Bars, beats, Blackcaveman

New to Columbia, an experimental musician expands his knowledge of the local music scene while growing in popularity.

BY SAM WILLS

Keshawn McCoy, who performs under the name Blackcaveman, moved to Columbia in May 2022 to be closer to friends and get a fresh start in music. At first, that meant standing on a downtown street corner to promote his work.

“The sign is still in my car that says ‘I make music, go stream my music,’ ” McCoy says. “I had 20 to 30 CDs that I would just try to give out.”

His musical career has been one of fits and starts as he moved from his home state of New Mexico to Colorado and now to Missouri. For years, his focus had been football, and he had a scholarship to play at Eastern New Mexico University, where he played for a season. But music runs in the family. His dad, Michael McCoy, who is a rapper in Albuquerque, taught him how to rap and encouraged him to experiment with line delivery. “He would just have me freestyle at the table sometimes,” McCoy says. “He would take me to the studio when I was like 4 or 5 years old. He would write these little verses for me, and I would rap them.”

Also known as Blackcaveman, Keshawn McCoy has released over 150 songs in the past five years.

McCoy’s dad encouraged him to write more of his own material as he got older, but none of those high school flirtations with music were serious. That changed in college. “Once I got to college and found that my homie had a dorm room with this whole studio, that kind of just gave me access to making music,” McCoy says. “I ended up making a song by accident. It’s kind of embarrassing because it’s like a Lil Pump (song).”

McCoy released 37 songs while living in New Mexico and 76 songs while living in Colorado. “Songs are just moments that are frozen in time,” McCoy says. “Gotta live more to make more music.”

New kid on the block

McCoy was encouraged to move to Columbia by his high school football teammate Nicholas Horton. That’s when he started putting more effort into sharing his music. He made TikToks, posted on Instagram and even handed out promotional cards in places such as Lakota Coffee Company.

“Keshawn does a good job with networking,” says Horton, who also makes

HAVEN’T HEARD?

All of McCoy’s released songs can be found on Amazon, Spotify or Apple Music. Listen to albums it’s too rainy for trap, blackcaveman and is anyone listening?, his latest release.

his own music under the name Ghost and does videography for McCoy.

But McCoy admits he’s still figuring out how the Columbia music scene works, which has been frustrating at times. “I almost quit music a couple weeks ago because I had a mental breakdown because things aren’t moving, things aren’t happening,” McCoy says.

McCoy has released 39 songs since moving to Columbia, and his musical stylings have shifted to more of a punk focus. His latest album release, is anyone listening?, reflects this change. “I feel like rock music has a lot more emotion,” McCoy says. “The main thing for me is even though I can explain my feelings to you, if I can sing and allow you to feel what I’m feeling, that’s way more important.”

This has created another challenge — finding collaborators to perform this new style. He currently supplements vocal tracks with instrumentals from YouTube, but he also makes his own beats and is learning to play guitar. “I want to perform,” McCoy says. “I’m also self

by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken

conscious because I don’t have a band yet. Who’s going to want a weird rock instrumental with no band?”

Exploring music styles

Hunter Middleton is a local DJ and mixer who’s been working with McCoy on new music. “Even though we don’t make the exact same music, we can still take inspiration from each other,” Middleton says. He helps McCoy make connections in the local music scene, taking him to the KCOU recording studio and the venue PDM to watch local punk bands.

Middleton says McCoy has potential to explore more genres outside of rap and rock. “I could see Key releasing a primarily electronic bass track that he’s singing vocals over,” Middleton says.

What keeps McCoy going are the connections he’s making. “I think the people that I have met in my journey here so far have been authentic,” he says. “People I know aren’t afraid to be themselves. Columbia makes me feel like I’m doing the right thing.”

by Idris Goodwin Directed by Brandon Riley