Hip-hop heats up the ‘burbs

The thumping beats and aggressive rap sounded like the underground hip-hop that Pepper Santos wanted to hear, but the 23-year-old student was sure she had the wrong address for this sound.

“If you think underground hip-hop, you think about a hole in the wall,” Santos said. “House of Blues can’t be underground.”

Make that House of Blues Anaheim, deep in the heart of Downtown Disney. The location is as far removed from the urban grit and experimental sounds of the hip-hop world as the gold chains and chichi limousines of the bling-bling hip-hop often heard on radio and MTV. But on Sunday nights, House of Blues is the home of Detour, one of the biggest hip-hop clubs in Orange County history. It’s also one of the only regularly scheduled hip-hop clubs in the House of Blues chain and something of a surprise for the new DJs and MCs who perform there.

“When we first came out, we’d have to hustle and convince club owners we were a reputable group. Here, they make you feel like a celebrity,” said Sphere, born Steve Burgio, 28, of the group Verbal Threat.

The baptism of bright stage lights, the crisp, fist-pumping sound system and the cheers of the crowds, which range from 400 to 700 people, might be as close to mainstream success as many of Detour’s hip-hop groups will reach. But it’s an intoxicating taste all the same.

The club showcases 20- to 30-minute performances of baby hip-hop acts hungry to prove themselves. They not only get to play on one of Orange County’s biggest stages, they also get to open for more established hip-hoppers such as Wildchild, Dudley Perkins and Breakestra, who often play Detour.

These artists also feel they’re helping to expose the underground sound. “Many in this audience listen to commercial hip-hop. They don’t want to see underground hip-hop in a place that looks low budget unless it’s an artist they really like,” said up-and-coming MC Aloe Blacc, born Nathaniel Dawkins, 24. “They come to House of Blues, where they might feel more comfortable, and they get to see an artist who’s brand new.”

While it’s good to have a club for underground hip-hop, many nightclub promoters, like Konstadinos Tsimahidis, say it’s surprising that such acts are getting a chance to perform at all.

“I see some clubs here and there, but you have to drive to L.A. to see live hip-hop. I can’t understand it. Hip-hop is the most popular stuff on the radio,” said Tsimahidis, who promotes underground hip-hop club Abstract Workshop at Costa Mesa’s Detroit Bar.

But hip-hop also suffers from a perception that it will attract a violent crowd. Tsimahidis believes this contributes to the relative dearth of such venues in Orange County and elsewhere, even though the genre represented 13.8% of all CD sales in 2002, according to the Recording Industry Assn. of America -- second only to rock music in popularity.

Fear of violence and vandalism was something that crossed the House of Blues’ radar too, says Daniel Park, 32 who promotes Detour with Joey Bag O’Donuts, born Joey Natakis, 30, and Alex Jong, 24. “The only thing they were concerned about was the graffiti factor,” he says. “House of Blues has great art on their walls, and they were afraid people would bring Sharpies and mark them up.”

Markers, pens and other writing instruments have been confiscated at the door by House of Blues security, according to Park, and there have been no fights.

House of Blues bookers also wondered if new hip-hop crews could attract a crowd when Park first approached them with a pitch to let Verbal Threat do a record-release party at Detour, which, until Memorial Day, was just a regular dance club.

“House of Blues and their partners didn’t think it was going to do well,” Park said. “But I kept pushing for it. When 1,200 people showed up, their reaction was, ‘Wow, OK, maybe Daniel has something.’ That’s when I actively started to look for hip-hop acts.”

All of this is a bit strange because Park doesn’t fit the hip-hop entrepreneur stereotype. He started his nightclub career spinning progressive house at flashy Orange County clubs like Rubber and the now-defunct Metropolis. He’s not a gold-wearing gangsta nor a socially minded poet of the underground.

“I’m a happy-go-lucky kinda guy,” Park says.

*

Detour

Where: House of Blues Anaheim, 1530 S. Disneyland Drive

When: Sundays, 9:30 p.m.-1:45 a.m., unless a concert preempts. This Sunday: Figures of Speech, Smash Pop Collective, Tasc, Simple Thoughts, Kaliber, Section

Cost: $10, 21 and older

Info: (714) 778-BLUE