Kansas City Music Blog

By RICHARD GINTOWT

2009 is shaping up to be a banner year for Kyle Dykes, better known in the local hip-hop community as Leonard Dstroy. The lynchpin of the hyperproductive Innate Sounds crew is planning three anticipated releases in the coming months:

1. A new Deep Thinkers record with longtime co-conspirator Brother of Moses. The group's fourth LP (and first in four years) is likely to drop sometime in February. Dykes promises it will be the group's slickest and most professional effort to date.

2. A new C.E.S. Cru album with verbose wordsmiths Godemis and Ubiquitous. Dykes handled all the beats for the Cru's sophomore album, which is targeted for a March release.

3. A new Blue Riddim Band album.

Don't blink - number three is the kicker. Members of the legendary Kansas City reggae squad cooked up five new tracks at Dykes' home studio in November. This is batshit awesome for three reasons.

1. Blue Riddim hasn't played a Kansas City show in eight years.

2. The group lost its friend and front man, Scotty Korchak, to liver cancer in September 2007 and is making an inspired comeback.

3. Dykes could totally, like, be the son of any of those Blue Riddim dudes.

The collaboration came about because Dykes' father, Jimmy, played with some of the Blue Riddim dudes in S.D.I. (Strategic Dance Initiative) and the Nu Riddim Band. That's how Kyle met Blue Riddim bassist Todd "Bebop" Burd and drummer Steve "Duck" McLane.

"I think I have a little credibility based on who my Dad is," Dykes says. "I kept nagging them, like, 'You gotta get back in the lab.' Up until I linked up with Todd and Duck, [Blue Riddim] was pretty much a done deal. This is kind of like the re-birth."

No, it's TOTALLY the re-birth. Blue Riddim just booked a gig at the Beaumont Club for March 27th with the Sex Police, who have got be to freaking out about all this.

Dykes describes the forthcoming Blue Riddim album as a throwback to vintage dub LPs.

"I kinda did my thing to 'em - dubbed 'em out and tricked 'em out with effects," he says.

Expect a record this summer or fall. For now, enjoy the world premier of "Queen of the Rub."

MP3: Blue Riddim Band, "Queen of the Rub"