Slope Records and its ever-expanding list of artists have been striving toward their goal of bringing attention back to the diverse music scene of Arizona. Recently, Thomas Lopez, Slope Records founder, announced the record label's first imprint, called 3E.
The first artist to be signed for 3E, Jack Acid, is also the first hardcore rap artist to be signed by Slope Records. Promotion of the first single by Jack Acid is about to begin a planned tour for 2020. The intense and streetwise style of rap, developed across the East Coast is closely related to other styles of hip hop. Hardcore rap is not only about aggression, anger, and confrontation but sometimes also includes humor and high spirits.
Punk rock and rap do overlap in some aspects and Slope Records is respected by a variety of artists, including street rap and hip hop artists. Zillakami, the rapper, musician, songwriter, and member of the hip hop band City Morgue, has been seen wearing and Addicted to Chaos/ Slope Records t-shirt, showing his respect toward what Lopez and his team at Slope Records are aiming for – to represent and embrace the synergy between the various types of punk rap and hip hop under one visible punk label.
Slope Records was started by Thomas Lopez in 2015 and initially worked on re-releasing the classics from the forgotten music legends of Arizona. Soon new releases by Feederz, Surfbort, The Dickies, T.S.O.L, and The Linecutters followed helping the new label grow into a formidable force in the music business. Besides a large collection of punk reissues, the band continues to sign on new artists, allowing creativity and passion to be born and to find its way to the people who love punk rock.
Born in the late sixties, Thomas grew up at a time when the music industry was shaking the world to its very core. The influences around him included artists like Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and the ground-breaking Sex Pistols.
Phoenix, Arizona is the hometown of Lopez, and the city is known for its punk rock music culture. Lopez is better known as Tommy Blank, the founder of the punk band The Blankz and he is a man with a number of talents that have earned him respect in the music industry.
Slope Records owns several tour buses wrapped in the label, the 35 feet long buses are outfitted comfortably with lounges and bunks, making touring comfortable for the artists.
Some of the punk bands that have already completed successful tours on Slope Record buses are The Exploited, Anti-Nowhere League, Conflict, The Dickies, and Cro-Mags.
Needing help with the rapid growth of business for the label, Lopez has brought in his long-time friend, Kirk Reznik (AKA K-Tel Disco), one of the founders of the Phunk Junkeez, to help with artist development. Lopez has the business and marketing instincts and Reznik has the experience in rap and hip-hop music especially that born out of Phoenix, which has a history of producing artists with talent. This synergy that has been created will produce some exciting opportunities for artists that will collaborate on the label.
The Linecutters were the direct support band for the Black Flag 2019 US tour that performed 42 shows, driving around the country in a Slope Records tour bus. This was the first tour by Black Flag in five years.
According to Lopez, the label is looking forward to 2020 as it will be another exciting year for Slope Records and its imprint 3E. There are plans for a number of punk and rap tours on the tour buses around the country and performances are also planned for the Punk Rock Bowling in Las Vegas.
Other plans for the coming year include the signing of new rap and punk artists to the label and some exciting new developments for Jack Acid.
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