships with a few events, diversify my bonds. I've always had some sort of blog, essentially since Al Gore created the internet. I'm also a co-author @ costandup.com.

Q: What are you doing in the future?
A: Graduating college (in 2090, seriously). Working hard while making it look like I'm hardly working. Really, I just hope to keep it moving, do what I can do promote music & the people that I care about. Rocking the over saturated blogosphere.

Q: What do you have to say to people who don't know who you are?
A: There are people who don't know who I am?  Jokes!  I'm very much a what you see is what you get type of person.  Don't come at me with your wack mixtape, and don't harrass me to listen to your stuff.  I literally have a pile of unopened local CDs that collect dust.  I'm more about a live show than an album, more about a hot beat than a hot 16.  Just because you're from Colorado doesn't mean that I will support you.  I'm always down to build, put in some work, network.  Holler @ me - rachel@popularlemonade.com   Until then, I will see ya'll on the dance floor.