"She's a rap artist—and she's pretty fucking dope."

December 8, 2011 2:57 PM

Meet Wheelchair Sports Camp, a "psuedo-hip-hop trio from Denver fronted by Kalyn Heffernan, a 56-pound wheelchair-bound badass emcee with CRIP LIFE tattooed on her stomach," who sometimes cover "My Vagina Ain't Handicapped."

Single page version of the main article. (It doesn't include the photos.)

10 songs from their "We Smell Funk" album can be heard on MySpace. 7 tracks from their album "Mixed Tapes" can be played on their Bandcamp site.

Additional links:

* Spin Magazine profile (by the same author as the Village Voice profile): Wheelchair-Assisted MC: 3 Feet High & Rising
* SXSW Promo Video and Travelogue: 1, 2 (March 2011)
* Interview from November 2010: Kalyn Heffernan of Wheelchair Sports Camp on rockin' the mike and making people think twice (The Westword is a sister paper to the Voice, whose profile they also wrote about.)

Videos (all youtube):

* YouTube Channel
* At NYU, October 2010.
* At the No Barriers Summit 2011 in Winter Park, Colorado, July 2011.
* Short interview at No Barriers

posted by zarq (9 comments total)

This post seems to have some commenting kryptonite. Here's what I think is the original Vagina Ain't Handicapped.
posted by snofoam at 4:04 PM on December 8, 2011 [1 favorite]

(Also, good for her. She's out there doing creative things living life.)
posted by 2bucksplus at 4:29 PM on December 8, 2011

Awesome. Thank you.
posted by schyler523 at 4:51 PM on December 8, 2011

The Single Page link opens a print dialogue on desktop computers. I normally put a warning in, but only just realized. Apologies, folks.
posted by zarq at 5:11 PM on December 8, 2011

Mod note: Leave the gross YouTube comments on YouTube please? Thank you.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:01 PM on December 8, 2011 [2 favorites]

Of course, the Helen Vendler of hip-hop critics would probably object to having this anthologized, especially at the expense of including seminal Public Enemy tracks.
posted by snofoam at 8:30 PM on December 8, 2011 [1 favorite]

I love this so fucking much. Thank you for posting this.
posted by spinifex23 at 11:29 PM on December 8, 2011

Good for her! She threw in the "get up get out" reference so I had to comment. She doesn't have much rhythm but I give her credit for putting herself out there and getting on stage. She's not fucking dope at all, but she could get there if she keeps at it. Her lyrics are too unfocused and the beats are holding up most of the track. Cold Steel is probably her best of the stuff I listened to. She can definitely flow (at least on this track), which is something that a lot of people have a problem understanding.
posted by cashman at 8:19 AM on December 9, 2011

She can definitely flow

I didn't wanna go there in the context of a rhyme about the extent to which a vagina may or may not be handicapped.

Great post though.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 6:56 AM on December 10, 2011