"All Genres Are Part of the Vision," DJ NONAME at Tulsa's Mercury Lounge

dj noname debut, "Who Else But Me?"

At the end of December, we went to the Mercury Lounge in Tulsa to check out a hip hop set by DJ NONAME (from here out dj noname) featuring several special guests. So many hooks drew me in. First, the event was a fundraiser for an organization called the Center for Public Secrets, which seemed to be focused on raising awareness about the details of the 1921 Greenwood Massacre, specifically a new film called Oaklawn about the public fight to find the mass graves from that horrific chapter in our history. 

The evening also promised three sets, one by the metal band Blind Oath  https://blindoath.bandcamp.com/ and a final set by a band I knew fairly well, the great Tulsa Sound rockers, the Paul Benjamin Band https://www.paulbenjamanband.com/

Blind Oath due March 2023

Just the mix of styles would have been enough to draw me in, but the kicker was that they were all there to build cultural unity out of tragic divisions. 

2015 Horton Records Release

Right away, I was impressed by the mix of people and the energy gathering in this small space. Hip hoppers, head bangers, and cowboy longhairs greeting each other with warm hugs and huddling in the chill air on the outside deck as well as around the bars and booths inside. A woman with a pet skunk made her way through the crowd, people taking pictures and petting the docile, curious creature as she passed by.

Despite the noise of a crowded, excited room, I had a nice conversation with the folks running the Center for Public Secrets table. They told me about Lee Roy Chapman, the character they credited with starting the organization who dedicated his life to raising awareness about what had happened in 1921. More about Chapman here: https://www.centerforpublicsecrets.org/about 

The people at the table were, not surprisingly, musicians themselves [by the way, if you all see this, can you send your names and the band’s name again?], and they made sure I had a copy of ASLUT zine, which focused on the Greenwood Massacre, diving into the politics of the violence, including the class politics that rarely get discussed in the national shorthand: https://aslutzine.com/

With an early start the next day, we only stayed for the hip hop, but what a set that was. The crowd gathered around the stage, some rapping along with pieces of the rhyme, others responding with smiles and hands up, everyone rocking in their heels with increasing intensity. The final MC had a green and black scarf covering the bottom of his face but managed to spit rhymes with a clarity and intensity that captivated the room.

I now know that last MC was Earl Hazard, who worked with noname as Lou Purch https://djnoname.bandcamp.com/album/home-furniture-nothing-older-than-1977 He’s also been featured in the ongoing Tulsa hip hop podcast Fire in Little Africa https://anchor.fm/fire-in-little-africa/episodes/Episode-32-m-E-em96j6

Anyway, I downloaded the Lou Purch mix and a few other things, including the new solo work Three https://djno.name/ and hit this eclectic, connected DJ up with a few questions. I knew what was happening in Tulsa was, in some ways, singular in my experience and, in others, very much like the best of what I’ve experienced all across America over the past three decades. In my years as a writer, I’ve never felt a greater need for the vision I saw in Tulsa’s Mercury Lounge in December.  

Q: That night at the Mercury Lounge, I was impressed to see so many different kinds of groups coming together with community activists, Is that unusual for Tulsa? If not, how did that night come about? If so, why do you think that's happening in general?

dj noname: It’s not unusual around these parts. Tulsa’s been getting better at that, especially during the past year. Center for Public Secrets reached out to me to be part of their Benefit Concert (we raised a nice amount). Once we followed-up and confirmed, I had a “noname. & friends.” set in mind. Outside of the 3 MCs you watched perform: Joey Organic, Keezy Kuts and Earl Hazard… I had even more artists I wanted to put together and perform and then decided to peel back.

It’s happening in general because Tulsa is (finally) realizing how much talent we have outside of the usual suspects, and there are more facilitators giving platforms. The only way it happens at this rate is by continuing to have different genres and acts on the bill and being consistent about it.

Q: You have at least a dozen albums on Bandcamp, but the oldest date is 2020? How did your work develop so quickly over such a short amount of time?

dj noname: The way I started was funny because my original idea for my first solo album was going to have nothing with me doing any beats. I was going to put producers together to make stuff, and make it have a mixtape feel like how it was during my high school days (ca. ‘04). I was connected with artists in the Town so I knew I could turn into DJ Khaled and put some songs together.

Fast forward, I was working with another artist and producer MaliMotives, and when I told him what I was trying to do with my solo album, he told me I can make beats with my phone (I had an iPhone). Ever since he told me, I kept trying with GarageBand and couldn’t get it down. One morning, I told myself I wasn’t doing anything else until I got it down. The very next moment, I started making joints off GarageBand, and there was no going back, I was going at it day and night. This was before “Halftime” (2019) and “Snackin’ with Flavor” (4/3/2020).

Snackin’ with Flavor (Photo by nosamyrag)

I dropped my solo debut a month after “Snackin’ with Flavor” on 4/20/20 which is in connection to the first night I ever DJ’d, which was the year before at The Soundpony Lounge. Once I dropped my solo debut, I convinced myself to go on a run to just drop material at high volume. I did it to gain traction along with competing with myself to catch-up with everyone else as far as discographies go (I have over 40 projects). 2020 and 2021 were great years. I slowed down last year, which I called my “Cook Up Year” to where I was being more direct and intentional with what I was doing. I’m about to put it back in gear again.

Q: I'm pretty obsessed with the solo EP No Days of Christmas: Three. I'm intrigued by what you're doing with that--the opening George Benson stroll, the Maze stuff in the middle that's evocative of the two sides of a relationship, and then Joe Bataan's version of "I'll Be Sweeter Tomorrow," which seems to have moved the opening search to a new resolve. It's a little symphony that—though the music comes from 1969 to 1982 maybe—fits together as a coherent piece.

 

dj noname: I do everything in threes, and the two from the series before that give the same feel. I listen to George Benson heavy. The first beat that gave me a spark to start on my first solo album was a George Benson song that was chopped up by MaliMotives.

dj noname. presents Tra3Qwan (Artwork by Blake Brown)

Q: This seems like a new approach to me. Is it different than the way you've approached your previous solo work or with MCs?

dj noname: My approach with each MC is both the same and different. The same because once I hear it, I already have someone in mind and want that artist to have it. Different because I won’t send the same type of beat to Artist A I’d send to Artist B; I don’t shop it around to see who gets first dibs. I know the artists sense that; that’s what makes the projects even better.

Pie In The Sky (Artwork by Elizabeth “Feahther” Henley)

The approach for my solo work, it depends if I’m doing a studio album or just all instrumentals. When it comes to my solo studio albums, I just have to know, it’s a feeling. Once I get a direction, the wheels start spinning. I have two solo albums out and want to drop my third this year. It’s something I want to consider my magnum opus.

Q: In February, you have a month-long residency at the Mercury Lounge. What is your hope and plan for this residency?

dj noname: The more shows I do and the more people I connect with, I vow to showcase talent whenever I’m given the opportunity. That’s the purpose of my residency. I know where I stand in Tulsa, and I’m starting to plant seeds and share the wealth.

GTR, COMBSY & dj noname

The homie Costa, an artist and producer who also does work at Mercury Lounge, put me on. Super unexpected, I got right on it once everything was confirmed. At this very moment I have three shows lined-up for the first three Mondays of February while plotting on the last Monday of the month to cap it off.

Q: What’s next?

dj noname: I see myself at festivals more. Each year I get bigger opportunities, and it’s fun, I love what I do. I also see myself branching out to more artists outside of Tulsa along with producer placements on other projects that aren’t mine. All genres are part of the vision; I’m very open to that. Community is something I’m big on, and I show that in things I do. With more experience and opportunities, I know we can make a bigger impact.