Not every rapper is cut from the same mold and Waylon Clark " aka Daddy WarrBuckss " has taken one of the more unconventional routes to finding his flow in the Oklahoma City rap scene. The emcee's path began with a traveling troupe of bluegrass musicians.

"I grew up around music. My parents were in bluegrass, which is obviously another end of the spectrum, but my dad, my grandpa, my brother " they were all traveling while playing bluegrass music," Clark said. "That helped me because I have a wide spectrum of music I like, as well as understanding production and how to survive in the music industry."

Clark formed Freaksho with Chad Hoskins " aka DJ Sloppy " when he lived in Dallas. At first, the sole intention was to start a party rap group focused on having fun, regardless of where the members were playing or who might be in the crowd.

"Being at a show with a crowd that might not be used to hip-hop at that venue, they will still respond to it if it is fun," Hoskins said. "Even if hip-hop isn't your favorite type of music, you'll still enjoy the show because we do stupid stuff to keep it fun."

PALER APPEARANCE
It's become expected within the greater hip-hop community for white rappers to downplay the novelty of their skin color in hopes of being taken seriously. Clark and Hoskins are a bit more comfortable with their paler appearance and say crowds have responded to Freaksho's indifferent demeanor and their appearance as goofy guys who just have fun onstage.

"We are definitely something different," Clark said. "It's not every day you see two guys that look like us breaking out a hip-hop show, but we can blend in with about any crowd. We could do music festivals no problem; it's just all about having fun."

When the group formed in Dallas, it was mostly just to play the occasional house party or rap battle. The act called it quits after the members finished college. But earlier this year, a promoter eager to fill out a concert lineup asked Freakshow to re-assemble for a reunion show. The gig went over so well that Freaksho began booking two to three shows a week, and recently entered the studio to record an album ahead of a West Coast tour slated for January.

While many rappers focus their energy on Internet promotion, Clark said he's taken a tip from his traveling bluegrass family and hopes to build a following through live performances wherever Freaksho can book a show.

"Hip-hop is one of the most popular music forms out there and is what most kids are listening to these days. It's what people our age grew up listening to," Clark said. "There really is no viable hip-hop scene in Oklahoma City, but there are plenty of people that want to see fun hip-hop, party music."

Freaksho with The Rumor perform at 10 p.m. Friday at VZD's Restaurant and Club, 4200 N. Western. "Charles Martin