By Bennett Fuson
<[email protected]>

Over the past few years, Indianapolis’s local music scene has exploded with an eruption of various talents, each representing different genres.  So far one, Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s, have made it out of Broad Ripple onto the national music landscape.  Hot on their heels is HUM-V (also known as Greg Humrichouser), Indy’s most successful hip-hop artist in recent history.

Born in Ashland, OH, Humrichouser grew up around music.  His older sister first turned his attention to hip-hop at a young age, and by middle school he was practicing the art, citing his first success with a talent contest victory in sixth grade.

“I did, like, an anti-litter rap,” Humrichouser said.

In high school, Humrichouser formed his own hip-hop group, but also did vocals for a few small rock groups.  But it was when he moved to Indianapolis in 1999 to attend Butler University that he first saw music as a possible career.

“When I got to college, I realized that your major could be recording arts,” Humrichouser said, “and I thought, ‘You know what? This is right up my alley.”

After recording and mixing his first album as a freshman, a local record label, Down Wit It Records, approached and signed Humrichouser to a record deal: yet another sign to pursue music.  “That’s really when I was like, ‘You know, I can really start doing this.’  I started getting more and more serious.  I put out more CDs in college, started booking shows,” he said.

Over the next few years, Humrichouser, under the alias HUM-V (which he said is an abbreviation for his surname) and the Cleptoz, a group he created with Dizzy Young (Brandon Waggoner) and Tha B.C. (Brandon Currie) their senior year, found considerable success, both locally and regionally. They opened for a number of hip-hop heavyweights.

“We toured everywhere in college,” Humrichouser said.  “You name it, we did it.  We opened for Jurassic 5, Twista, Kanye West. We toured all over the Midwest.  I played in Miami, FL and NYC.  I mean, that was my job, doing shows and touring with these guys.  We played everywhere, mostly regional.  Chicago, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Columbus, but at times we’d branch out of there too.  We just went everywhere, and it was awesome.  And it’s the life that I like living.”

In 2006, Humrichouser ventured away from the Cleptoz to work on a solo career.  His first solo album, “Simple Man,” began a rapid ascent as a recognized hip-hop figure.  The titular single garnered interest from local Top 40 station Radio Now, which put the single on their rotation.  “Simple Man” also piqued the interest of a much higher musical deity: Capital Records.  However, at that point, Capital’s interest in Humrichouser was only that: interest.  “He told me how bad they’re all struggling right now.  I mean, these guys don’t even know if they’re going to have jobs in a year,” Humrichouser said.

HUM-V’s second album, “One Verse At A Time,” is Humrichouser’s best bid to arrange his record contract.  The album’s single, “Look In Your Eyes,” has sold over 3,000 downloads on iTunes, at one point outselling the Jonas Brothers.  (HUM-V also has a MySpace music page.) “Look In Your Eyes” also has a regular rotation on Radio Now. The album itself has sold 400 copies locally: a powerful feat, considering the downfall of tangible album purchases.

What sets HUM-V apart from its competitors, according to Humrichouser, is the quality of the music, which he attributes to his recording background as well as a demand for precision.  Yet he said he also realizes the struggles for his particular niche of music.

“I don’t just consider myself a rapper. I consider myself a songwriter,” Humrichouser said.  “It’s not like what you’d think.  It’s not ‘shoot-em-up’ gangster rap.  It’s more intellectual and thought-out.  Lots of live instruments.  And people are really, really into it.  But at the end of the day, no matter how my music is, I’m labeled as a white rapper.  And that label’s hard to break.  When people actually listen to it, they like it.  But you have to get them to listen to it first.”

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“HUM-V”

Website: humvmusic.com
Compared to: OutKast
Singles: “Simple Man,” “Look In Your Eyes”