Music

Looking Back on the Biggest Local Music Stories of 2009.

A A A Comments (1) By Pete Freedman Thursday, Dec 17 2009

Yes, Dorrough, we think it’s been a prime-time year too.

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2. If a Stadium Opens in Arlington, But No One Can Hear the Bands, Does It Make a Sound? Kinda tough to argue with the power packed by the first four headliners booked to play shows at the new Cowboys Stadium out in Arlington. George Strait, The Jonas Brothers, Paul McCartney and U2? No wonder we were all drooling at the prospects of this supposedly state-of-the-art venue. Then we went to the shows—and we left feeling only so-so about the whole thing. Why? Because of the sound, stupid. In retrospect, we probably should've expected shows in this cavernous space to be reverb-addled. Still, there are ways to improve that part of the equation. And there's no denying the impact the stadium's already had on the routing of major national tours; by comparison, the American Airlines Center may as well be The Lounge on Elm Street.

1. Dorrough and the Increased Legitimacy of the D-Town Boogie. The local radio-centric rap scene was doing a commendable job of keeping local listeners interested in the output of local artists, thanks to the efforts of The GS Boyz, Lil Wil, B-Hamp and others. But those artists' songs, it seemed, were all a little gimmicky, each one preying on the instructional dance craze that was sweeping through local nightclubs. Then, out of nowhere, along comes a fresh-faced rapper named Dorrough, a Lancaster native with a song about, of all things, a car with a flashy paint job. A catchy song paired with a crisp, high-production video led to spins on BET, MTV and radio outlets around the country. A performance at the 2009 BET Hip-Hop Awards alongside Snoop Dogg only cemented Dorrough's rising-star status. Then, all of a sudden, "Ice Cream Paint Job" boasted 500,000-plus digital downloads, and The New York Times pronounced that the national hip-hop party had officially "landed in Dallas." Convenient timing too: With the NBA All-Star Game coming to town in, oh, about a month and a half, it seems we've only seen the tip of this iceberg.