Posters of Notorious B.I.G., Tupac, Bone Thugs ‘N Harmony, Paul Wall and other rapper success stories hang on the walls. A parental advisory sign hangs above a closet big enough for maybe four winter coats. Inside it are a microphone and a man wearing a headset, the wires running to an expansive computer bay and 20,000 worth of recording equipment. This is Beatdown Productions, one of the epicenters of Casper’s underground rap scene.

Yes, the City of Casper — 94 percent white, median age about 37, home of rodeos and Lou Taubert’s and the Code of the West — has rappers. You won’t hear their tracks on the local radio stations. The bars don’t play them. The few shows in town top out at about 200 people. What they have are big ideas, immodest goals and dreams of the big break that will bust them out of the underground. “The majority of the town has no clue,” says James, CEO of Beatdown Productions.

“There’s a very small percentage of people who know what’s really going on around here — with music, with underground music, with music just in general. Especially rap, R&B.” But what if the entire West knew what was going on? What if four Wyoming guys whose musical horizons extend barely beyond their MySpace pages got an opportunity in front of thousands? April 14 They slide in unison, stepping and throwing hands in each other’s direction.

It is the job of Shairon Goins and Carrie Mayne to put dance moves to music that is temporarily turning the 9th Street rental into Sidelines Junior. “Then … we … circle … each … other … ” Shairon says and writes a move down in her notebook. Carrie wears a hooded shirt slung low over her face. About a minute into the song, she pulls it off as part of a planned, slow reveal.