The hip-hop and rap artists that blare on radios, parade across TV screens and earn millions when their albums go platinum have changed the culture of music as we know it forever.
Hearing about bulletproof skin, a rough upbringing in the ‘hood and days spent locked up, it seems most hip-hop lyrics describe the artist’s life once lived – before the diamonds, Bentleys and bottles of Cristal.
But a lesser-known hip-hop duo, one whose skin is indeed white and whose upbringing found them in Springfield – not Compton, Brooklyn or Harlem – thinks today’s bling bling rappers “come a dime a dozen.”
Twenty-five-year-old Dusty Fuller and his younger nephew Josh want to prove to the hip-hop community that you don’t have to rhyme about guns, diamonds and cash; you can rap about the 541.
The area code, that is. The boys, better known as Dirty and Josh aka Drops, have lived in Lane County their whole lives, rapping at local venues and even hearing their sounds on the new radio station 94.9 Jamz.
This weekend, they open for bad boys Lil’ Wayne, Sean Kingston, Fat Joe and comedian Charlie Murphy at McArthur Court’s Gods of Hip Hop and Comedy tour.
This fortuitous position did not come easily to GreenState, the name the boys chose for their act as a dedication to Oregon. Last summer, established hip-hop groups in the area battled for the chance to perform at this event. The winner was determined by a decibel meter that tracked the noise fans made after each performance.
Ever since,

GreenState, whose sound has a typical West Coast feel, has been trying to gain recognition as rappers and cultivate the Northwest as a hip-hop haven.
“A lot of cats are coming out of the woodwork,” Dusty said. “We’re like oil rigs that haven’t been tapped.”
The duo’s strongest influences are early 1990s thugs Nate Dogg, Snoop Dogg and present-day Bay area gangsta E-40. Still, GreenState believes “there’s a handful of people who really deserve” to become discovered.
“Hip-hop has a strong impact on the world,” Dusty said. “It’s an honor to play with (the headliners), performing here at Mac Court where I’ve watched basketball games,” Dusty said. “We just try to stay humble…to keep it in perspective.”
Though GreenState hopes opening the event will promote their name, Dusty said he rhymes for a hobby and knows the fame may stop here.
“It’s therapy for me,” said Dusty, who has rapped for the last five years. “We rap about what we’re experiencing in that time of our lives. We just do us.”
[email protected]