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Grieves returns to Colorado

Seattle rapper has Fort Collins roots
Seattle-based rapper Grieves will be headlining a show Saturday at Animas City Theatre. The former Fort Collins resident was once enrolled at Fort Lewis College.

If Grieves had kept his intentions to attend Fort Lewis College, we might be strolling downtown Durango alongside him.

The Chicago-born rapper and former Fort Collins resident pursued music full-time instead in Seattle.

“The business program at Fort Lewis was really cool,” Grieves said in a telephone interview. “You end up starting your own business (and) that, to me, was intriguing.”

Now, he runs Grieves Music. He says he’s 100-percent involved in the business side of his music, and it’s been a great way to employ his friends.

Grieves enjoys running the show. At 31, he grew up with the Internet and understands nowadays people don’t buy music like they used to. With the popularity of streaming services like Spotify, he says it’s important for artists to embrace new technology and a new business model.

“It (Spotify) does take away album sales from artists. It’s cut down on income significantly. That means we need to tour more; we need to raise ticket prices, but people don’t want to pay more for tickets, or they only come out once a year. They don’t want to buy a record, but they also expect you make top-quality stuff. But you don’t have the budget to do that because nobody’s buying your record,” he said.

Grieves says the music industry is going to see a “huge” shift in the next couple of years, and it’s important for them to figure it out and quickly get on board with the changes.

In the meantime, he’s content with his current job, touring the country, headlining his own shows and sharing stages with some of the greats like Atmosphere and Brother Ali, who are on the same label, Minneapolis-based Rhymesayers Entertainment.

Before bringing his rhymes to the world, Grieves was earning a modest living in Seattle as a cook at an Italian restaurant and doing the music thing on the side. Known as the birthplace of grunge and a melting pot for alternative rock, Seattle never has had a hip-hop identity. But lately, with the help of Grieves and Grayskul and producers Jake One, Budo and Macklemore, who was one of Grieves’ first friends in Seattle, the Emerald City’s hip-hop scene has been in the spotlight.

Grieves, who moved to Fort Collins when he was in fifth-grade and graduated from high school there, says he is glad he moved to Seattle and believes everything has happened for a reason. “Living in Fort Collins, Wu Tang wasn’t coming through. There wasn’t a hip-hop scene, so I had to seek it out on my own. And I ended up in Washington because of it. If I hadn’t had the lack of a hip-hop scene (in Fort Collins), maybe I wouldn’t have ended up in Seattle,” Grieves said.

mhayden@durangoherald.com

If you go

Grieves with opening group Grayskul, 9 p.m. Saturday at Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Drive. The 18-and-older show is $17. Get tickets at Southwest Sound, at the door or online at www.animascitytheatre.com.



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