FUSION: "Hick-Hop - Hip-Hop meets the Hollow"
Rural Kentucky is the unlikely laboratory for a new fusion of mountain music and hip-hop. "Hill Hop" or "Hick Hop" is a growing scene in Appalachia, spawning acts like The Kuntry Killaz and Delivery.

A recent audio feature on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" traced the origins of this new blend of American musical traditions to the Appalshop Arts Center in Whitesburg, Kentucky.

The rural region's "super max" prisons have been taking in more and more prisoners from distant urban jails, and the cultural and racial tensions between local officers and imported inmates were growing.

The arts center, seeking to build a cultural bridge, brought together mountain fiddle star Dirk Powell and Virginia hip-hop artist DanjaMowf. Their collaboration featured beat box rhythms and bluegrass instruments in a "magical" mix, according to NPR, and an "an oil and water mystery that held together in spite of the perceived differences."

The Appalshop center now produces a weekly radio show, "Holler 2 the Hood," that brings hip hop to the locals. It has sparked the creation of new groups Kuntry Killaz (now working at Appalshop with African-American poet Ren Pegues) and others.

Visit the NPR site, which contains links to the complete audio feature story, as well as links to music from Delivery, Kuntry Killaz, and Dirk Powell & DanjaMowf.

Visit the Appalshop Arts Center. Listen their show "Holler 2 the Hood" on the web, or visit the local radio outlet WMMT.

Learn more about fiddler Dirk Powell