Visible Planets (a nod to underground legends Digable Planets) was envisioned and created by Denver artist Dan Drossman in collaboration with notable New York City-based lyricist Homeboy Sandman. The three-day event is back for a much-anticipated — and expanded — sophomore season, with happenings at a trio of Denver locations from Friday, August 2, through Sunday, August 4. The two creatives behind the event admit they're still buzzing off last year.
"I don't know how [it] could have been better," says Sandman, a relentlessly productive MC who has long been a stalwart of the underground. "The energy in the room for the art show was fantastic, and it was all love and was really magical, and the energy in the room for the performances was the same way. ... The way it all came together, I was thinking, 'This is a ten.' And Dan, before the show was over, he was thinking, 'Who we gonna have here next year?'" "Last year was amazing," Drossman agrees. "It exceeded what I thought it could be. The artwork was amazing; the turnout for the art show was incredible. It was nice seeing fans come up and get to talk to [the artists]. ... And then the concert was just phenomenal."
In prepping the next installment, Drossman and Sandman know that any good sequel has to stand on its own two feet — ten toes down, if you will — so of course they're planning for it to be even bigger and better, as well as wider and more inclusive. In that regard, they've been greatly assisted by a new collaborator in the mix: the acclaimed Los Angeles musician and producer Georgia Anne Muldrow. She urged them to add a day to the schedule dedicated solely to giving back to the community, which has resulted in a free jam session and trade outpost on Sunday, August 4. Muldrow calls it Joyful Noise, an ongoing series that she has been hosting dedicated to music, art and community representation.
Opening night of Visible Planets 2023 included (left to right) Deca, Visible Planets' founder Dan Drossman, Quelle Chris, Homeboy Sandman, Isaac Sawyer, Blu, DJ Space.
Ashley Garrett Photography
Drossman says that watching what happens when artists switch up their format is key. "These rappers are so creative, and [they're] blurring the lines — it's just a different language," he says. "If they speak their voice in their music, it's gonna translate to the paper, the paint. ... If you really have a creative mindset, like all these guys do, it's gonna translate to everything. So the idea [is] to see, 'Oh, how would what they want to say translate to this?'"
The only exception to the "art-cats-that-also-rap" rule is Drossman's collaborator, Sandman. He's much more comfortable staying up on the stage than he is on the wall (the last time we spoke, he told us, "I'm not going to bring a knife to a gunfight"), but this year he came up with the perfect loophole: He brought aboard his sister, Natalie del Villar, an accomplished visual artist who has contributed several of his album covers.
"One thing that I really, really like about [Visible Planets] a lot is you could take your favorite rapper and ask them to draw a picture. And if your favorite rapper draws a picture, chances are you'll wanna look at it," Sandman says. "These people are all gifted visual artists, [even] if they never picked up a microphone, if they never made music or anything like that. ... Some people have said to me, 'Hey, you could make something and be down with this show,' but I ain't got it like that." He was, after all, the original sounding board and springboard for Visible Planets: If anyone believes in sticking to the concept, it's him.
"That's how I kind of snuck myself in there, on a technicality," he says. "I do the rapping, she does the art. ... She's been my favorite artist since I was a kid. ... It's great to be a teammate with her, [and] this is the first time we got to collab on something like this."
After Friday's opening, all of the works on display will move to the walls of the recently reopened El Jebel event venue during Saturday's concert. In another slight tweak from last year, the art will be available for purchase at either Bitfactory or El Jebel, which Drossman says qualifies as a work of art all by itself.
El Jebel is "wild," he says. "I guess it was an old Shriners temple. Man, it is one of the most beautiful places I've seen. The main ballroom is just so beautiful — I mean, the details. Part of it, when you're doing something like this, we want it to be unique and creative everything, not just a spot."
Just north of El Jebel is Benedict Fountain Park, where Muldrow will host Joyful Noise starting at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday. "It's really more than just a jam session; it's actually an experience," says the prolific singer and producer. "It's like performance art as a collective practice room, where we practice being 'we' and we flex our 'we' muscle."
At the freestyle event, Muldrow and members of the Visible Planets collective will be hanging out and jamming out; community members are invited to bring their own instruments and join in, or just listen and enjoy. It will also function as a free-trade outpost: Anyone is welcome to bring, trade or take as they need. Drossman has been busy stocking backpacks and other useful items for the event, buoyed by sponsors KGNU, Birdseed Collective, the Preservatory, Artist Proof Collective, Impresario and Ashley Garrett Photography.
"The idea is to bring joy, for people to be able to understand their value as a group — and that's what makes things beautiful, that we can have spaces where things aren't for sale," says Muldrow. "It's the experience of what happens when everyone's acceptable and everyone can be heard — and what happens when there's a microphone turned toward a community."
Muldrow was raised in an artistic environment by session-musician parents associated with L.A.'s St. Elmo Village collective. Later, she was mentored by pioneering sculptor John Outterbridge toward the end of his life. Her own visual art output thrives when interwoven with her music; she draws every day, using her lifelong tendency for extremely lucid dreaming as a road map. She also experiences creativity as synesthesia: For her, visual and auditory processes are "the same thing. ... The way my brain is wired up, my neuro-spice operates in a way where I hear sound in color and color in sound," she explains.
For Visible Planets, Muldrow is bringing paintings from her series "Omni Studies," which is "rendering ideas of the spirit, of the holy spirit in motion," she says, adding that the project represents "me just beholding the omni, beholding the everywhere-ness of god, beholding how the architecture of life is so complete. Us as people are tasked with surrendering to that fact." "Omni Studies" also deals with "aspects of light, of change, of remembrance and prayer. All the pieces are prayers." Muldrow's performance on Saturday will be closely related to the series, "exploring the textures of the prophetic realm."
She's an ideal collaborator for Denver's most exciting, format-smashing new hip-hop series; like Drossman, she believes that within creativity, everything is connected. "Spirit is color; it is sound," she says.
Muldrow concludes with a heartfelt plea for Denverites to "come and art out together, whether people wanna come out there and paint or come out there and sing.
"Come in and make the outpost a beautiful place that looks like Denver, instead of just what I've done to seed the space," she adds. "I just want it to take on a color of its own."
Visible Planets: Renowned Rappers and Their Visual Art, Friday, August 2, through Sunday, August 4.
Opening night: 6 p.m. Friday, Bitfactory Gallery, 851 Santa Fe Drive, free. Concert: 6 p.m. Saturday, El Jebel, 1770 Sherman Street, $35-$1,000 at eventbrite.com. Joyful Noise: 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Benedict Fountain Park, 401 East 20th Avenue, free.
