Music News

The sights and sounds of Iowa hip-hop 2024

Iowa Public Radio | By Lucius Pham

Published December 27, 2024 at 1:08 PM CST

Waterloo residents flocked to Lincoln Park in June to catch Twista and Chingy, the two hip-hop headliners at this year's My Waterloo Days.

The sights of Iowa hip-hop 2024

Killer Mike at 80/35, Armand Hammer at Mission Creek and Paul Wall at Saturday In The Park were just some of the many memorable concerts this year from national hip-hop acts on Iowa stages. Relive some of Studio One's favorite moments of the year, from all over the state, through photos!

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Grammy-winning recording artist Killer Mike called up his friend Big Boi, who headlined last year's 80/35 Music Festival, for advice ahead of his own featured performance in 2024.

Lucius Pham / Iowa Public Radio

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Englewood rapper Heavy Crownz also performed at 80/35. His positivity and passion for gardening reminded us of Larry June, but with overalls.

Lucius Pham / Iowa Public Radio

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Underground icons billy woods and ELUCID performed as Armand Hammer in Iowa City for Mission Creek at Gabe's. They performed tracks from almost all of their iconic records, including their latest We Buy Diabetic Test Strips.

Lucius Pham / Iowa Public Radio

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St. Louis legend Chingy's set at My Waterloo Days hit "thurr" spot.

Lucius Pham / Iowa Public Radio

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Chicago fast-rapper Twista also headlined My Waterloo Days, cementing the 3-day citywide festival as a haven for throwback concerts. Last year, My Waterloo Days brought Ginuwine and the Ying Yang Twins. Twista returned to Iowa a few months later for Sioux City's Saturday In The Park,

Lucius Pham / Iowa Public Radio

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Houston legend Paul Wall had the Saturday In The Park crowd in Sioux City lit before the sun even went down.

Lucius Pham / Iowa Public Radio

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McKinley Dixon performed selections from his album Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? to a swath of undergrads in the Gardner Lounge at Grinnell College.

Lucius Pham / Iowa Public Radio

The sounds of Iowa hip-hop 2024

Statewide, output of professionally recorded hip-hop records may be at an all-time high, even amongst artists who primarily share music on SoundCloud. Maybe because of studios like The Sound Box in Cedar Rapids and Carousel Studios in Des Moines (the latter of which hosted touring artists Babytron and BLP Kosher before their set at Val Air Ballroom) who've helped produce several of our favorite projects this year.

Faze10, a 23-year-old new wave rapper from Des Moines, had another great year, beginning with the January release of his album Everybody Can Win, a 2024 stand-out. Other great Iowa albums like Des Moines rapper-producer Teller Bank$'s The Pride & Glory, Cedar Rapids OG Rahlan Kay's EP An Ode 2 HipHop: The Boom Bap Letters and Sioux City producer cri$is' cri$idelic, Vol. 3, set a high bar for 2025.

New voices showed out this year too, like Dria Danielle (who won a slot to open for Toni Romiti at Wooly's), lui*, Sun Centauri and the poppy duo of Akash Gururaja and Ian Crumley, better known as Gold Revere. Hip-hop is a big tent party; fans of any subgenre, from lo-fi soundscapes to floor-shaking club bangers, can find an artist for them in Iowa.

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FlyLife and Sqvce performed together as FlySpace a handful of times in 2024, including a performance at Your Private Bar in West Des Moines. 2024 highlights from the UVT duo include FlyLife's “Digi Scale," from the album 'Mike Wazowski,' and Sqvce's "flex sum," from the EP 'rock*(star) lifestyle.'

Lucius Pham / Iowa Public Radio

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B.Well brings out Sqvce for a performance of their song "LMK," off B.Well's latest album 'Money Well Made.' At the album release show at Wooly's, B.Well and guests performed on a grassy platform in the center of the venue –– like interactive theatre in the round. B.Well's track "Quinoa & Pecans" was another highlight of that record.

Lucius Pham / Iowa Public Radio

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Des Moines rapper CeeRob performs at Lefty's Live Music. His 2024 single "Ed, Edd & Eddy" made our list.

Lucius Pham / Iowa Public Radio

Miyani performed with Emmett Phillips at 80/35 Music Festival in Des Moines.

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Miyani performs with Emmett Phillips at 80/35 Music Festival in Des Moines.

Lucius Pham / Iowa Public Radio

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Sioux City rapper Gifo performs at Teehee's Comedy Club in Des Moines, supporting fellow 'Hometown Hero' Johnny Marz. The song “Shine” by Gifo, featuring RVRND, is a highlight off of his latest EP, ‘Shine.’

Lucius Pham / Iowa Public Radio

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1400slim, TC and That Honorroll Kid perform at 2024's Together Through Sound on September 8 at Riverview Park in Des Moines.

Lucius Pham / Iowa Public Radio

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Omari takes the show to the audience as the rest of T.K.O. hypes him up from stage at CSPS in Cedar Rapids. The track "6th Sense" by Omari TKO, from his debut EP 'Call Me Omari,' was one of our favorites of the year.

Lucius Pham / Iowa Public Radio

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The poppy Des Moines duo Gold Revere shot up this year, performing at 80/35 Music Festival and dropping their infectious dance single "Nothing At All." The pair also collaborated with Sqvce for the song "Hard to Get," representing Iowa on a track produced by Connecticut artist Mike Squires as part of his quest to make a song with artists from every state (The 50 States Project).

Lucius Pham / Iowa Public Radio