With deep ties to Houston’s influential early-’90s rap scene, Devin the Dude rolled through several generations of hip-hop, cultivating a laid-back style fixated on weed, partying, and his distinctively hazy perspective on everyday life. Producing as well as rapping, he began releasing solo albums in 1998 with The Dude. He quickly became a rapper’s rapper, collaborating with big-name talents from Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg to De La Soul, Nas, Andre 3000, and many others. Though he never rose to the mainstream success of some of his peers, albums like 2007’s stony yet intricate Waiting to Inhale were hits with critics and a dedicated cult following. He landed in the Top 20 of Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart in 2010 with Suite 420 and Gotta Be Me and hit number nine on the Top Rap Albums chart with 2013’s One for the Road. Devin the Dude has remained a left-of-center favorite with albums like 2017’s Acoustic Levitation, 2019’s Still Rollin’ Up: Somethin’ to Ride With, and 2021’s Soulful Distance. Devin the Dude was born Devin Copeland in Pontiac, Michigan, but raised in Florida and Texas. As a child, he went back and forth from New Boston to Houston and finally settled in the latter after he graduated high school. In the late ’80s, Devin met Rob Quest, a blind rapper, and producer who was part of a Houston crew called the Coughee Brothaz. Later, the duo formed a group named the Odd Squad and recruited Devin’s longtime friend Jugg Mugg and a local DJ named DJ Screw. Screw (who was later replaced by DJ Styles) took the group’s demo tape to Rap-A-Lot Records CEO James Smith, who quickly signed the group in 1992. Their debut album, Fadanuf fa Erybody!!, was released in 1994 with “I Can’t See It” as the lead single and video. Although hip-hop fans praised the effort put out by the Odd Squad, their album was not as commercially successful as they hoped. While the group went back to the drawing board, Rap-A-Lot franchise artist Scarface approached Devin to be a part of his new group, Facemob. Facemob released one album in 1996, The Other Side of the Law, and then broke up due to internal problems. At this time, Devin decided to work on his debut solo album, The Dude, with the help of Smith and Scarface. The Dude was released in 1998 with virtually no video and little radio play. It was a smoothed-out, funk-laden album and an ode to wine, women, and weed. Regardless, the album built a large underground following and even caught the attention of veteran hip-hop producer Dr. Dre. He contacted Devin in 1999 and asked him to be a part of the 2001 album on the track “Fuck You.” This single appearance made Devin a hot commodity, earning him appearances on songs with De La Soul, Raphael Saadiq, veteran rap group UGK, and a solo track on the Oz soundtrack. His anticipated sophomore LP, Just Tryin’ ta Live, was released in the summer of 2002 and featured appearances from Nas, Xzibit, and Raphael Saadiq with production from Dre, DJ Premier, and his Coughee Brothaz. To tha X-Treme arrived two years later and was followed in 2007 by Waiting to Inhale, his first album to crack the Top 40 on Billboard’s album chart. It featured guest appearances from Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne, Bun B, and more. It would also be Devin’s last record with Rap-A-Lot after a 15-year relationship. He signed on with Razor & Tie for his 2008 album Landing Gear. Suite #420 followed in 2010 and had the honor of being released on the stoner’s holiday of April 20. His seventh LP, Gotta Be Me, arrived later that year. In 2013, Devin issued One for the Road (eOne). His eighth full-length entered the Top 50 of the Billboard R&B/hip-hop chart. In 2017, he returned with the collaborative single “Smoke with Me,” with rapper Crim Dela Crim. He also issued the Acoustic Levitation album, which was accompanied by a tour of the same name. In 2019, he returned with his ninth studio LP, Still Rollin’ Up: Somethin’ to Ride With. The full-length Soulful Distance arrived in February 2021.

The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina are steeped in old-world mystics, ancient medicines and a potent connection to nature. On the surface this might not seem synonymous with hip-hop but the roots of music run deep. This is the community that Asheville’s Free Radio has risen from. Formed in 2012 by forever friends Austn Haynes and Johnny Reynolds, they released their debut album, “The Powers That Be” (produced by Haynes), that same year. Fueled by Austn’s beats that dig into everything from classic soul to classic rock and modern pop to space- age lounge, both Austn and Johnny are accomplished emcees, and around western North Carolina, Johnny’s syrupy flow has become a thing of legend.   Over the past decade Free Radio has taken different forms, won multiple awards for “best hip-hop group” by local newspapers and shared the stage with heavyweights like Wu-Tang Clan, Ice Cube, Slick Rick, Nappy Roots, Digable Planets and Warren Haynes, and the band even swapped coasts for a few years when Johnny and Austn moved to San Francisco. But today, back home in Asheville, Free Radio has found its most powerful configuration with the addition of Grammy Award winning singer Debrissa McKinney and Datrian Johnson, whose deep, soulful vocals (think a modern day Barry White or Isaac Hayes) have enough power and authenticity to become the voice of a generation. The addition of Debrissa and Datrian can not be overstated, “I feel like the universe put us together” says Johnny. “We all came from different walks of life and found ourselves in this time and space.” It’s the old adage where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. “When Datrian and Debrissa come together it’s just magical” continues Austn. “One thing Johnny and I are not as skilled at is being vulnerable, and to have them bring that balance and soulfulness, to bring it back to a heartfelt level, I’ve been manifesting that for years.” It’s odd that Debrissa, who currently also plays sax and sings with Empire Strikes Brass and has recorded and played live with stalwarts like George Clinton, Gov’t Mule and Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, as well as the children's hip-hop band Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, for which she earned a Grammy, had the time to join Free Radio. She’s collaborated with them in the past and has been a huge fan for years, but it was only because Covid disrupted the world that she had the bandwidth to put her energy into Free Radio. Datrian is the type of natural talent that stops you in your tracks. He was singing in church as soon as he could stand and by the time he was 12 found himself featured on BET’s “Bobby Jones Gospel.” He tasted the limelight singing at larger events like “400 Uhuru Rising - A Musical Journey To Freedom” and a premier for Aretha Franklin’s “Amazing Grace” film, but the dynamic of being in this band with these people is allowing Datrian to push himself in ways he never has. And that drive and that energy is opening windows for Free Radio’s music that simply didn’t exist before this lineup coalesced. Together, as a quartet, they are creating cosmic Appalachian hip-hop that owes as much to Dead Prez and Tobe Nwigwe as it does the Mamas & the Papas. They are collaborating with other like minded Asheville artists including Saint Disruption which features John Medeski (Medeski Martin & Wood) and Jeff Firewalker, and with the help of mixer and producer Philo Reitzel, their first album as a unit strives to unite the heart with the head. They recognize these are dark days for many. Covid, lockdowns, financial stress and mental unrest, but it’s also a time of transformation and inspiration. We all face the dark, but some of us find the light. Do we tune out, dumb down and give in? Or do we rise up? Free Radio is shining that light in the darkest of days. Free Radio is holding out that hand to help us all rise up.