BAND PROFILE: Damaja Squad

October 09, 2008 1:15 PM

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Zack Quaintance

The bass player stands backstage at Cine El Rey. He is not excited.

But by all rights, he should be.

Tony Zepeda plays with local rap rock band Damaja Squad, and tonight the group has a major opportunity. The group joins five other bands competing to open for Shwayze, a chill rap duo and the subject of an MTV reality show.

It's 10 days before the show, and the concert promoters have organized a showcase to find an opener. An opener for a concert that will later pack 900 people in the historic theatre. A concert destined to be the Valley's best live show this year.

But Zepeda is still not excited.

"We never win these things," Zepeda says, as his band mates do a sound check. The venue is empty, but in a few hours it will fill. Music fans will swarm to see the six acts.

"I don't know why," he says. "Younger bands always win."

On the Valley music scene, Damaja Squad holds a special place. They've been playing for a decade. The group features a full band - bass, drums, guitar and DJ. And they have one of the most experienced rappers in the Valley. They're more than a cover band. Damaja Squad makes original hip hop music.

The guys have opened for Ludacris, the Ying Yang Twins and other massive acts. They've played for thousands at the Dodge Arena and before that the now defunct Villa Real.

But Zepeda is still not confident about winning the Shwayze show. And turns out, he's right.

Damaja Squad performs at the showcase, and they give what many call the performance of the night. But afterwards, they fall short in an online vote hosted by The Monitor's Web site. The newspaper asks who of the six should win. Fans pick Brownsville rapper C-Styles.

But the guys in Damaja Squad aren't devastated by the loss. They'll keep writing and performing original hip hop for anyone who wants to listen. Same as they have for 11 years.

Damaja Squad's early days

Steve Ruiz, the rapper that made Damaja Squad, has another opportunity.

The management at Rodz Bar N Grill in Edinburg has invited the band to perform each Wednesday in October. If Rodz likes what it hears, the bar will hire the band to play permanently on Wednesdays.

Ruiz stands to the side as the guys sound check their instruments.

This gig marks a far cry from his early days.

Ruiz, now 27, started rapping at 15. He started battle rapping that same here.

"Back in the day my mission was to beat every MC in the Valley," Ruiz remembers, as he waits for his gig to start.

Ruiz, known in hip hop as Mic Melt, spent Friday nights on that mission. Backed by friends he bounced from house party to house party. The crew rolled up, asked if there were any rappers in the house and started the battle. Mic Melt would identify his target and just start ripping the dude until he battled back.

In hip hop, you don't back down from that challenge of skill. And he saw much success. He dispatched any and all comers in the Valley. Ask those guys from the other local rap rock outfit the Broken Poetz, who Ruiz now counts among his friends. And ask popular local rapper Issac "Cal Casta" Gonzalez.

Gonzalez, 23, remembers losing after calling Ruiz out.

"He gave me a good warning at a young age that I needed to learn more," Gonzalez says now, remembering the one-sided battle.

Ruiz has battled for money in San Antonio and Austin. He's battled for pride at house parties. And he's battled impromptu challenges in the parking lot of Newman's Bar on North 10th Street.

"I've battled everybody down here who says they have battling skills," Ruiz says.

All of that a far cry from the gigs he now plays with Damaja Squad. But the driving force behind both battling and gigging remains the same - Ruiz loves hip hop.

Damaja Squad's future

Ruiz takes the mic, and the band starts playing.

They launch into a cover of Notorious B.I.G.'s "Big Poppa." A few people at the bar sing along and dance. Covers, something Ruiz adamantly opposed, are the paycheck for most local bands in the Valley.

In fact, every member of Damaja Squad except Ruiz plays in other cover bands. The guys admit those other groups pay bills so they can focus on original music.

But that need to pay bills can hold a band back, says Ruiz, who makes other money bar tending. Maybe that's part of the reason Damaja Squad fails to win battles.

"I think it's our fault too," he says. "We don't ever practice."

The band, however, never shows it. Mic Melt rhymes flawlessly when they take the stage. And the backing band brings all kinds of energy. Just as they've done for more than a decade.

Ideally, the guys say they'd love to make a living at this. They'd love to finish their original album, six years coming. And they'd love to tour the country.

For now, they've got gigs scheduled through the end of the month at Rodz.

Catch the damage before it spreads.

LIVE: Damaja Squad