Beats, Rhymes and Banjos

‘Gangstagrass brings together two kinds of American music and creates a third, greater than the sum of its parts.’ So goes the summary of a bluegrass/hip-hop band that have been breaking genre boundaries for over a decade. The brainchild of Brooklyn-based producer Rench, Gangstagrass features MCs Dolio the Sleuth and R-SON the Voice of Reason alongside Dan ‘Danjo’ Whitener (banjo), BE Farrow (fiddle) and Rench himself (guitar and beats). Though bluegrass and hip-hop can be seen as antagonistic in many ways – historically and politically, for starters –Gangstagrass are working to shine light on this: “The historical divide between genres like bluegrass and hip-hop is itself only about a hundred years old,” Rench explains, “playing together, we have found many ways they share similar traditions. Discovering that a ‘pick’ [bluegrass picking session] and a ‘cypher’ [informal hip-hop jam] are essentially the same thing, and the way that comes from both being invented by poor communities as a way to play without resources… We also have become aware of how big [the] role Black Americans had in the development of country music [is], which has been largely left out of mainstream awareness – like the banjo originally being an African instrument, recreated here by enslaved people. Also under the radar, but emerging more every year, is the amazing country music that continues to be played and innovated by Black musicians today.”

What Gangstagrass are doing then, besides making hugely popular music – their track ‘Long Hard Times to Come’ is the Emmy-nominated theme tune of TV series Justified – is politically important, as Rench clarifies: “It’s… about trying to better understand the forces that work to divide us.” Dolio the Sleuth adds, “Both [hip-hop and bluegrass] are, at their core, American folk music formed in a diasporic environment, telling the stories of those often relegated to the fringes… tales of struggle and survival, mingled with joy and aspiration.” All this being the case, one might remain sceptical about the sonic possibilities of a bluegrass/hip-hop fusion. Yet, Rench explains, “Getting everyone together and unleashing the collaboration established the sound right away.” Dolio the Sleuth concurs, “It was just so much fun!”

They’re coming to Cambridge Folk Festival in July, and they’re ready, Farrow enthusing, “We’re planning an exclusive digital release for our UK and Europe fans this summer, and there will be brand-new songs at Cambridge!” Asked what the festival means for them, Danjo says, “[it] shows… we are part of a larger ‘folk’ umbrella as both bluegrass and hip-hop music. We’re excited to play a festival that is new to us, because one of the best ways to introduce us to new listeners is to have them hear us, rather than try to explain.” He reflects on the process of new audiences, “First they go, ‘I didn’t know you could do this at all’, then… ‘I didn’t know it could be really, really good’, and after that, maybe there’s a third breakthrough where they carry that forward and say, ‘I wonder what else is possible that I didn’t think was possible.’”

+ LIVE Gangstagrass play Oslo Hackney, London (July 27), Marsden Mechanics Hall, Huddersfield (July 28), Cambridge Folk Festival (July 29) and WOMAD (July 30)