CHARACTERS
Reese "3Sixty" Thomas: The Instrumentalist
Clarence "Verbal E" Long: The Lyricist
Murray "Presto One" McMurray: The Turntablist
PREFACE
A decade into its hip-hop pilgrimage in Vegas, the Chapter doesn't have a major-label deal, blingy jewelry or mansions in Summerlin. What the group does have is mad respect for the members, for the music, for the fans—and from the fans.
CHAPTER 1: ROCKING THE HOUSE
A month after rocking 2,000 people at the House of Blues, Thomas is still amped. You can hear it in his voice—like he's smiling while talking. It's not every day the Chapter performs for such a large crowd. Years ago, the group had to settle for library gigs. So what if many of the folks on March 20 came to see Twista, the speed-rhyming, chart-topping emcee.
"We had heads in the crowd, too," Thomas chuckles. Thomas, alone, probably added a core of new fans, Long says, by playing all manner of instruments, keeping folks rapt. "Everybody was diggin' it."
CHAPTER 2: LIFE IN THE STICKS
Vegas is a hip-hop hinterland. That's been a good thing for the Chapter. Since Vegas has no hip-hop style of its own—the West Coast traffics in gangster rap and pimp-hop, the East pushes beats and rhymes, the South proffers "crunk" booty-moving music, the Midwest is riding "slanguistics"—the Chapter and its predecessors, the Watson Family and the Desert Dwellers, have made their own. It relies as much on musicality and melody as lyricism—an almost Roots-like approach to crafting a song.
"Don't get me wrong, being here is a double-edged sword. People aren't coming here to pick up talent," Long says. "But being in Vegas has allowed us to take the time to develop our own style."
CHAPTER 3: KEEPIN' AT IT
It's a style honed over countless hours and numerous performances, from library theaters to lounges to rock 'n' roll bars.
Part of the local hip-hop scene 1990, Thomas has seen seismic shifts in the culture. Imaginative hungry artists bit by complacency. Crews disbanding over internal strife. Major-label talent duped—and doomed—by achieving a modicum of success.
"Everyone wants the props as the first ones to make it, but no one wants to hone their skills to put in the work that it takes to succeed in the long run."
EPILOGUE
But include the Chapter in the constantly trying-to-improve mix. No longer content to wait on major-label salvation—"labels are unsure how they can market us and make their money," Thomas says—the group's gone the independent route, forming Awthentix Music.
"It's a step we need to make at this point," Thomas says. "We need to be heard." On April 25, it's back to HOB again, this time opening for Wu-Tang luminary and part-time actor Method Man.