We don’t post a lot about shows here at 206UP, but I thought this warranted a special mention: Blue Scholars will be headlining a skate and BMX event sponsored by the Tacoma-based ramp surface company Skatelite. The engagement is called The Retreat and it’s going down this Saturday, August 17, on idyllic Lopez Island (of the famed San Juan Islands in the very upper upper left corner of the map).
DJ Sabzi and MC Geo of Blue Scholars
The Retreat is being billed as a relaxing getaway; an opportunity to hang out, eat food, drink beer, and chill with Seattle’s favorite hip hop duo and a grip of the world’s top skate and BMX athletes. For real, though, I’m not even into “action sports” and I recognize some of these names: Mat Hoffman, Bob Burnquist, Bucky Lasek, etc. Go here for more information and to book your transportation.
The San Juan Islands.
So why the special post, you ask? It’s because I grew up on Lopez Island, and, while vacationers have always considered the place a bastion of natural beauty and guaranteed respite from the hustle and bustle of urban life, how do I put this delicately?… Shit didn’t ever happen there, n’ah mean? So this is kind of a big deal.
Anyway, make your way to Lopez if you have the time and means. Take your bicycle; make sure to stop in at Holly B’s Bakery in The Village; drop a couple bills at The Bay Cafe for dinner; and please respect and enjoy the hell out of the place. Also, if you see my mom, tell her I’ll call her this weekend. One.
Post-hyphy indie darling Iamsu! is bringing his Bay Area party-wave vibe to Neumos on August 26th (along with fellow regional acts Kool John and Jay Ant — with whom Iamsu! collaborated on last year’s Stoopid mixtape). The good promotional folks at Ent Legends are offering up not one, but TWO pairs of tickets to give away to some lucky 206UP.COM readers.
To enter to win a pair, send an email to 206upblog@gmail.com, OR a tweet to @206upBlog with the phrase “IAMSU! AND SO ARE YOU” written somewhere in the message. We’ll draw two names at random and each winner will receive two tickets. If you’re a loser (ie. one whose name is not drawn) — womp, womp — you can still click over to Ent Legends to purchase tickets on your own. Good luck!
Thaddeus David has been making his move into trap since his last proper release, Trapital Trill. “Dick Chainey” keeps that spirit alive with guest shots from La and Cam The Mac. The artist formerly known as Young TH has a new album coming (NoneTheLess, due September 2) and some fresh threads for sale.
“The Three Rules” is the opening track on Art Vandelay’s latest record, Eye 8 The Crow, which you can check for here and below. The video is a peek inside the tripped-out headspace of MC Ricky Pharoe and it’s a sight to behold (however: SEIZURE WARNING).
More interesting to me, though, are the rapper’s bars which seek to subvert the definition of what “success” means in the rap game. If a dope rapper spits a hot 16 in the woods, but no one is there to hear it, does he make a sound? Ricky Pharoe teeters on this sharp lyrical edge and production partner Mack Formway’s beat is wound appropriately tight.
Oldominion crew pioneers Grayskul (Onry Ozzborn + JFK) have jumped the good ship Rhymesayers for the just-as-reputable indie darling Fake Four Inc. That doesn’t mean the group’s upcoming Zenith (due September 17) is any less anticipated, though. Here we have the title track which premiered today on Complex. The album version will feature Wu legend Raekwon (with whom I recently had a memorable encounter in Toronto — see below).
And now, 206UP.COM story time…
Traveling back to NYC from Toronto this past Sunday, my fiancée and I had an entertaining run-in with Raekwon the Chef. Dude was waiting patiently in the Porter Airlines lounge at TO’s downtown Billy Bishop airport. No crew. Just him, this Herschel camo duffle, and some girl who couldn’t have been a day older than 21. Whatever.
So, as I’m geeking out, we’re walking down the concourse to board the plane and my girl spies a Borden (that’s Canadian for a Benjamin) just lying there on the floor. She picks it up. We deliberate on who might’ve dropped it. The only person between us and Rae is a middle-aged white lady wearing a fanny pack — the type of lady still spending travelers checks from 1993 — the hunny clearly does not belong to her. So Claire (that’s my future wife) asks the Chef (that’s the rapper from Wu-Tang): “Excuse me, Mr. Raekwon, but is it possible you might’ve dropped some cash?” (That’s not how she asked — she used way more tact — but you get the picture.) Rae said something about, “If it was a hundred, then it was probably me,” and then proceeds to pull a wad of Canadian guap the size of Shaq’s fist from his over-sized sweatpants pocket.
Dude shakes his head. And then, “These sweatpants, man, I keep dropping everything. Receipts, cash… Thank you, thank you.” (Flashes his fronts at Claire.)
I thought about making a Plaxico Burress joke, thought better of it (thank God), and just nodded my head and grinned like the Wu fanboy I am. Fun times in the T-dot.
Also, we saw Parker Posey on the flight over, and bumped into Michael Cera in a bar last Saturday. You know we major.
The KnowMads team is a vital crew for underground heads in Seattle, but for those just surfing mainstream waters they may appear as birds under the radar. Two thirds of the group, Jesse Judd and Tom Pepe, released an LP in early July called Live Good. See about their business below and remember to always save room for the artisanal shit.
Key Nyata is one of Seattle rap’s new young guard. He’s a contributing member of the ubiquitous Raider Klan and a burgeoning blog darling. The Shadowed Diamond is his latest release and features production from P Smoov and guest appearances by Nacho Picasso, Avatar Darko and Dave B, among others.
As an aside…
There’s much hand-wringing around Town about the “Seattle sound” with the general consensus being that there isn’t one. Key is a prime example of that: he strays far from virtually all of his peers with deeply experimental beats that are more mood and feeling than typical rap set pieces. There’s never been a better time for Seattle rap to come into its own; hip hop is democratized to its greatest degree in history which rewards a fiercely independent spirit like the one we have here.
The 808 and 206 share familiar vibes and split-life living rappers like basement smoke sessioners share joints. That is to say: often and easily. Resident selector and hip hop activist EarDr.Umz was the latest to make a trip out the Pacific and he came back with this collection of tunes on his mind. Some of it is familiar, some not so, but it all adds up to a nice listen.
Malice and Mario Sweet, the indispensable back-up vocalists for The Physics, recently dropped their second excursion into hip hop/R&B/soul territory: Enjoy : Like : Love. The record takes its cues mainly from the ’80s, with big hooks and heaping amounts of danceable pop-funk. I commented to Malice the other day on Twitter that Enjoy : Like : Love is the type of music I listen to every day, the type that fits in any occasion, and always leaves the soul smiling.
[THE SIX is a regular interview feature on 206UP.COM with a simple format: One local hip-hop artist and six questions. For past editions click here.]
Our guest on this week’s edition of THE SIX is HAVi Blaze. The Tacoma-bred MC has been catching buzz around Town with his latest album, Self Portrait, a polished, self-assured collection of tracks that deals in real life drama and deft braggadocio. HAVi previously made waves with “Purple & Gold (UW Anthem)”, a tribute to his alma mater the University of Washington and a re-purposing of Wiz Khalifa’s “Black and Yellow”. Larry Mizell from The Stranger once compared HAVi to Phonte Coleman, a sort of everyman MC adept at extracting the nuances of the human condition from a street-oriented perspective. HAVi trends toward the harder end of that spectrum, but otherwise it’s a good comparison. The rapper generously took some time out from his schedule to hop on THE SIX.
For those readers that don’t know who you are, give them the official “HAVi Blaze bio” in five sentences or less.
HAVi is an independent hip hop artist from Washington State. As a writer, producer and performer, I believe I am known for my lyrical ability, and realistic subject matter. I make music to affect the lives of people as much as music has affected mine. I have watched the hip hop culture evolve for the better and change for the worst, along with the rest of the world. At its current stage, I still feel like there is a place for meaningful lyrics and music.
“I’ve Been Down” – HAVI Blaze
You produced all of the beats on your new album, Self Portrait. Talk about your creative process: What comes first for you, the beats or the lyrics? Or do they alternate?
I usually hear a beat and then decide a topic. Most beats will tell you what type of song or feeling to write about. There are some times when I write a verse or song to a particular beat and then decide to use those lyrics for a different beat. I started out as a producer so I pay a lot of attention to the instrumental before I write. Sometimes, I’ll play a beat 100 times before I actually write anything to it. Then, when I am writing, I’ll pace around a room or lie down and repeat the lines as I create a verse. By the time I finish the verse, it is memorized and ready for the beat.
The song “I’m A Murderer” is about abortion, a topic that isn’t touched on very often in hip hop — at least in the very open-book manner that you do here. What types of reception have you experienced with that track?
I wrote “I’m A Murderer” in my car before work and sang it all day to myself until I got home to record it. A lot of people say that is one of their favorite tracks from the album. I had someone say she couldn’t listen to the song anymore because the lyrics made her think about her own child. I’ve had a lot of people tell me about their personal experiences with abortion because of the song. I think it is a good thing that people are talking about the topic.
“Purple & Gold (UW Anthem)” – HAVi Blaze
You have a degree in English from the University of Washington. How did your studies in literature inform your methods as an MC? Did any authors in particular inspire the way you write raps?
Most people that find out that I have an English degree think that I know a lot of big words, which I don’t. The courses that I took taught me how to use language to express my ideas in a more effective manner. Now, when I write verses, I can focus my words to convey the exact emotions that I feel that day or felt during an experience.
What was the last great book you read?
I haven’t read an entire book in a while. The last great one I remember reading would probably be Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower. I plan on reading Sun Tzu’s The Art of War in the not too distant future.
Tell us about any upcoming projects you have in the works.
I just released my new album, Self-Portrait, and I am promoting that to as many people as I can. I plan to release another project later in the year. I will definitely have a lot more guest appearances on the next one. I may put out something small this summer. Maybe an EP or maybe a short mixtape with beats from Jay’s Magna Carta…Holy Grail.
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