After SXSW, Rapper KNDRX Is Thinking Big

"This is a fantasy factory for musicians," says Cory Kendrix, the Denver producer, rapper, DJ and MC who performs as KNDRX.

He's standing inside the Breaker Boyz Krüe space off South Platte River Drive, where his recording studio, Krue Studios, is located. The full-time musician says he spends nearly all his time here, whether it's making beats or hanging out with the bikers in the adjacent body shop. The only time he's not around is when he has his eight-year-old son. "I don't bring him here except for special occasions," Kendrix says. "It's a very adult space."

That's accurate. While the spot's biker-bar origins are evident in the Harleys parked along one wall and the full bar, the stage, PA system, recording studio and bongs show that it's a musician's playground. "It was called Platte River Studios when we acquired it" three years ago, Kendrix says, explaining that the owner, Benny Brappo, "added the bar and the bike shop. Metallica used to rehearse here and stay here whenever they came to Denver."

The eventual goal for the Breaker Boyz Krüe and Krue Studios is to turn the space into a collective, where they can hold private parties and concerts, as well as offer recording sessions, podcast production and more. Brappo met Kendrix through mutual friends, and after he saw the rapper recording at a friend's house, he invited him to use his studio in exchange for teaching him how to deejay. Kendrix has been making beats there ever since.
"Breaker Boyz Krüe is kind of the collective of all the bikers — that's how it started," Kendrix explains. "And then Benny was like, 'I have a studio, and I've been really wanting to get into production, and you're a monster. I'd love to have you come in and teach me in exchange for the space.' And I was like, 'Well, yeah, let's set this up and let's bring in talented people and build a collective of artists.' So we've just been here, cooking it up."

Kendrix does the production engineering for his own music, and has been offering that work for artists who come record at Krue. "Right now it's a pretty small collective. I'm the face of it, just because of the success I've been having right now," he says. "We have an artist named Lily Nova, a super-talented R&B artist. We have Nuke Bushner — he's a very dope country artist" who was on the fourteenth season of American Idol.

There's no genre limit, Kendrix emphasizes: "Myself, I'm very versatile."

Along with studio manager Josh Zaepfel, the Breaker Boyz Krüe is launching a podcast. They've filmed and recorded three episodes so far, with content running a gamut of topics, from porn stars to cannabis, sports and art. "I'm building out everything to go public with a website and that marketing," Zaepfel says. "Because we will do private events here, and with the tour bus being here, it's going to be live here, too. If a group does come in to record, we can use that as a green room. And we'll rent it out privately, too, like if a group of friends wants to go to Red Rocks, they can use it and go party."

While the collective vision needs some refining, Breaker Boyz Krüe is mostly relying on the clout and talent of Kendrix for its success. "I'd always done music. When I lived in Austin, when I was 21, 22, 23, I had a management deal with a big label, Rap-A-Lot Records. We would travel all over the country with Yelawolf, the Cool Kids, Curren$y and all these rappers that I aspire to be like," Kendrix recalls.

After that deal ended, Kendrix moved to Denver during the Green Rush, after cannabis was legalized. He had already made a name for himself in Austin, where he still returns to perform at shows and festivals such as SXSW. He was one of the five Mile High musicians selected to play the iconic fest this past summer, but his time in Austin has kept him from immersing himself in Denver's own hip-hop scene.

"I tried a few group efforts here when I first got out here, and it just always kind of fizzled out. So I just kind of buckled down and doubled down on myself," he explains. "I had a real nice run in Austin at that early age, and we were kind of the forefront of the hip-hop scene there. ... But you do the local scenes so much you just feel like your wheels begin to turn over and over. We've done all the opening shows for everybody, and I just like a change of scenery to switch it up. So when I came out here I kind of stayed away from the local scene, because I didn't want to get into the same thing.

"I know a lot of people out here; it's nothing personal or anything," he emphasizes. "I just want to do my own thing. I don't play a lot of Denver shows, but when I do, they're usually bigger shows and I'm more selective about what I play. But I do do a lot of touring nationally."
His Austin connections have helped him maintain some presence in the local scene, however rare. A friend from Rap-A-Lot booked him to deejay ahead of Conway the Machine's show at Cervantes' in 2018, and Kendrix will perform there again along with Conway, Denver rapper ReSrface, Sauce Walka and Jae Skeese on Wednesday, September 13. "Then I'll probably go to L.A. and do four or five dates after that," he says. "Last summer I did my own headlining tour. Obviously, I'm not a national name yet, so it's a little bit more of a struggle tour. But it was very successful. We had a great turnout. ... But this summer has been more of a release summer than a touring summer for me."

And the releases have been successful. Kendrix was featured on Conway the Machine's album Drumwork the Album on the opening track, "HOV Numbers," which debuted at number one on the iTunes hip-hop charts. He's also been working on his upcoming album, Wish You Were Here, which Kendrix has been putting out as a "waterfall release," he says, one track at a time. "It's nice because there isn't a label anymore...so I can actually choose how I want to market it more, with more of a creative, releasing-side control that I haven't had before."

He's releasing tracks independently in partnership with Green Solutions owner Brad Speidell. "I actually used to work for Green Solutions when I first moved out here as a budtender," he says. "He saw I got a record deal, and we just stayed in touch, and then he was like, 'We should get you out of that deal and we should do our own thing.' So that's kind of what we did. I completed my deal with Davies Entertainment, and now we're working together."
Kendrix released the single "Don't Love Me" in April, which features a collaboration with local rapper They Call Him AP. Another recent single, "Me, Myself, and I," has already gained more than 300,000 listens on Spotify, and more on other platforms. Combined with his most recent release, "PLP," he's amassed more than 400,000 listens for his new songs on Spotify alone. That's a great vote of confidence for Kendrix, who wants to push toward more widespread fame.

He's already crossed several milestones. His album Gumbo, which he released in 2021 when he was part of the label Davies Entertainment, charted at number eight on iTunes for hip-hop, and was even highlighted on a billboard in Times Square.

"I called it Gumbo because that's a collective of ingredients together to make a beautiful dish," Kendrix says, referencing his love for all genres. "I'm leaning into that, I guess. I could do a little bit of everything and people will accept it. There's something for everybody."

Last year, he truly felt at home when he was invited to Electric Lady Studios in Brooklyn, where he met Madlib, the producer known for his collaborations with MF Doom, J Dilla and Freddie Gibbs. "At first I was like, 'Damn, this is crazy.' And then you just kind of get to the point like, 'No, I should be here — it feels like it's happening,'" Kendrix recalls.

"The milestones on the horizon for me — I just want Grammys, and I just want the music to really have a reach, because I feel like there's a lot of good messages that's therapeutic to people," he concludes. "I want to keep pushing, I want to sink deals, I want to grow. ... It's definitely not local success. I'm definitely thinking bigger."

KNDRX, at Cervantes' Other Side, 2635 Welton Street, 7 p.m. Wednesday, September 13. Tickets are $30.