Lincoln Marshall is the Kansas-based rap duo of Approach (Sean Hunt) and MilkDrop ( John-Alan Suter). They're on the bill for this weekend's Sound Machine concert, a monthly event that's envisioned as a miniature version of the annual Middle of the Map Fest.
3 reasons we're listening to Lincoln Marshall this week:
1. Approach and MilkDrop are the odd couple of the regional hip-hop scene. MilkDrop’s raps are typically effervescent, while the more acerbic Approach often addresses nefarious matters.
2. Approach was poised to become one of the Midwest’s most popular rappers 15 years ago. It didn’t happen, and his star had faded considerably. Now, all of Lincoln Marshall's output acts as a rebuke to commercial hip-hop.
3. The duo's video for “Mo Spins” features prominent Kansas City jazz musician Dominique Sanders:
Lincoln Marshall is part of the Sound Machine #4 bill with the gritty Kansas City rapper the Abnorm, the St. Louis hip-hop band Illphonics, the Nebraska-based group AZP and the rapper Smitty the Kid, a recent transplant to Kansas City. 7 p.m., Saturday, January 14 at Record Bar, 1520 Grand Boulevard, Kansas City, Missouri, 64108, 816-753-5207.
Bill Brownlee’s writing appears weekly in The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine. He blogs about Kansas City’s jazz scene at Plastic Sax.
