The infamous 'crew' is something of a time-honored tradition in the hip-hop world. Rappers take their friends with them upon getting big. This past year has seen the rise of the Black Hippy crew from Los Angeles and the A$AP Mob from New York. Closest to home is Danny Brown's Bruiser Brigade from Detroit.
While the Bruiser Brigade remains strong as a crew, members are also pursuing their own solo projects, none more so than Brown's touring hype man, Dopehead (aka King Jooky).
Dopehead just came off the two-month-long national LongLiveA$AP tour with Brown, next-big-thing A$AP Rocky and Schoolboy Q. An experience that Dopehead said was nothing but positive for him.
"[Getting to watch] everyone on the LongLiveA$ASP tour and being around a bunch of talented artists ... was a stepping stone in the right direction towards what [I] want to do," Dopehead said. "I learned a lot from everybody that was on the tour; Danny Brown, A$AP, Schoolboy Q. I learned a lot from the stage show, to the soundcheck, to the professionalism of what's going on."
Prior to the tour, Dopehead was riding the wave that came from the success of his 2011 mixtape, Plaid Palm Trees, which was named a "Mixtape of the Week" by The Fader. In the meantime, he's been working on the completed, but yet-to-be-released Bruiser Brigade album, as well as his own solo material.
"Before I left [for tour] I was doing music for a solo project; basically just working on new music for a mixtape and an album. It's prepared to come out in 2013," Dopehead said. "I got a lot of songs done but I'm just going to go into overdrive and do like 20 or 30 songs just to get it all right. I'm going to crash the competition."
On Thursday, Dec. 27, Dopehead brings some of those new songs, plus some fellow Bruisers, for a show at The Pyramid Scheme – his third performance there – with Grand Rapids acts The Extra Texture, HTAFM and The Action Figures.
"[This show] is going to be the level of a rock show," Dopehead said. "It's going to be all turn-up songs."
Photo: Mike Saunders
