Best success story 2000 | String Cheese Incident | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best success story

String Cheese Incident

Over the past few years, these neo-grass, cross-genre rockers have gone from playing bar basements to headlining Red Rocks. It's the kind of progress bands in any hometown dream of, a feat fueled by excessive touring, good musical vibes and astute business savvy. Nothing cheesy about that.

Best rapper on the verge

Don Blas

Don Blas's latest CD, Capo Di Tutti Capi, may display an Aurora address as its point of origin, but the high level of recording quality and Blas's own verbal dexterity would place it right at home in the hip-hop section of any record store in the country. Guest spots from heavyweights like Dready Kreuger of the Wu Tang Clan and local luminaries Kingdom and Cession help in the credibility department, but it's ultimately Blas himself who makes this recording hit, and blow up, the spot. Blas's invitation to the South by Southwest music conference in March was just one indication that forces outside of Colorado are taking notice of the mile-high MC.

Best rapper on the verge

Don Blas

Don Blas's latest CD, Capo Di Tutti Capi, may display an Aurora address as its point of origin, but the high level of recording quality and Blas's own verbal dexterity would place it right at home in the hip-hop section of any record store in the country. Guest spots from heavyweights like Dready Kreuger of the Wu Tang Clan and local luminaries Kingdom and Cession help in the credibility department, but it's ultimately Blas himself who makes this recording hit, and blow up, the spot. Blas's invitation to the South by Southwest music conference in March was just one indication that forces outside of Colorado are taking notice of the mile-high MC.

Best rapper with a Super Bowl championship ring

Terrell Davis

Terrell Davis's 27th birthday party, held at the F-Stop in LoDo on October 28, may not have resulted in the same sort of riot that overtook much of central Denver after the Broncos' Super Bowl victory a few months earlier, but it did create quite a scene. On the sidewalk outside the club, some of the city's finest-lookin' folks lined up behind a velvet rope for the chance to sneak inside and wish the running back a happy birthday -- and catch a glimpse of his debut performance as an MC. To the delight of the capacity crowd and the constantly flashing lights of cameras from both local and national media outlets, Davis provided some backing raps for his buddy and hip-hopping comrade, Legit. While he's no Ice Cube, Davis proved that, on the mike at least, he's got more skills than Shaq and Kobe. Perhaps we can look forward to John Elways's debut in the coming year.

Best rapper with a Super Bowl championship ring

Terrell Davis

Terrell Davis's 27th birthday party, held at the F-Stop in LoDo on October 28, may not have resulted in the same sort of riot that overtook much of central Denver after the Broncos' Super Bowl victory a few months earlier, but it did create quite a scene. On the sidewalk outside the club, some of the city's finest-lookin' folks lined up behind a velvet rope for the chance to sneak inside and wish the running back a happy birthday -- and catch a glimpse of his debut performance as an MC. To the delight of the capacity crowd and the constantly flashing lights of cameras from both local and national media outlets, Davis provided some backing raps for his buddy and hip-hopping comrade, Legit. While he's no Ice Cube, Davis proved that, on the mike at least, he's got more skills than Shaq and Kobe. Perhaps we can look forward to John Elways's debut in the coming year.

Best rapper to foretell and then prevent the apocalypse

Apostle

On his first -- and epic -- debut release Last of a Dying Breed, Apostle raps about a calamitous range of topics including corrupt world government, conspiracy, new world order, natural and man-made disasters and, finally, a to-the-death battle between evil forces and a soul-saving rebel army. And just who is leading the righteous in that battle? Why, our rhyming hero, that's who! Apostle just might be suited for such a charge; he currently operates the Survival Camp record label (www.survivalcamp.com) and serves as the driving force behind the new Colorado Hip Hop Coalition. But perhaps more important, Last of a Dying Breed distinguishes him most as a creative, innovative and entertaining performer with something to say. Even if it sometimes comes across like the script for a Saturday-morning cartoon.

Best rapper to foretell and then prevent the apocalypse

Apostle

On his first -- and epic -- debut release Last of a Dying Breed, Apostle raps about a calamitous range of topics including corrupt world government, conspiracy, new world order, natural and man-made disasters and, finally, a to-the-death battle between evil forces and a soul-saving rebel army. And just who is leading the righteous in that battle? Why, our rhyming hero, that's who! Apostle just might be suited for such a charge; he currently operates the Survival Camp record label (www.survivalcamp.com) and serves as the driving force behind the new Colorado Hip Hop Coalition. But perhaps more important, Last of a Dying Breed distinguishes him most as a creative, innovative and entertaining performer with something to say. Even if it sometimes comes across like the script for a Saturday-morning cartoon.

Best reason to surf the Flatirons, dude

Maraca 5-0

Like the Astronauts twenty-odd years before them, Boulder's surf rockers Maraca 5-0 can boogiefoot with the best of 'em. Twang-crazed, bouncy, guitar-driven and chock-full of reverb-soaked fun, they're the Front Range's landlocked answer to So-Cal's Duane Eddy and the Ventures or Nashville's Los Straightjackets (who, oddly, opt to shoot the curl in Mexican wrestling masks). Sidestepping such hijinks for a more traditional and pipelined approach, the 5-0's sound is a youthful but timeless one -- like an eternal beachcomber with breakers and bikinis on the mind. Cowabunga, little trustafarian-dudes.

Best reason to surf the Flatirons, dude

Maraca 5-0

Like the Astronauts twenty-odd years before them, Boulder's surf rockers Maraca 5-0 can boogiefoot with the best of 'em. Twang-crazed, bouncy, guitar-driven and chock-full of reverb-soaked fun, they're the Front Range's landlocked answer to So-Cal's Duane Eddy and the Ventures or Nashville's Los Straightjackets (who, oddly, opt to shoot the curl in Mexican wrestling masks). Sidestepping such hijinks for a more traditional and pipelined approach, the 5-0's sound is a youthful but timeless one -- like an eternal beachcomber with breakers and bikinis on the mind. Cowabunga, little trustafarian-dudes.

Best proof of life after Boulder

Fat Mama

During its life as a Boulder outfit, Fat Mama displayed characteristics that -- in less able musical hands -- might not have played well outside of Colorado. It had a sprawling membership and jamming tendencies. It enjoyed fusing elements of jazz and rock into something many people associate with a proximity to pine trees and kind bud. Yet when the band made the leap and officially relocated to the East Coast in November, it snuck its chubby way into the most progressive and prestigious venues that the region has to offer -- including the notorious Knitting Factory jazz club in good ol' NYC. Nowadays, when Mama returns to town for a show, she does so as a benevolent ambassador from the great beyond.

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