Local hip-hop group pioneers vintage technique

The Dope Technique

Shadow Lounge

Saturday at 9… The Dope Technique

Shadow Lounge

Saturday at 9 p.m.

Tickets $5

For the members of local group The Dope Technique, hip-hop never died — it went underground.

The Dope Technique is comprised of Pitt students Nick Anway on guitar, Ethan Cohen on bass and Sarah Bakhit covering vocals. The group also includes rapper Chris “C.H.R.I.S.” Mitchell, drummer Ronald Worthy and rapper John Hughes.

The band will perform this Saturday at the Shadow Lounge in East Liberty alongside North Carolina State rap group Kooley High. The group contends that the music it creates is more organic than a lot of mainstream hip-hop, which relies heavily on computer-generated loops and samples. The Dope Technique’s sound, by contrast, is reminiscent of the live, instrumental quality of The Fugees or The Roots.

In fact, the band, which began last November, exists principally as a live group, though it plans to release an EP sometime this summer.

“Live music is what feels the most natural for us. We all came together from our own projects and have just been performing live shows,” Anway said.

C.H.R.I.S. — who will also release a solo mixtape soon — said that although he listens to artists like Nas, Big L and Tupac, he can still appreciate the entertainment aspect of newer mainstream rap artists.

“Some rappers just want to entertain and that’s OK. Other rappers — like J.Cole — kind of walk that balance between conscious, lyrical rap and entertainment rap, and that’s cool too,” C.H.R.I.S. said.

The singer of the group, Bakhit, cited Lauryn Hill as one of her biggest influences.

Anway said that his main influences are the late hip-hop producer J-Dilla as well as The Roots and John Mayer. (Worthy says Anway shares a physical as well musical resemblance to Mayer.)

“The other guys might think this is cheesy, but John Mayer is amazing on guitar,” Anway said.

Anway also said their performances are sometimes improvised, allowing the mood of the particular set to take over.

“Sometimes someone will just get into it — like Sarah will be doing her thing or Chris will start freestyling and we’ll just ride with it,” Anway said.

Members of The Dope Technique say audience members have a spontaneous reaction to their shows. Anway said sometimes the audience is relaxed, sort of swaying to the music, and at other times people begin to dance in the crowd. Worthy said he’s open to anything.

“I’ll jump in the crowd and start dancing if they want,” he said.

The group’s members all hail from various performance backgrounds. Anway is a member of Pitt’s jazz ensemble, whereas C.H.R.I.S. got his start performing poetry.

That eclectic mix of tastes and experiences lends itself to the group’s distinct sound. Elements of classical jazz, soul and R&B can be heard in the group’s performances.

Anway said the manual and instrument-based hip-hop that The Dope Technique performs is still alive and well on the East Coast, primarily Philadelphia and New York.

Ultimately, Worthy said, The Dope Technique hopes to engender a re-evaluation of hip-hop standards.

“I think a lot of rappers should have an ‘unplugged’ kind of thing, with a real live band,” Worthy said.