Check the visuals below for Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ tribute to the late Dave Niehaus. Click here for my weepy nostalgia trip.
(It pains me to think Ken Griffey Jr.’s subsequent injuries had anything to do with the gang-tackling/dog-piling he received at home plate after Gar’s game-winning double. I’m sure that’s an unreasonable conclusion.)
Check out the first drop of 2011 from State Of The Artist. “Chief Seattle” (prod. by Ski Team) is a re-up from the crew that brought you the best 2-0-6 party album of 2010. Will we see major growth from SOTA in the first year of the new decade? Only time will tell.
Click “Play” to listen to “Chief Seattle” by State Of The Artist. Click here for the D/L link.
Got-damn this track reminds me of a joint I heard years ago, but f-ck all if I can’t remember what it is. Something about the tone in that keyboard…Anyway, Scribes leaked this about a week ago. It’s the first track off his forthcoming LP, What Was Lost (dropping 2.4.11). Bean on the beat. JFK on the guest bars. Scribes sounds loose and ready to hang with the major SEA players, talkin’ about that age-old dilemma so many rappers (and any artists for that matter) face: “Wantin’ cheese/But I really want the songs that change/It’s the soul on the top of the game.”
Click “Play” to listen to “Monster” by Scribes f/JFK. Click here for the D/L link.
I was worried about getting this post up before it lost its relevance. But after I thought about it a while, I realized that, just like the man the song is about, it never will. This especially goes for fans of the Seattle Mariners like me who came of age with hip-hop and baseball at the same time Macklemore did.
While Mack’s vivid memory is of listening to games late at night in the garage with his father, mine is of sitting in the backseat of my parents’ Ford LTD station wagon, a big yellow whale of a car with the old school fold-down seats in the very back. It was an unusually hot Sunday afternoon in the San Juan Islands and my father had just bought my brother and I some 1989 Donruss wax packs from the local market (yes, I grew up in a rural part of Washington State where we didn’t have a grocery store, we had a “market”). The packs were the kind where the sealant invariably left a greasy residual stain on the unlucky last card in the package, and the extra prize inside was a team sticker that I habitually peeled and affixed to my school books.
I was twelve years old and my brother was nine and that was the day I first learned who Ken Griffey, Jr. was when, after pulling the card pictured above from one of the packs, my dad instructed me to, “Hold onto that one right there, he’s going to be a great player.” Dave Niehaus’ voice was coming through on the car’s AM radio. Most likely he was trying to find the brighter side of yet another Mariners loss, and I probably wasn’t thinking as much about the game as the cards in my hands, my pre-adolescent, corduroy-shorted legs sweaty and stuck to the car’s cheap viny upholstery. In retrospect, it was a perfect day and one of very few that I remember so vividly.
Two days ago, as I sat on a New York City subway commuting to work, over two thousand five hundred miles away from my hometown, nestled deep into the cold Northeast winter, I listened to “My Oh My,” Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ tribute to the late voice of the Mariners, on my iPod. And, though light years away from that hot sunny day on Lopez Island, I returned there again in my mind. And I nearly choked up, right there in the subway car. In the hardest city in America.
And therein lies the great value of sports. Of what are otherwise just collections of trivial games and waxy pieces of cardboard. I’ve come to realize that, even though I love baseball, it’s not the actual innings or the people who play them that ultimately matter. It’s the unbreakable bonds they form to a simpler time and a youth that can’t be relived. Bonds of fathers to sons (and daughters). And of grown-up children to their homes.
Click “Play” to listen to “My Oh My” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. Click here for the D/L link.
I jacked this photo from BFA's website. So sue me.
Brothers From Another (BFA) found time between college courses to drop this brief and very dope EP, Two Weeks Vacation. TWV marks the third EP release from Breez and Goonstar all of which can be copped for free at their website, here. These dudes are young but have already mastered the art of don’t-try-to-do-too-much, aka. be-who-you-are, aka. stay-in-your-motherf-ckin-lanes. If they remain linked for the long run, expect even greater things.
Streaming below is a track off the EP called “Midnight Special” which features Vitamin D (!!!). Witness how BFA hang with one of the SEA’s greatest of all time. The fact that they actually sound like they belong on a track with the OG Vita is one hell of a statement.
Click image for D/L link
Click “Play” to hear “Midnight Special” by Brothers From Another feat. Vitamin D. Hit the image above for the whole damn album.
As a hip-hop and baseball obsessed youth, I constantly formulated Top 10 Lists. Athletes, shoes, songs, movies — if it was rate-able, I was Top 10’in it, practically weekly. This is probably why 206UP.COM’s year-end list is my favorite post to write. Last year I waxed not-so-poetically on how, in 2005, Seattle’s underground rap scene single-handedly renewed my faith in the music. This year my affinity for Town rap became even tighter knit.
The albums, songs, free downloads, and videos that originated strictly in Seattle were enough to keep my hip-hop appetite satisfied through the whole year. Not to say excellent new albums by nationally known artists (Big Boi, The Roots, Kanye West, etc.) weren’t heavy on my playlist, or that the underground movements in other cities weren’t relevant. It’s just that hip-hop in the 2-0-6 is so grown now, more than it’s ever been, and the voices, perspectives and spectrum of sounds in our Town are talented and diverse enough to keep my ears fully attuned.
While there were some glaring omissions in 2010 (the new Physics LP being the most significant, for me), there were some other big advancements and unexpected surprises:
The emergence of La (formerly known as Language Arts) as a force to be reckoned with (at least on wax). This cat blew through like a Northeaster on his two LP’s, Gravity and Roll With The Winners, spitting outlandish braggadocio unlike any other rapper in town.
Two career-defining performances by Blue Scholars. The first was at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City, which I wrote about, here. At this show, the Scholars proved to the hip-hop world that they could hang in the Mecca, legitimizing their voice on a whole new level. (Macklemore’s opening performance was definitely notable, too.) The other show folks were buzzing about was the City Arts music festival performance at The Paramount, the first time a local hip-hop group rocked the venerable theater’s stage. Blue Scholars made history, nationally and locally, with these two shows.
This year also saw artists better known for their previously established collaborative endeavors break out with successful new excursions. JFK and Onry Ozzborn both dropped excellent LP’s independent of their legendary Grayskul partnership — JFK on the straight-up solo tip and Onry Ozzborn in collaboration with Chi-town producer Zavala. RA Scion reinvented himself with his Victor Shade project with producer MTK. And Gabriel Teodros and Amos Miller connected in Brooklyn, forming the impromptu collab Air 2 A Bird after being rebuffed in London on the eve of their world tour.
But enough with the recap. The following list represents what 206UP.COM sees as the best Seattle hip-hop albums of the year. There was no real science to compiling the list and, when it comes down to it, these things are matters of pure conjecture, subject to debate and relentless criticism of the people who made them (which this blog always welcomes, by the way). Enjoy the list and Happy New Year!
Honorable mentions:
JFK – Building Wings on the Way Down
LaRue – Saturn Returns
Avatar Young Blaze – Russian Revolution Mixtape
10. State of the Artist – SeattleCaliFragilisticExtraHellaDopeness
The album equivalent of a 2-0-6 hip-hop houseparty, by design SeattleCal wasn’t exactly an official debut LP for State of the Artist, but a showcase for much of the talent in the city. The three SOTA emcees were consistently outshone by their guests and a lot of times the lyrics didn’t seem to make any sense. As strictly a party album, however, there wasn’t one better.
9. Victor Shade – Victor Shade
The re-birth of RA Scion as the rap superhero Victor Shade saw a major shift in musical tone, but not a dramatic change in delivery or aesthetic. RA’s lyrics are still dense as hell and require close examination on paper in order to understand their meaning. It all sounded great, however, over MTK’s knocking production. RA Scion (aka. Victor Shade) remains the most professorial battle rapper in Seattle.
8. Air 2 A Bird – Crow Hill
A soaring achievement considering the bare-bones tools Air 2 A Bird (Gabriel Teodros and Amos Miller) had to work with when making this album in Brooklyn. In its creation, Crow Hill captured the very essence of hip-hop: eloquent poetics, masterful improvisation and a revolutionary spirit (albeit on a quieter and more reserved scale). This album proves that hip-hop executed with class and panache can be just as effective as the bombastic variety.
7. La – Roll With The Winners
This “debut” album from the emcee formerly known as “Language Arts” featured expert throwback production by an unknown producer named Blu-Ray, whose heavy soul sampling sounds like The Alchemist on his most nostalgic day. The highlight, though, was La’s take-no-prisoners lyrical work. Hearing raw talent like this is akin to watching Allen Iverson play basketball for the first time. At this stage in his career La is still all fearless potential, but on paper he might already be the most technically sound rapper in the city.
6. Helladope – Helladope (aka Return to Planet Rock)
Helladope’s Tay Sean is far too young a cat to be making music with this much soul and expert tribute to the R&B and funk of yesteryear. Still, he accomplished the feat with ease. Along with emcee/vocalist Jerm, Helladope’s debut album offers a fresh take on the P-funk/G-funk rap amalgamation that originated in Southern California in the early 90’s. The sound is updated here with extraterrestrial gimmickry that amuses but isn’t essential to the album’s vibe.
5. J. Pinder – Code Red EP
This star-studded EP by Seattle ex-pat J. Pinder had a professional sheen equal to most major label releases. And it was free, to boot. Unsurprisingly, the folks who built the foundation of Code Red are either consummate hip-hop professionals or quickly on their way: Vitamin D, Jake One and Kuddie Fresh, among others. Pinder’s easy flow and accessible subject matter made this album easy to ride for.
4. Dark Time Sunshine – Vessel
Vessel exists in the same category as the number two album on this list, The Stimulus Package. The lyrical work is quintessential Onry Ozzborn (here reborn as Cape Cowen) but the production is a masterful concoction of headphone-oriented beats that only a cold soul from Chicago could assemble. Producer Zavala cultivates a terrain of rich electronica that feels organic, as if grown and harvested with the precision of robot farmers. The most sonically progressive SEA hip-hop album this side of Shabazz Palaces’ 2009 masterpiece.
3. Jake One & Freeway – The Stimulus Package
At first consideration it seemed strange to include this release featuring an emcee so deeply associated with the city of Philadelphia. Fifty percent of the album artist credit is from Seattle though so how could it be excluded? The obvious truth is Jake One had as much (if not more) to do with the quality of The Stimulus Package as Freeway. Jake has a knack for creating fresh ideas while staying inside the bounds of traditional boom-bap. Stimulus is his best and most cohesive collection of beats, ever.
2. Candidt – Sweatsuit & Churchshoes
Candidt’s long-delayed Sweatsuit & Churchshoes is a refreshing and dynamic package of West Coast B-boy rap. Every local young buck in the game should take this album as the new hip-hop gospel for the way it connects Old School and New. Candidt doesn’t sound like anyone else in the city and his willingness to experiment with new sounds while keeping strict West Coast principles earns SS&CS major props.
1. Def Dee & La (fka. Language Arts) – Gravity
Producer Def Dee caught lightning in a bottle with his masterful production work on this album. Gravity pays direct tribute to NYC Golden Era boom-bap and is unapologetic in its revivalist ideology. It also manages to sound fresh and timeless, however, and is the most musically cohesive album of these ten. Emcee La officially established himself as one of the best rappers in the city. He plays it cooler than on his proper solo debut, Roll With The Winners, but that’s because the music requires him to. Gravity stands firmly to the side of Seattle’s so-called “Third Wave hip-hop,” a position that’s especially important to the purist set. All the current innovation in local rap is a great thing, but so is the creation of more traditional forms like Gravity. It reminds everyone that hip-hop made in our isolated corner of the map is inextricably linked to the region of its genesis.
The world is round and we’re not really driving it. So says Air 2 A Bird in their debut video for “Let’s Ride.” The brainchild of Gabriel Teodros and Amos Miller, Air 2 A Bird was the result of a serendipitous (if not totally unexpected) unification of the two artists in Brooklyn, when original plans would have had them circumnavigating that previously referenced world. SEA hip-hop is all the better for it. Peep their fly game:
There is a street called “Broadway” in Tacoma. To my knowledge it’s not as major as the one running through Capitol Hill. EvergreenOne, John Crown, Gazmo, and Fice make it sound that way, however, on this remix to the legendary Seattle track of the same name.
(My favorite part is when John Crown brags about his Red Wings costing more than Jordans. #RealTacomaTalk.)
Click image for D/L link
Click Play to listen to “Posse On Broadway (Remix)” by EvergreenOne, John Crown, Gazmo, and Fice. Click here for the D/L link.
It doesn’t really matter what winter holiday you celebrate, if any. (I happen to celebrate Christmas. My girl celebrates Hanukkah. My brother celebrates neither. Whatever, it’s all good.)
206UP.COM just hopes this finds you happy and surrounded by the people and music that you love. And with that, I’ll let Run DMC and the Peanuts gang take it from here…
Note: A Charlie Brown Christmas apparently came before the Peanuts crew added Peppermint Patty (a lesbian — okay, presumably), Franklin (a black kid) and Jose (a Mexican-Swedish kid — who knew??) to the mix. I love Peanuts, but would it have been too much to add an Asian kid? Just sayin’…
Never heard these cats until I caught wind of them over on Andrew Matson’s excellent Seattle Times blog, Matson on Music. Their brand of slacker/stoner/college dude rap would be tiring if it weren’t for the duo’s legitimate microphone skills and well-attuned ear to 90’s West Coast underground.
Check the entertaining clip for the break-up track, “Nothing At All” below, then download the crew’s free EP, SSHH!! at their Bandcamp space, here.
Click album cover for D/L link.
A SEATTLE HIP-HOP BLOG 