Rapper's delight
Local performer's thoughts on how to improve hip-hop scene

Greetings, dear readers! For this week’s “Between the Beats,” I sat down with local hip-hop artist Taylor Abasta, aka InFluSense. A direct descendant of Chief Manuelito – a chief of the Diné people during the period of the Long Walk – Abasta is from the Diné, Salish and Kootenai nations and has called Durango home for the past five years. Crediting popular Southwest hip-hop acts Wake Self and Def-I as major inspirations, Abasta is making waves in the global underground hip-hop community with his latest single, “Good Intentions.” It’s been featured in blogs as far away as Berlin while thousands of views stack up on his YouTube channel. Enjoy!

Where did you grow up?

I grew up on the Navajo Reservation in St. Michaels, Ariz. I lived in Phoenix and Montana in the summers. My dad was a journalist for the Arizona Republic. He exposed me to a lot of the punk scene in Phoenix. Authority Zero, Zia Records and all the DIY punk stuff like that. He would get press passes and take me to shows as a little baby. I was around music culture in general from a very young age.

How did you find your way to Durango?

I was going to Fort Lewis College for journalism and multimedia. I got kind of lost and didn’t know why I was paying for classes. I had a little bit of help from my tribe to pay for school, but that only lasted a semester. I found myself in the library reading a lot of books not related to my coursework. I ended up spending most of my time recording an album. Jon Lynch (KDUR programming director) helped me a lot. A long story short, I came out here six years ago for the Fort and dropped out, trying to find myself. It was either figure it out and stay in Durango, or move back to the rez.

Is there much musical community on the rez?

There was. My uncle was a big graffiti head, and he knew Def-I and Wake-Self from when they were eating spam burritos at my grandma’s house when I was 6 or 7. I’ve been rooted in this from the beginning.

Who are some of your musical mentors?

Definitely Def-I and Wake Self. They had a collective called Definition Rare. They were important figures in the Southwest hip-hop scene. Also, the punk scene has been very influential to me. My dad is kind of a mentor, too. I remember being in elementary school, if I ever got in trouble, he would make me write haikus about what I did wrong. I thought that was so corny back then, but I can see how it’s shaped me.

Tell us about InFluSense.

My digital media teacher in high school got me my first show in high school. We did homecoming rap battles and stuff like that. My producer is Ariano. He’s worked with Def-I and Wake Self. He produced an entire project for Def-I called “In the Meantime.” Way back in 2013, he did a couple songs with Wake Self. Sadly, Wake died (after he was hit by a drunk driver in 2019) before his album release party at Meow Wolf.

What’s the biggest difference between the New Mexico scene and the Colorado scene?

(Durango) is interesting. There’s little pockets of hip-hop. Musically speaking, the scene is very diverse. You have the Starlight open mic and jam bands and stuff like that. In my opinion, hip-hop is kind of lacking here. New Mexico is different. There’s a lot of resilience that comes from that area. We need more cross pollination for shows out here.

What’s coming up?

I’ve got my first show in Flagstaff. I want to release a single with a music video every month. I’m making those with Carlos Martinez who lives out in Aztec. I want to release the music right so that it gets to the right press. There’s a difference between dropping music and hoping it does something versus dropping music with the right promotion behind it.

Find Taylor’s music, video content and more on IG: @influsense.