Edicts of Approach

Approach has lived in Overland Park since the second grade, and he's proud of it. "From Olathe to Kansas City, Missouri, and all of Wyandotte County — I consider all of that to be KC, to make up this metropolis," he says sternly.

"I went to Shawnee Mission North," he continues. "Mac [Lethal] went to Shawnee Mission South. Brother of Moses [rapper Aaron Sutton] went to Shawnee Mission North with me. A lot of prominent figures in the scene are from out there."

Approach marvels at the progress that hip-hop has made in Kansas City in the last several years. He and Lippincott rooted the Datura label in Lawrence because it was friendly to hip-hop at a time when venues in Kansas City were not. When the hip-hop scene in Lawrence proved peaceful and successful, venues in Kansas City started opening their doors to the new scene.

"I'm glad KC finally embraced it," Approach says. "I feel like they respect it. The forefathers — the Veteran Clicks, the Tech N9nes, the Basement Khemists, the Heet Mobs — they did a lot of grunt work, too, and people went, wow, there's some cats doing it, there's hip-hop in Kansas."

And soon, California will be finding out about it.