MUSIC

Hip-hopper has many facets

Kari Faux, the Little Rock rapper, is a sophisticated whirlwind of conflicting influences: consciousness-raising early hiphop pitted against West Coast gansta rap and Atlanta-flavored crunk, pop-culture references spanning the gamut from blaxploitation flick Foxy Brown to late-’90s cartoon anti-diva Daria, and all of it seeped in lifelong devotion to George Clinton and a visual style haphazardly garnished from Goodwill and the local wig shop.

But Kari Faux is also Kari Johnson, a giddy 21-year-old Central High School graduate, art college dropout and Bruno’s Little Italy hostess, given to eye-rolls and frequent, spoken “L-O-Ls,” who enjoys dishing hugs and making silly videos (in one, shot at the grocery store, she reviews Little Debbie snacks). She liked Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys until she raided her older brother’s CD collection, where she discovered artists such as Dr. Dre, Scarface, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and TLC. She lived with her parents, a minister and a factory worker, until a few weeks ago, and counts watching Laverne & Shirley with her grandmother among her fondest childhood memories.

This composite of sassy and sweet is part of Faux’s appeal, but she’s talented, too. Her lyrics are witty and her delivery, smooth and expressive, is reminiscent of Ladybug Mecca’s work with the ’90s hip-hop trio Digable Planets. Plus, she makes beats and produces, too, and she chose her (mostly local) collaborators - including Lo Thraxx, SL Jonesand Fresco Grey - well.

Malik Flint, 21, frontman for the rock band Flint Eastwood, is Faux’s most frequent collaborator. He makes many of her beats, using programs like FL Studio and Reason.

“We’re like Matt and Kim,” Faux says, rolling her eyes behind Buddy-Holly-lite glasses. This means they’re romantic as well as musical partners.

They met when they were in high school but didn’t start working together till 2011. Now they finish each other’s sentences (well, usually, Faux interrupts Flint) and comprise two-thirds of a collective called Kreativ Kartel, which hosts monthly all-ages shows at places like Vino’s, the Rev Room and Juanita’s.The other member, Kenneth Bell, 24, is a Maryland transplant who shoots Faux’s videos and helps them run a lifestyle blog called NSOM (Natural State of Mind).

“You have the people that have been doing music this whole time, and then you have the people who are like, 23 and younger. That’s our scene … people about to graduate college and still in high school and maybe middle school,” Faux says.

She estimates that there are 40 or 50 artists in the scene, and the fan base includes refugees from the now closed Downtown Music Hall, which used to have all-ages hardcore and metal shows.

“All the [rappers], they pretty much talk about what they do. Because we all know each other, we all know how each other is living. … It’s not like, ‘oh, well, you’re not from the ’hood so you can’t hang with us.’ … It’s a mix of skater kids, hipsters, people that come from money, people that don’t,” she says.

Faux’s multifaceted approach makes her music accessible. Her first mix tape, Friend or Faux, released online in January 2012, is a collection of 3-minute hip-hop songs, underscored by funky horns and R&B grooves and overlaid with identity-affirming lyrics: “All these (expletive) want me/trying to flaunt me like an accessory/but you need more than pocket change/ to get next to me/ Don’t get me wrong/cash is a necessity/ but you got to have a big, ahem, intellect, you see.”

She labels it “straight-up Tribe” (Called Quest), and it contains some of her best songs, although she’s tried unsuccessfully to scrub it from the Internet.

“I’m extra critical of myself, and when I do something and I come back, I’m like, no, I hate this, delete, delete, delete,” she says.

Her second mix tape, Sophisticated Ratchedness, released in May 2012, samples ’80s dance tracks and bleeps syncopated percussion. (“Ratched” is slang for something akin to “a hot mess.”)

“That was around the time when dubstep was still the ‘in’ thing, but we wanted to make something that had more of an electronic, hip-hop vibe,” says Flint, who produced most of the project.

Faux’s 2013 project City Limits has deep, melodramatic energy, snarky lyrics and a cut-and-paste cover that summons ’90s punk ’zines. The fourth mix tape, No Sleep ’Til Atlanta, (Beastie Boys reference noted) sounds like genuine Southern rap -“third coast,” as it’s known in the industry - with dark, wet textures and heavy beats, juxtaposed against Faux’s silky, youthful flow.

All of her mix tapes are downloadable for free, mostly via SoundCloud, including the latest, Spontaneous Generation, released in February. It’s a well-crafted merging of the styles explored on her previous offerings.

“I just wanted this to be the one before the one, because our next one will actually be the one,” Faux says. “My other projects, they weren’t really cohesive.”

Standout tracks include “Rap Game Daria,” lifting lyrics and a melody from the MTV show’s theme song; “Cootie Shot,” which channels bratty references to establish real boundaries; the dreamy ride of “Sometimes”; and the catchy bump of “House of Avalon,” part hiphop, part drum and bass.

Faux says “Sun Goes Down,” about her celebrity crush on rapper Tyler the Creator, is her favorite track.

“He’s a Pisces, I’m a Gemini, and that would mean that we’re not compatible,” she says, giggling. “The song was inspired by him, because I love him so much, and that’s what I would say to him if I met him, and we were to go on dates and stuff.” (Flint’s not a big eye-roller, or he’d probably be rolling his eyes. LOL.)

The tape opens with “Generation Why,” a poem over beats, sounding like something gleaned from an old Roots album.

“There’s this chick from Florida I met on Twitter, and I wanted to do a poem for my intro, but I don’t really write poetry. I’m deep, but not that deep,” Faux says. “So I tweeted, ‘I need a poet,’ and she tweeted, ‘I’m a poet’ … I gave her the basis of what I wanted, and she wrote it in like 30 minutes.”

Faux met her Atlanta-based manager online, as well as a DJ who set up a Boston gig for later this month. And she landed herself an unofficial South by Southwest set, having her friends recommend her via Twitter for a showcase hosted by the blog Steady Leanin.’ That set led Jenesis magazine to book her for a show in New York, right after she plays Boston.

Fittingly, Flint describes Faux as “taking the ’80s and ’90s and bringing it into the Internet era.”

“I’ve been asked, ‘Do you feel like you’re bringing hip-hop back, are you reinventing it?’ And I’m like, no, I’m just doing what I feel. What I want to hear is what I’m making,” Faux says.

To stay focused, she has decided to stay put - no more bouncing between Little Rock and Atlanta, which she had been doing for a few years.

“It’s easy here not to be distracted … and my team is here … and we all have the same goal. We want to make Little Rock a better place.”

Faux and Flint exchange glances. “L-O-L,” she says.

Follow Kari Faux at diaryofaweirdblackgirrrl.tumblr.com

Kari Faux

Featuring: Special guests

8 p.m. Sunday, Greenwood Studio, 2225 Prince St., Conway

Admission: $5 (ages 18

and up)

(501) 499-0101

Style, Pages 31 on 04/15/2014

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