The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 137

The Des Moines Register Datebook Thursday, January 8, 2004 19DB ly zum HIP-HOP RULES THE RADIO WAVES, THE RECORD CHARTS AND THE CLUBS EVEN IN DES MOINES 1 I HITS THE MAINSTREAM vd ORES N0 iW to nightclubs with a decidedly "hip-hop" crowd. A building on East Court Avenue often found itself in the middle of the controversy. Since the early nineties, the building which has gone housed many clubs, most notably Celebrations and Crossroads was both the heart of Des Moines hip-hop nightlife and the focal point of frequent news briefs. For more than a decade, violence plagued the three-story edifice that was ironically located just blocks away from Des Moines Police headquarters. That, coupled with incidents at clubs such as International, Jaguar, City Limits, South By RYAN FORD SPECIAL TO THE REGISTER "With my new club, I'm after the total hip-hop scene." Hearing those words from nightclub owner Larry Smithson seems a little odd.

After all, Smithson, 53, doesn't particularly fit in as he sits amid the neon lights, a shiny dance floor and a slew of twentysomething employees inside K-Boom, his new hip-hop nightclub at 319 Court Ave. Although hip-hop music in area hotspots is nothing new either sprinkled throughout the jukebox at local saloons or rocking dance floors at underground after-hours I 1 DAVID PETERSONTHE REGISTER LARRY SMITHSON, REAR CENTER WEARING STRIPED WHITE SHIRT, IS SURROUNDED BY HIS STAFF AT K-BOOM, A NEW HIP-HOP NIGHTCLUB THAT UNTIL TUESDAY HAD A DRESS CODE. i HIP-HOP HOORAY It's been a long road for hip-hop a culture that was founded out of post-civil rights movement frustrations coupled with large-scale deindustrialization of metropolitan inner cities. Elements of hip-hop Hip-hop in its simplest terms is a culture consisting of four essential elements: Breakdancing A way for children of minority wageworkers to regain control of their bodies from middle management. Graffiti The billboard of frustrated youth who felt ignored by mainstream society.

DJing The main technological innovation of hip-hop culture, DJing evolved by combining the sounds of the era into one long-playing soundtrack that assured the party would not pause. Rap Once touted as black America's CNN by Public Enemy front man Chuck rap music became the voice of a people and the expression of their culture. Beach, Ibiza and Friends, have tainted hip-hop nightlife in Des Moines for some. Most recently, Clive's P'Zazz saw its liquor license yanked after violence inside the bar and in its parking lot. Critics pointed to the club's hip-hop night as the cause, saying that the music catered to the wrong element.

But Des Moines' hip-hop history hasn't been all bad. Throughout the '80s and '90s, the now defunct community radio station KUCB showered metro listeners with a wide variety of hip-hop and was responsible for introducing many central lowans to the musical genre. The station is also credited with bringing major acts to the area long before Des Moines was on any kind of national hip-hop radar. Local radio personalities with parties Des Moines is finally see ing hip-hop hit the mainstream. The hip-hop-themed K-Boom may be Smithson's most daring undertaking.

Throughout his 14 years of nightclub experience, Smithson has owned Court Avenue clubs ranging from the rock 'n' roll-themed Papa's Planet to Generations, a top-40s club that formerly occupied the K-Boom space. Smithson, rightfully so, thinks the timing is right for a mainstream hip-hop club in Des Moines. Hip-hop is no longer relegated America's major cities. It's every-where -and that includes right here in central Iowa. But the crown that hip-hop wears has not come without growing pains.

For years, Des Moines-area nightlife has been littered with tension, even violence, when it comes 1 been home to numerous performances by national hip-hop acts such as Chicago's Twista, Queens native Mr. Cheeks, Latino rap sensation Baby Bash, even countrified white boy rapper Bubba Sparks. Additionally, Clear Channel a national media conglomerate that owns hundreds of radio stations recently thought Des Moines was ready for a commercial urban station, changing 106.3 FM's smooth-listening format into a super-stylized hip-hop station labeled The Beat late last year. Already the new station has crept into third place in unique names such as Chilly Chill, Fraj, Original, Angelboy and Hollywood have become local legend. In addition, hip-hop acts like Kory D.

gained quite a bit of local notoriety, while Des Moines natives like hip-hop producer Shondrae (Ludacris, Field Mob) and TLC member T-Boz have gone on to enjoy multi-platinum success on an international level. And hip-hop in Des Moines has continued to grow. In recent months, both the Val Air Ballroom in West Des Moines and Clive's 7 Flags Event Center have listener ratings. Obviously, the popularity of hip-hop culture has not evaded K-Boom owner Smithson. Since.it opened less than a month ago, K-Boom has added new energy to the Court Avenue district.

Yet, as hip-hop has expanded throughout central Iowa, many feel that it has become exclusive. Ironically, much of the criticism comes from African-Americans. "Hip-hop is not a community in Des Moines," said Jermaine Par-key, owner of hip-hop clothing store Hip-Hop Heaven. "Clubs are exclusive; the radio station is not going to do anything for any local artists. They are not including the community in their decision making." Concerns about exploitation, corporate monopolization and racism in the forms of dress codes continue to haunt the growth of central Iowa hip-hop.

But Smithson believes he knows what the hip-hop crowd is looking for and how to deliver. "I've always believed that there could be a hip-hop scene and it didn't have to have the problems," Smithson said in his raspy tenor. "I studied until I felt the time was right. And hip-hop has main-streamed." Ryan Ford is a freelance writer from Des Moines, co-founder of online hip-hop magazine Contrabandit.com and West Coast correspondent for The Source maqazine. JERMAINE PARKEY, LEFT, IN TRADEMARK HIP-HOP CLOTHES, DETAILS SHOWN ABOVE AND AT RIGHT.

SOME AREA CLUBS REFUSE TO ALLOW ANYONE WEARING THE CLOTHING TO ENTER. Until Tuesday, club owner Larry Smith-son had enforced a strict dress code at his new hip-hop club, K-Boom. Detractors say the dress code, similar to those at other area clubs, was based on racial discrimination. They claim the policies are similar to dress codes that contributed to the death of Charles Lovelady four years ago at Des Moines dance club Graffiti's. Lovelady was initially admitted into Graffiti's the evening of Feb.

17, 2000, and was allowed to drink for more than an hour with no problems. Later that evening, Lovelady was approached by nightclub security, who asked ff 1 i r- A ifll I a him to leave because the black-hooded sweatshirt he said. "Charles Lovelady was a terrible thing. But we've uni. umorinn wilotoH flroffifi'c Hraec nruia olcn harl ntvtnle that were shnt in norlinn also had people that were shot in parking lots," Smithson said, referring to incidents at Crossroads in VtaO VVGCUII VIUIUIOU VHUIHU Ul l-W When Loveladv tried to reenter WWW the niqhtclub.

an banned the styles." "You're playing hip-hop music, but you are banning members of hip-hop culture from even coming inside," he added about some area clubs. That's doesn't even make sense." Community activist and school board member Ako Samad said it's great that hip-hop clubs are springing up, and that 1 Samad Samad said that if these nightclub owners continue to use dress codes to decide who can enter, another Lovelady incident may be around the corner. Yet, at the same time, dress codes seem to be reaching beyond race. Clive nightclub Crush has been under fire for its strict dress code that last Friday was the reason cited for denying entry to Spc. Robert "B.J." Jackson, who lost his legs in an explosion last August while serving with the Iowa Army National Guard in Iraq.

Jackson was wearing black suede Nike tennis shoes, specially inclined to fit his prosthetics. But they didn't pass muster with Crush's dress code. Crush owner Tom Baldwin later apologized about the way Jackson was treated, insisting it was the result of a misunderstanding. Ryan Ford Des Moines and, more recently, P'Zazz in Clive. Both clubs are now closed, with the violence bearing the blame.

Although Smithson would not comment about abolishing the K-Boom dress code, he did say that he thinks other area club owners have enacted dress codes aimed at excluding African-Americans. "The dress codes are targeting specifically what African-Americans are wearing," said Jermaine Par-key, owner of clothing store Hip-Hop Heaven, 2302 altercation ensued that left Lovelady dead and a firestorm of controversy surrounding the incident. Smithson, who was not affiliated with the club where Lovelady died, said he learned a valuable lesson from the resulting newspaper stories, broadcast specials and lawsuits. "I apologize to anybody who was offended," Smithson said about banning specific name brands in the past at some of clubs, an action that led to a lawsuit against him. Many of the brands mentioned in the dress code carried the labels of African-American designers.

Three other area bar owners lost a similar lawsuit. "All I'm trying to do is keep my club safe," Smithson lessons have been learned. "But enough has not been learned because the stereotypes are still there," Samad said. Instead of implementing dress codes, Samad rec-trained securitv and a I A nn ua uuni umincnuo community-based approach that would with the racial dynamics that nightclub facing. university nvo.

Dress codes now refer to styles rather than specific brands, Parkey said. "All they did was get smarter with their discrimination. It was too obvious, so they just easily aeai owners are.