Azma Holiday is the the emcee/hypeman for U.S. Pipe, bringing a level of lyrical word play and raw hip hop energy to the genuine funk for which the Pipe is known. Born and raised in Denver, Colorado, Azma has been influenced by people like Curtis Mayfield, Gil Scott-Heron, The Last Poets, War, Nas, Jay-Z, and Parliament/Funkadelic.

Azma was dipped in the funk at an early age—his first encounter came when he and his older brother snatched one of their mother's records, Funkadelic's Electric Spanking of War Babies. Sneaking upstairs, they put the album on their brown-and-white Playskool record set, and what they heard scared the shit out them! But, as they continued to listen, they thought it was the best music they ever heard, and that's when they snatched the rest of the albums, and when Azma realized that he wanted to play music.

Azma got his first drum set when he was nine and he played it every day, thinking he was learning how to be a rock star, when the only thing he was learning was how to break a drum set! Drumming planted a seed that sprouted into more experimentation. He began singing around the house, trying to copy the tones of the legends whose records were all over the house. Azma joined his elementary school band when he was 11 to play the saxophone, but there was a problem with his discipline in learning the music. When he began to skip practice to go play the horn by himself in the garage, listening to the notes echo off of the walls, his mother found out about his non-attendance and she took the saxophone back. 

Disappointed, Azma went back to singing and listening to P-Funk records. Then, at the age of 12, he took matters into his own hands. By mowing lawns and shoveling walkways to raise his own money to use in his own way, he made enough to buy a keyboard, and that laid the foundation for his future musical endeavors.

At a friend's house two years later, he heard his friend's uncle rapping, and it caught his attention. Listening to his tone and the way the words flowed, Azma picked up on it immediately. He began practicing freestyling everyday and started to find other people with whom he could battle to see if he really had what it took. It seemed he did have talent, for everywhere he went he was smashing his competition, not only people his own age, but grown men as well.

At the age of 15, Azma met Chris “Citrus” Sauthoff at a P-Funk concert. At the time, he was too young to really get involved with what Citrus was doing, but somehow he knew that eventually he would be able to get to work with Citrus. Azma began working for Performance International, the company behind the AT&T Lodo Music Festival. Working for them gave him the opportunity to rub elbows with people like James Brown, Maceo Parker, Ziggy Marley, The Gap Band, Luther Allison, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, The Wallflowers, Sister Hazel, Hazel Miller, Johnny Clegg and many more. As a member of the transportation team, he was able to drive these artists to and from the airport as well as to their hotels and to their performance stages. Through this, Azma learned a lot about the industry and how it worked, which gave him insight about how to run his own musical projects. Just before ending his time with Performance International, Azma ran into Citrus again, this time at the coffee shop, Cosmic Crossings. Citrus played sitar at the shop, and he and Azma would talk about music and how dope it would be to get together and work on a couple of projects, but again, the timing wasn't quite right for the two to team up.

In 2002, Azma met producer and now friend, Zack “Status” Young. They decided to come up with dual CD, but they only completed about three songs before Azma got into some trouble and had to spend five months in jail. While in jail, Azma kept in close contact with Status and came up with a concept for the album, and by listening to new beats over the phone, Azma wrote the rest of the album on the inside. After finishing his time in lock up, Azma and Status got together and completed the album in a few months' time. The result was Gametime/You'll Know My Name. When the album dropped in 2003, it created a buzz unmatched in Denver at the time. The album sold more than 5,000 copies in its first five months of release with no major label support—all an effort of the work done by Azma and Status, and their friends and family. The album also received much critical praise: Ultrasound Magazine wrote, “Local music of this caliber is rare... Azma has a unique way of depicting the trials and tribulations that most of us have suffered through.”

In 2005, Azma had the privilege of making music for Prem Rawat, better known around the world as Maharaji. This rare opportunity confirmed Azma's ability to make things happen for himself without having to sell out to the corporate machine, which only cares about profits rather than the music itself. He also had the rare opportunity to do a few songs with Patty Greer-Roche, a harpist who has played all over the country.

Azma and Status continue to work together and started a record label, Cadava Records, which now has a roster of six emcees and two DJs. In 2006, Azma released his sophomore effort, Thru My Eyez, again with the help of Status. Once more they raised the bar for hip hop in Denver. The album has sold more than 7,000 copies so far, and has received rave reviews in Westword (“Both Azma and Status are on the rise”), Colorado Music Buzz, and Undastream Magazine. Azma's music has been featured on 93.3 FM KTCL's Locals Only show numerous times.

Since the release of Thru My Eyez, Azma has opened shows for Immortal Technique, Dead Prez, ILL BiLL, Jedi Mind Tricks, Non Phixion, Guru (from GangStarr), Tech N9ne, Nappy Roots, Slum Village, Saul Williams, R.A The Rugged Man, Too Short, Dilated Peoples, KRS-One, Coolio, Necro, Pep Love, Educated Figures, Zion-I, Opio (from Pharcyde), Outer Space, Riviera Regime, Guilty Simpson, Phat Kat, GZA, The Beatnuts, Critical Bill and Killah Priest. Azma is currently working on a new solo project as well as performing regularly with the Pipe. After 13 years of wanting to work on a project with Citrus, time has finally allowed him to rock out with the on-point, guitar-playing genius.

Clearly in a league of his own, Azma is talented, hungry and creatively driven. He has paid his dues and many consider him the best at what he does. Azma's experience, coupled with his “go get ‘em” attitude, will keep him rising to the top.

Venues Azma has played:

AT&T Lodo Music Festival (Denver, CO)
Sherpa & Yeti's (Breckenridge, CO)
Club 8150 (Vail, CO)
Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom (Denver, CO)
Fox Theatre (Boulder, CO)
Ogden Theatre (Denver, CO)
Oriental Theater (Denver, CO)
The Blank Slate (Tulsa, OK)
Gothic Theater (Denver, CO)
Herman's Hideaway (Denver, CO)
Herb's Hideout (Denver, CO)
Larimer Lounge (Denver, CO)
The Fillmore Auditorium (Denver, CO)
The Bluebird Theater (Denver, CO)
Mishawaka Amphitheatre (Bellevue, CO)
The Foundry (Boulder, CO)
Half Moon Grill & Saloon (Tyler, TX)
The Tugboat Grill & Pub (Steamboat Springs, CO)
Round Midnight (Denver, CO)
The Marquis Theater (Boulder, CO)
UC Berkeley (Berkeley, CA)
The Blue Mule (Denver, CO)
Crisolbal's (Denver, CO)