Curators: HighRowGlyphFix
“Who the f*ck doesn’t want the greatness?
People talk about success, but can’t deal with the patience”
- HighRowGlyphFix on “DC Boyz”
Remember when love for comic books and anime came with a stigma? When diving into those fictional worlds earned more criticism than intrigue? Well those days are quickly coming to an end, and rapper HighRowGlyphFix is making sure of it.
His original motivation to write rhymes was somewhat unexpected, as it was mostly something that he saw his older brother, Fuze, take part in. His brother encouraged him to give rapping a try, but he saw himself as “the student, the kid that plays games”. Still, the curiosity built, and eventually he found himself putting the pen to the paper in a notebook he still has. “At first it was just a hobby,” he says, “then I saw the improvement, I looked back at my first one that I wrote, I kept going forward like ‘I’m actually getting good at this’, maybe this is why he told me I should do it.” He came back to his brother around 2011 to show off his skills and they formed the group Conceptz.
That time brought great experiences at major award shows like the BET Awards and the Grammy’s. They had features alongside rap greats that included Rick Ross, Gucci Mane, Styles P, and Cassidy. The group interviewed at both Shade 45 and Hot 97. As Conceptz, the duo made their mark, but as of late, Fuze has opted to focus on production, allowing the blossoming HighRowGlyphFix to take over microphone duties on a full-time basis.
Coming from New York, he cited many of the area’s legends as influences on his style. That list includes Nas, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Helta Skeltah, Black Moon, and Dead Prez amongst others. For him, “they had that real East Coast New York sound that I really tried to emulate”. We often find that art’s best creators are also their biggest consumers, and HighRow is no different.
One thing that’s always been a thing for me is listening to music sonically , hearing it having that replay value . I can’t listen to someone if I think their voice is wack, delivery is wack, or if what they’re saying isn’t moving me. So, I need to have that, like when I say something I need someone to have the face like MMPH!
One artist that didn’t come immediately to mind was Bumpy Knuckles, though he did cite the legendary underground MC’s versatility. HighRow mentioned how, even though Bumpy began in the 1980’s he continued to augment his flow in the 90’s to build a lasting career. HighRow had a comparable moment in his search for longevity: the thematic shift to focus on anime and superheroes. Like many great ideas, it sort of happened by accident.
When me and my brother were doing the Conceptz stuff, we would run out of material to post on social media, I was like damn man, we need something else. We can’t just show the typical ‘in the studio’, music videos, regular freestyles. He had the skits on his side. I needed something for myself. One day, I told my followers ‘if you have any requests on what you want me to rap about, I don’t give a f*ck, I’ll rap about anything.’
The requests started small with small concepts like the sky, but it all changed when a user requested a verse about the DC Comics character, Nightwing. He did it and the response was great. He rapped about a few more comic book and anime characters and before he knew it his inbox was flooded with hundreds of requests for different characters.
He admits that he’s rapped about what feels like all of the major comic book characters to this point, but felt renewed when he turned his attention towards real people. The first one was the rapper, Logic. Again his inbox was filled with a new wave of requests with people wanting verses about celebrities and social media influencers. HighRow met the demand and killed it every time.
I think it’s cool. It's like a challenge for me to see if I can really take what they do and put it in rap form. It’s easy to do it with superheroes if you just pick up a comic book, like alright cool. To see someone like @calebcity. I really have to know my sh*t, because when people are listening to it, it’s like ‘WHAT? Do I get the references he’s saying?’
His online videos aren’t limited to biographies. He also has a number of collabs, skits, funny pickup lines, and a series of verses titled “For the Ladies” that has more than 100 parts.
He mastered the art of crowd participation online, but the real human connections were never lost on him. HRGF stresses how important it is for him to get out and meet people, not just their virtual representation. After shows, HighRow believes it’s important to “stay there and talk to every person”. He’s seen enough artists that simply “do that show and bounce”. He doesn’t miss an opportunity to show off his personality and charm.
He was hoping to continue spreading his work with a few new features, videos, and an appearance at DreamCon, though the COVID-19 pandemic has put a temporary pause on things. Fortunately, he sees it as a chance to prepare for the moment when things do open back up. Until then, you can check out what he’s released to this point wherever you stream music under Conceptz and his first mixtape dedicated entirely to anime can be found below.
