Ganado rappers shun gang style, focus on community

Hip-hop group AZ Iconz is looking to break into the mainstream music business.

The Ganado, Ariz., group has been together since 1997 and consists of Loony, C-Dubb, E-Man, Yung-E, Boskee and Blizz.

Blizz, real name Ryan Hardy, said as performers, the members of AZ Iconz focus on sharing their life stories through music.

"None of our music is affiliated with any gangs and the music is to encourage others through daily struggles of living life on the rez," he said.

He acknowledges that the quest for exposure has put the Ganado rappers onstage with the likes of Mr. Capone E, Mr. Criminal and Pitbull, who, as their names suggest, are pretty much about glorifying gang life.

 "We're just trying to get our music out there and become mainstream," Blizz said. "Right now you have Latinos, Mexicans, African Americans that are on the mainstream level. What I want to do is put Native Americans up there on that mainstream level as well."

The group has six albums out but still hungers for airplay.

"You know, that music you hear on the radio, that's what I want to get at," Blizz said. "People have told us that our music has been playing in some of them clubs in the Valley. That's pretty cool to hear.

"The music we make is exactly that," he said, "club music and music that you can just kick back to."

Much of their work together, and public exposure, came from their time on the Dream 1 Records label - now New Vision - owned and operated by R&B vocalist JayNez.

"JayNez had given us that extra boost but we decided to go our own way," Blizz said.

The split was amicable, he added.

Blizz now acts as producer for AZ Iconz. He also composes much of the music.

What the Iconz rappers find influential are stories that mainstream artists and Indian Country musicians share about their daily lives.

Blizz hopes that with AZ Iconz, he'll leave a legacy that will be remembered for instilling pride in the younger generations.

He credits Tribe 2 Entertainment and JayNez for many lesson learned, saying, "We have mad respect for those guys. Tribe 2 in particular because they instilled Navajo pride and utilized the Navajo language to gain the support of the community."

For Blizz, it's about having respect for your community and people because without the support of the people, he and his fellow rappers wouldn't have gotten as far as they have.

"I want to go nationwide with this," Blizz said. "I'm confident that we will. When we opened for some of the big-name performers we gave them copies of our demos so I know that our music is being heard. It's just a matter of time."

As for the group's name, it was a suggestion that took some convincing.

"It's a long story," he said. "One day we were at school. It was me and Yung-E and we got a crowd going."

They were performing in front of others in an activity called "free styling."

"Someone had asked if we had a name yet," Blizz recalled. "Loony was the one who had come up with AZ Iconz."

Blizz didn't like it at first, thinking it would be best used if they had already established a legacy. But the name grew on him and he realized that if they weren't yet exactly icons, they were setting an example and trying to make a positive impact.

Rap music and hip-hop are two genres that are plagued with stereotypes of sexism, gang violence, drug and alcohol abuse and murder, he said, but not all rap musicians are promoting the negative stuff.

"It's just talking about rez life," he said. "A lot of people out there can reflect and relate."

Information: www.myspace.com/AZIconz.

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