Arizona
Meet 9 Arizona hip-hop artists anointed as essential by Bandcamp
Hip-hop legend Kurtis Blow emcees ‘The Hip Hop Nutcracker’ in Bethesda
“The Hip Hop Nutcracker” is a contemporary version of the Christmas classic that combines dynamic rap and breakdancing.
Fox – 5 DC
The music streaming platform Bandcamp has posted a story headlined “Desert Heat: Diving Into the Arizona Hip-Hop Scene.”
It begins with a shout-out to two local hip-hop veterans.
“The Copper State’s never really had a national breakout star,” Dash Lewis writes, “though Shug, an emcee signed to Def Jam in the 1990s, and Willie Northpole, who signed with Disturbing Tha Peace in 2007, both came close.”
The writer says Murkemz, “a charismatic young rapper from Phoenix with a dazzling smile and an animated voice, currently seems poised to garner a mainstream audience, thanks to the virality of his recent track ‘We Outside’ and an impressive appearance on Sway’s Universe.”
The story notes that Injury Reserve and Mega Ran have both amassed “substantial underground followings and positive critical reception, frequently packing mid-size venues around the country.”
For those tapped into Arizona hip-hop, Lewis argues, there’s “plenty of reason to be proud and passionate.”
The story then goes on to shine a spotlight on nine Arizona records well worth tracking down.
Lando Chill & The Lasso, ‘māyā. maia. Mayu’
Lando Chill & The Lasso’s second collaboration is hailed as “a beguiling slab of hip-hop, psych-funk and R&B,” “an excellent example of the spacious ‘Arizona sound’” and “an effortlessly listenable, rapturous EP that seeps through the speakers like an essential oil diffuser, offering a pleasant, exceptionally vibey 20 minutes.”
Psypiritual & Apetight, ‘Free God’
The writer explains that “Free God” is, in part, the result of the producer coming back from a trip to Japan with an array of obscure Japanese funk, jazz and pop records, which he “chopped, looped and warped” into “a trove of woozy, heat-dizzy beats” in Phoenix, sending the results to Tucson rapper Psypiritual.
“The resulting record,” Lewis writes, “is beautiful — breezy, bright, and as gently psychedelic as an Arizona sunrise” with lyrics that “examine heady topics like self-doubt, often disappearing into billowing clouds of weed smoke to escape the day-to-day challenges of existence.”
REY & DVOID, ‘Chipped Painted Pictures’
This one is hailed as “a great entry point to the highly talented, dizzyingly prolific TWELVOTWO collective,” “a real sonic feast” and “a deeply rewarding album” whose “trippy, three-dimensional beats are thick and drone-y, slowly uncurling like a snake on a warm rock, while REY raps in dense, elastic paragraphs.”
Injury Reserve, ‘Floss’
This entry begins with “No list of Arizona hip-hop albums is complete without at least one Injury Reserve record,” which is true. He chose “Floss,” Lewis writes, because it’s such a perfect introduction for the uninitiated, one that “perfectly showcases a group in the midst of a transformation, moving away from the Neptunes-indebted club bangers they started with to a more jittery punk energy, foreshadowing the all-out destruction they’d achieve with 2021’s ‘By The Time I Get To Phoenix.’”
RiTchie, ‘Triple Digits’
RiTchie with a T of Injury Reserve recorded “Triple Digits” as a solo record after the untimely death of Steppa J. Groggs while the future of the group was still uncertain. Lewis calls it “delightfully weird” while noting that “instead of the airiness present in so much Arizona rap, ‘Triple Digits’ is soupy, every sound slowly melting under the punishing desert sun.”
He also writes of RiTchie rapping with “a desperate, exasperated groan, as if the oasis within view keeps moving back a few feet.”
Halal Boys, ‘Black Blues Brothers’
Halal Boys’ second album, Lewis writes, “might be one of the oddest, funnest entries on this list,” noting that “the duo favors simple, hypnotic production untethered to a genre, but it all works — the bubbly synth-bap of ‘2 Days Before Juneteenth’ sits comfortably next to the churning flute trap of ‘FatLips.’”
Maze Overlay, ‘AZTECAZ’
Lewis calls this one “a shining star” in the north Phoenix rapper’s “vast body of work” spanning nearly two decades. He also says the record “leans into the trudging boom bap commonly associated with the Umbrella Collective and the Lynn, Massachusetts, scene (Maze frequently works with members of both), but with an Arizonan aesthetic.”
It’s also what Lewis describes as “a celebration of Arizona, packed with references to desert ecology, vision quests to the vortexes in Sedona and the cleansing rains of monsoon season.”
Grim Moses, ‘Skeletor’
Lewis writes that “much like frequent collaborator Maze Overlay, Grim Moses traffics in cerebral street rap… spitting hard-nosed raps over dusty, greyscale beats” while “rapping in a cold monotone that feels like holding eye contact for too long.” The album’s “heavy vibe,” he writes, “sounds almost post-apocalyptic, recasting the arid Sonoran Desert as a frozen tundra.”
Cash Lanksy, ‘Man of the House’
This Tucson rapper’s debut was singled out as “a grown, soulful take on the Arizona sound, much more indebted to the region’s reverence for lowrider oldies” with songs that “seem built for when the car show or park hang winds down, when brown liquor splashes into cups and lawn chairs sag with the weight of years.” It’s a “meditation on aging,” Lewis writes, “reaching back into his memories to assess the arc of his life so far” at times while offering “a stark take on existentialism, acknowledging that each choice one makes is a fork in the road.”
Ed has covered pop music for The Republic since 2007, reviewing festivals and concerts, interviewing legends, covering the local scene and more. He did the same in Pittsburgh for more than a decade. Follow him on X and Instagram @edmasley and on Facebook as Ed Masley. Email him at ed.masley@arizonarepublic.com.
The Arizona man known as the “QAnon Shaman” said Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s new Anti-Weaponization Fund is an abuse of power by a would-be “king.”
Jacob Angeli-Chansley – the face of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot with his red, white and blue face paint and horned fur headdress – denounced the $1.776 billion program as a “slush fund” for Trump to reward his loyalists.
The Justice Department announced the fund on Monday as part of a settlement with Trump, who had sued the IRS for $10 billion over the leak of his tax returns. The settlement included an assurance that the IRS will drop all audits and claims for back taxes against Trump, his family and businesses.
“You think I’m gonna take a f—ing dime from Trump and the government after he’s using this thing to cover him and his family in perpetuity for all of their crimes?” he told Cronkite News by phone. “You think I’m gonna take a dime of that blood money?”
Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people who participated in the Jan. 6 riot the day he returned to the White House in January 2025. Many had been convicted of assaulting police officers.
Cronkite News reached out to 17 of those defendants with Arizona ties. None besides Angeli-Chansley responded.
Thirteen were convicted or pleaded guilty to crimes related to the attack. Four of the cases were dismissed after the pardon. The charges included assault on federal agents, physical violence at the Capitol and seditious conspiracy.
See our previous coverage of the Anti-Weaponization Fund and “QAnon Shaman” in the video player above.
Angeli-Chansley pleaded guilty to a charge of obstruction of an official proceeding. He served 27 months of a 41-month sentence. He was released from federal prison in March 2023.
During the riot, he carried an American flag fastened to a spear and used a bullhorn to call other rioters to the dais in the Senate chamber.
“He stated that ‘Mike Pence is a f—-ing traitor’ and wrote a note on available paper on the dais, stating, ‘It’s Only A Matter of Time. Justice Is Coming,’” according to prosecutors.
At a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing Tuesday, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the compensation fund, saying it will be open to anyone victimized by a politically motivated prosecution, not just Jan. 6 defendants.
“It’s not limited to Republicans. … It’s not limited to the Biden weaponization. It’s not limited to, in any way scope or form, January 6 or to (targets of special counsel) Jack Smith. There’s no limitation on the claims,” Blanche said.
He rejected Democrats’ assertions that the fund is a massive, taxpayer-funded attempt by Trump to whitewash the assault on democracy.
“I think it’s telling that everybody on the left and … the liberal side of the media immediately says it’s a slush fund for President Trump’s friends,” Blanche said. “If anything else, that’s an outright admission that they know that the people that really had this Department of Justice weaponized against them were President Trump and his friends. But … that is not what the AG order that I signed yesterday says.”
Blanche, who served as Trump’s private attorney in several cases – prosecutions over election interference and classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago and allegations of hush money paid to an adult actress ahead of the 2016 election – faced strong criticism from Senate Democrats.
“You are acting today like the president’s personal attorney and that’s the whole problem,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who also noted that a huge banner with Trump’s portrait was draped over the front of the Department of Justice building in February.
At a homeland security committee meeting Tuesday, Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego called for legislation barring establishment of a fund of the sort proposed by the Trump administration.
He called it outrageous to provide compensation to “traitors who attacked the Capitol.”
“No president, Republican or Democrat, should be able to use the federal treasury as a personal checkbook,” he said.
Angeli-Chansley now refers to himself as the “American Shaman.” He was heavily involved in the QAnon movement, which centered on a conspiracy theory that Trump was fighting a cabal of Satan worshippers who engage in child sex trafficking.
He was a strong MAGA supporter when the pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, interrupting congressional certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.
Angeli-Chansley has since become disenchanted with Trump. He has also repudiated the QAnon movement.
In a rambling phone conversation with Cronkite News, he repeatedly cited Trump’s connections to Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy financier and convicted sex offender who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting federal trial for trafficking young women and girls for sex.
He reiterated his anger with Trump for resisting the release of the Epstein files.
And he criticized Trump for attacking Iran and supporting Israel, among other things.
Angeli-Chansley sued Trump for $40 trillion in September 2025, asserting he is the true leader of the free world and vowing to use the sum to wipe out the national debt. The lawsuit was dismissed. He later filed a lawsuit against the CIA, FBI, World Bank and others in Maricopa County.
He urged fellow Jan. 6ers to “reject that … money.”
If courts allow the fund to operate, Angeli-Chansley said, it would mean that Trump “can do whatever it is that he wants.”
Teacher unions call for board member’s resignation after ‘Nazi salute’
Teacher unions call for District Boardmember Kimberly Fisher’s resignation after she made a “Nazi salute” during a public meeting on May 26, 2026.
Provided by Deer Valley Unified School District
School teacher unions are calling for the resignation of a Deer Valley Unified School District board member after she made a “Nazi salute” and said “heil’ at the end of a public meeting on May 26.
Boardmember Kimberly Fisher stretched out her arm, making the salute motion and repeating the word “heil” twice after the board president called for a vote to adjourn the meeting.
Fisher defended her actions in a Facebook video after the meeting, stating she made the gesture because she felt that the board had been under a “dictatorship” led by Board President Paul Carver and the district’s superintendent.
“All I could think of tonight was Hitler, so that’s why I said heil or whatever,” Fisher said in an eight-minute-long video.
Prior to the motion, Fisher and the board members were speaking on scheduling future meetings to discuss changes to district boundaries. Superintendent Curtis Finch stated they could not discuss the topic because it was on the meeting’s agenda. Then Carver quickly called for a vote to end the meeting, which prompted Fisher to make the salute.
The board members did not immediately react or acknowledge Fisher’s salute at the May 26 meeting.
This was not the first time Fisher has recently come under scrutiny. In October, she was slammed with a violation of Open Meeting Law by the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, The Daily Independent reported.
Fisher could not be immediately reached for comment.
How the community is reacting to Fisher’s Nazi salute
The local chapter of the Anti-Defamation League, an organization focused on advocating against antisemitism and hate, denounced Fisher’s use of the salute.
“We unequivocally condemn this behavior that glorifies Nazis and Hitler. Regardless of intent, these actions instill fear in the community and are unbecoming of officials entrusted with educating children,” said Sarah Kader, the deputy regional director of ADL Desert, in a social media post.
The Arizona Education Association and the Deer Valley Education Association are calling for Fisher’s resignation.
“Kimberly Fisher should apologize to the DVUSD community and step down,” the state union group wrote on X.
The local teacher union wrote in a Facebook statement that they were “horrified and disgusted” to see Fisher’s actions.
“Any leader who uses a Nazi salute during a School Board meeting is unfit for public service. There is no justification for this behavior,” the union wrote.
Boardmember Stephanie Simacek, in a statement, said “this is what antisemitism looks like when people get comfortable” and called for an “immediate censure.”
“I am calling for accountability. And I am calling on every parent, educator, and elected official Republican or Democrat — to stand up and say clearly: THIS HAS NO PLACE HERE,” she wrote in the statement.
Simacek is also a house member in the Arizona State Legislature and is running for a state senate seat.
She wrote, “What happened in that room was not a joke.”
The school district “does not condone, support, or endorse gestures or language associated with hate, discrimination, intimidation, or violence in any form,” said Kayla Pologa, a spokesperson for Deer Valley, in a written statement.
“As an elected official, Mrs. Fisher speaks and acts independently,” Pologa wrote.
She said Fisher’s views don’t reflect nor should be attributed to other board members or members of the school district.
Who is Kimberly Fisher?
Fisher has been a Deer Valley School District parent for 24 years, according to her biography on the district’s website. She had two children graduate from the district and her third is being homeschooled in his final year, her biography states.
She had previously served on the board from 2015 to 2018.
In 2017, Fisher was the school board president and was criticized for a social media exchange with a teacher.
She was reelected in 2020. Fisher’s current term ends in 2028.
Former Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, the Republican candidate for Congressional District 5, is facing new criticism following a recent report published by The Arizona Republic.
What we know:
The article cites unidentified sources who allege Lamb engaged in racist and homophobic text exchanges and sent inappropriate and threatening messages to women.
There are a few things working in Lamb’s favor, which are his name recognition combined with an endorsement from President Donald Trump.
Big picture view:
Analysts said it ultimately comes down to what voters decide at the ballot box.
“People have weathered worse,” Stan Barnes said.
Barnes is a political consultant and former Republican state senator. He points to other figures, like former President Bill Clinton and current President Trump, who both faced high-profile misconduct allegations.
“The American people said, all right, but we still want to vote for him, and Mark Lamb could be in the same situation,” Barnes said.
What they’re saying:
Lamb has largely kept quiet on the issue, a strategy Barnes said can work for candidates.
“He might decide, you know what? It’s salacious, it’s unprovable,” Barnes said. “A lot of people won’t believe it, people aren’t paying attention, and name ID and Trump endorsement’s going to carry me through.”
Inquiries were made to Lamb’s campaign. They responded with a statement, saying in part: “The Arizona Republic admitted that their article was based on a 10-year-old text from a person that couldn’t be located, or might not be a real person. Not exactly what one would call quality, independent journalism.”
However, the allegations could present challenges for his path to Congress.
The other side:
“The problem for Mr. Lamb and his candidacy is that his opponent will attempt to remind voters,” Barnes said.
Lamb’s Republican opponent, Daniel Keenan, spoke out against the former sheriff following the report.
“This story only adds to a pattern of disqualifying, disgraceful, and embarrassing behavior unbecoming of a congressman,” Keenan said in part.
Dig deeper:
Noble, a political data researcher, said the accusations could hurt Lamb with moderate voters.
“There’s really no strong candidates running in that primary because he’s cleared the field,” Mike Noble said. “It’s going to hurt him with women, it’s going to hurt him with independents, self-identified moderates, those that have a high school or less education.”
In a heavily Republican district, Noble said if the accusations gain traction, it could help the opposing party.
“It could potentially be fatal for him in the general election and actually give Democrats an opening in the general election, which normally they wouldn’t,” Noble said.
What’s next:
On the Democratic side, there are four people running in the primary for Congressional District 5. The primary election is scheduled for July 21.
The Source: This information was gathered from the article from The Arizona Republic, a political consultant and Lamb’s campaign.
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