LOCAL ARTISTS CHURN OUT POSITIVE HIP HOP
Caitlin Prendergast staff writer

Not all hip-hop music advocates violence, materialism and misogyny. The Modurn Languaj Asosiashun, pronounced Modern Language Association or just MLA, is an Avondale-based group of Christian artists who are putting a positive spin on hip hop. Clayton Call, a rap artist who goes by the stage name Arhythmatik, started the MLA record label last year with his friend and fellow rapper Scott Wood of Goodyear, whose hip-hop alias is Scott Allen. Wood and Call enlisted the help of their friend Paco Cerda of Avondale, who creates beats and produces the label’s music. The group recently added Levi Peetz of Goodyear to the mix. Peetz works as both a disc jockey and an engineer for the label, he said. Purposely misspelling the label’s name was Call’s idea, he said. “The misspelling plays with the conceptions of society, which is what hip-hop was built on,” Call said. However, funky spelling is not the only thing that sets the MLA apart from other hip-hop labels. The difference between the MLA’s music and secular hip-hop is the artists’ purpose for making it, Wood said. Call, who is Mormon, and the rest of the group, made up of non-denominational Christians, send life lessons through their music without sounding preachy, Wood said. “We have a positive outlook on what we write about,” Wood said. The label’s music contains no explicit lyrics and is targeted for people of all ages and walks of life. The MLA also differs from other Christian artists in that the group goes out and performs beyond the church, including bars, Wood said. The MLA artists haven’t played any big shows in the West Valley yet, but they will perform with fellow Christian hip-hop group L.A. Symphony at 6:30 p.m. on July 23 at 5th Element, 3026 N. 33rd Drive in Phoenix.

RUNNING AN ARTIST-FRIENDLY LABEL Christian hip-hop has had a large underground following for years, Cerda said. “It’s underground because it’s positive … there’s no controversy or marketing scheme,” he said. “It’s based on skill and not on who you’re ‘dissing.’” The members of the MLA all have separate careers, so they’re not in search of fame or fortune. “Hip-hop is the No. 1 selling music out there today, but it’s become so commercialized, people like us have disdain for it,” Call said. The MLA does not make anyone sign contracts and the artists keep all of their own profits off CD sales. “We’re more of an artist-friendly label,” Wood said. Wood and Call currently have their first EPs available online at www.mlahiphop.com for $5 apiece, which is a bargain compared to other Christian artists’ CDs, Cerda said. The label also features hip-hop artists from Denver and San Franciso, and the members of the MLA are looking to work with more positive, not necessarily Christian, artists. For more information on the MLA, visit the Web site or call 480-233-1070.

Caitlin Prendergast can be reached by e-mail at cprendergast@westvalleyview.com.

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