“Nappy don’t have nothing to do with hair,” said Scales, one member of the Kentucky hip-hop sextet Nappy Roots. “It’s about staying close to where we came from and building on that.”
The group, which will play at McDonough Arena on Saturday night, are the leaders of the new country-fried rap genre, a style of hip-hop that combines the funk of Outkast and the glossiness of Master P’s No Limit, first popularized by the now-forgotten Timbaland prot?g? Bubba Sparxxx.
The members of Nappy Roots met each other in the mid-’90s while students at Western Kentucky University and fully-embraced the style from the start: Their first release was titled Country Fried Cess.
“The name symbolized our sound,” said Scales. “We’re just southerners having a good time.”
Following the underground success of Country Fried Cess, Nappy Roots played shows with hip-hop stalwarts Digital Underground and Twista, were eventually signed to Atlantic Records and released their major-label debut Watermelon, Chicken and Gritz, last year. The group rose to stardom on the strength of the single “AwNaw,” a keyboard-laced party rap, pop enough for Nelly fans, but hard-hitting enough for the underground.
“Our success wasn’t a shock since we had always gotten good feedback from our music,” said Scales. “It hit me that we were going to be big when we were doing an autograph show a couple of weeks after the album release and they told us we were invited to the Letterman show.”
Even though the group is mainly known for its bumping-down-the-street sound, it is not a one-dimensional rap group. A-la Wu-Tang Clan the band has diversified its brand, creating a number of business projects including the Kentucky-based production company, Deep Rooted Productions, LLC.
“We don’t limit ourselves to just rap, we’re smart people,” said Scales, who is starting a home to help foster children. “Rap is just the foundation.”
Georgetown Program Board, the sponsors of the show, invited the band to campus because it wanted to host an up-tempo hip-hop group.
“We try to cater to what the student body wanted,” said GPB organizer Megan Kesler (MSB ‘04). “With the good weather, we thought students would be in the mood for a high-energy, low-cost show.”
Nappy Roots is no stranger to the college crowd, having played many dates at universities throughout the country.
“We do real well in the college environment because we came together in college,” said Scales. “When the six of us get on stage its more like a party than a show.”
Additionally, the group has another connection to Georgetown. Scales grew up in Milledgeville, Ga., the same town as Hoyas’ junior swingman Gerald Riley.
“We played ball for the same high school,” said Scales. “We really look out for each other. When I see him on TV, I just go crazy. I’m happy to see him doing so well.”
The concert will be held in McDonough Arena, which is not known for having good acoustics, especially for rap shows. The last hip-hop event in McDonough, last year’s Roots’ concert, was plagued by poor sound. According to Kesler, GPB has tried to rectify the problem by enlisting the services of sound company National Audio, who has done college shows for the group in similar arenas.
While GPB has had trouble selling tickets, they have taken to a significant advertising campaign off-campus, it is still hopeful for a quality turnout.
“Our stats have shown that Georgetown students tend to be last minute with their purchases,” said Kesler. “We expect there to be a lot of ticket sales at the door.”
Regardless of the turnout, Kesler said, the show will not be cancelled.
Those who do attend will see a group that is hungry to see the outside of a studio. Nappy Roots has spent much of the recent months recording a follow-up to Watermelon, Chicken and Gritz, Wooden Leather, due out this summer. A single will be released in the next month.
“We’ve been deep in recording so we’re just excited to get back on stage,” said Scales. “You’re going to see a lot of energy and emotion from us.”
Nappy Roots will be at McDonough Arena Sat., Mar. 29. Tickets are $15 for students and $20 for non-students. Doors open at 7:30 p.m,. show starts at 8.
