The backbone of practically any creative scene or community will always be collaboration and a willingness to share ideas across stylistic, generational, and even cultural lines.
There are likely few artists in Oklahoma that know that to be true better than rapper Original Flow, the self-defined poet, songwriter, producer, organizer, and cross-genre bandleader, most recently fronting Original Flow and the Wavvez, a sprawling, multi-instrumental live band blending funk, rock, jazz, and electrified R&B beneath Flow’s own hip-hop lyricism.
To speak with Flow about the city scene and the state of OKC hip-hop is to hear about friends, collaborators, and mentors spanning years, rather than any of the posturing or ego that you might expect from an artist at the top of his game.
But before he was Original Flow, he was Christopher Acoff, an OKC kid experimenting with poetry and writing and just beginning to understand the rap scene through the eyes of his first mentor and collaborator, his father, OKC rapper Chill G.
Original Flow: He like, kind of prepped me for the music industry to what he knew, to what he understood. You know, he just learned from that. And he kind of put me on game on, like, the terminology and just the type of scenarios that, you know, I might come across in music.
Brett Fieldcamp: But once Christopher debuted as Original Flow, it quickly became clear that, unlike the characteristically singular rap scenes in cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Atlanta, the constantly morphing Oklahoma City rap community wasn’t something for which he could be easily prepared.
Original Flow: Honestly, this is what I love about Oklahoma hip-hop, at least Oklahoma City hip-hop, is that it's like a nomad. It's always, ever moving and ever shifting. And I think that's a good culture to have, because we are the Midwest, and so we're going to get influenced by the rest of America when it comes to culture and hip-hop. Like you have the Indigenous hip-hop artists, you have the Latin-American hip-hop artists, you have, like, Asian-American hip-hop artists here. There's so many here. Like there is no way to say “well, it's just right here. This is the pocket.”
Brett Fieldcamp: That kind of open multiculturalism and broad range of styles helped to inform Flow’s first foray into the world of more organic, live band-oriented hip-hop, The Fervent Route, largely the brainchild of Flow’s close friend, musician and producer Josh Carpenter.
As his own lyrical identity began to take shape with the band, Flow’s focus on intellectualism and community-focused subject matter struck a chord with audiences and pushed his profile into the realm of socially conscious or uplifting rap, a designation that he says he really never intended or sought for himself.
Original Flow: I feel like people put me in that category because they don't really know where else to put me. It's not about, like, anything specifically, like political or anything like that. It's just my own two eyes and what I see, what I've experienced. I'm just going to tell my own story and get it out and talk about what I want to talk about. And usually when I do that, people love it.
Brett Fieldcamp: When it came time to create his new band, The Wavvez, Flow set out to find a collection of players that could each tell their own stories and bring their own tastes and perspectives through their musicianship.
But more than anything, he wanted players that could communicate and mesh across styles.
Original Flow: This is my first time ever putting together a band. And so my first whack at it, I just wanted to find people who are dope. And I already had some of the members from the Route, so I just wanted to see who else is down, honestly.
Brett Fieldcamp: With The Wavvez, Flow has begun cultivating an even broader audience across city scenes, with an imminent debut album recorded live on stage at Factory Obsura and headline spots at the Norman Music Festival and the upcoming Plaza Fest in OKC.
His comfort and quick thinking in front of a live band has even led him to front the regular Bebop and Hip-Hop Nights at OKC’s Blue Note, trading improvisations and freestyles with a group of jazz players.
For Flow, these are all avenues to tell his own story in his own words, and to encourage others to do the same, especially if they feel that their story or their voice hasn’t been reflected in pop culture or politics.
Original Flow: I like the thought of like being a voice for people who never thought to speak about how they feel about their life. You know, I just happen to have music as my interpreter. Some of these stories I'm telling are very Black stories, but some of these stories are also told in a way to where everyone can understand and get a piece of that for themselves. Like “man, I feel that. I feel that.”
Brett Fieldcamp: Before Plaza Fest on September 28th, you can catch Original Flow and the Wavvez at the Opolis in Norman September 13th.
For more information on that event and others, check out the Events page at KGOU.org.
For more, follow @flowandthewavvez on Instagram.
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