You might remember Stoned Ape (fka HD Thuro) and his collaborative project The Stone Tape with producer Ill Pill. If not, refresh your memory with the rapper’s new electro-tinged single “Waves” produced by Nima Skeemz and from Stoned’s upcoming This Is Not For Your Entertainment which also features production work by Elan Wright and Ill Pill.
Certified Outfit are Church (rapper, producer) and Swindle (rapper), two Spokane natives who are currently based in Seattle. Their new EP, True Grit, is the latest in a long line of releases from the duo that rarely see shine on the local blogs. Certified have a relatively light digital footprint which means once removed outlets like 206UP (our editor-in-chief is New York-based, as you may know) must rely on trustworthy word-of-mouth conduits like underground media connect — and friend of the blog — Shao Sosa, who hipped us to the group.
True Grit is a testament to the craft of street rap, an indicator that a nuanced approach and very specific framework is always necessary to producing a worthy entry to the revered (and much maligned) sub-genre. This belies the nature of the music — at least on a superficial level — which is generally aggressive and willfully violent. Where True Grit succeeds — and I’m sure how Certified Outfit would emphatically describe themselves — is in its bullish, naked honesty. Here, veracity is not only a principle under which Certified operates, it’s a necessity.
The eight tracks on True Grit are hulking street anthems. Each moves at a deliberate pace with heavy keys, perfectly interpolated sample loops, and raps that claim painful histories while simultaneously seeking the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. There’s also a melancholic soulfulness to many of these tracks which adds additional dimension and just the right amount of levity; Church and Swindle represent themselves as hardened street soldiers but you never get the sense they’re broken souls.
Stream True Grit below and watch the video for “So Real” below that.
Raz Simone knocked the Seattle hip-hop world off its axis three weeks ago with the release of his song and video “Macklemore & Chief Keef.” Then the rising rapper continued to deliver body blows with three subsequent video releases that were equal parts incendiary and thought provoking. Now, what felt like a series of steam-blowing one-offs have actually culminated in a six-track EP which is available for free download today at DatPiff.
Macklemore Privilege & Chief On Keef Violence obliquely — and sometimes not so obliquely — addresses the tenuous relationship between a sacred hip-hop culture and the dispassionate valuation our free market economy applies to said culture. That Raz discusses these topics writ large within the context of the Seattle hip-hop community — calling out various local headliners by name, in some cases — makes this unexpected album especially pertinent. It’s already started a discussion which, hopefully, will continue in perpetuity.
Ronnie Dylan — the budding MC and collaborative partner with producer Jake Crocker (Black Umbrella, Raz Simone, Fatal Lucciauno) — probably couldn’t have picked a more loaded title for his new album: Manumission. In short, it means the act of a slave owner freeing his or her slaves. Rap music is full of superlatives, to be sure, but to adopt one with such baggage for what is only your second EP could be considered an exercise in imprudence and, quite honestly, bad taste.
Thankfully, Dylan brings a measured focus and an appropriately heavy hand to an album with such a title. The intent on Manumission is to subvert the traditionally held definition; to re-frame the act inside the context of how hip-hop music is crafted. For Dylan, that means with a transparent honesty which he feels is sorely lacking in the contemporary culture.
It’s difficult to imagine someone as young as Ronnie Dylan undergoing a spiritual hip-hop crisis like this, but it appears to be happening. Dylan is keen and sharp with the pen, one of his skills being the ability to write rhymes with nary a wasted word. He tackles real-world trials and tribulations like substance abuse, suburban ennui, absent parentage, and socioeconomic disparity with impressive poetic ease. The musical backdrops for Manumission‘s subject matter are all handled by Jake Crocker who lends his own gravitas, emotive touch and, when the mood calls for it, soulful exposition (see album highlight “A Day Like This”). Everything feels cohesive and natural between the producer and MC.
Manumission is certainly an overly-ambitious project, but impressively so. Through the act of overreaching, Ronnie Dylan captures the essence of his current relationship to hip-hop: he loves this shit, but he’s unhappy with much of it. Manumission is his own personal attempt to right the ship. If he happens to oversteer in the other direction, so be it. At least he’ll be known as an artist that took corrective action.
Stream Manumission below and download the album for free here.
Other than Shabazz Palaces, The Physics are making the richest, boldest hip-hop music in the Town. “About You” is a one-off masterpiece: a pastiche of rhythmic, melodic layers entwined by Thig Nat’s fast rap reflections. A stunner.
We are in a new era of protest: wars with nebulous “enemies” rage persistently in high-definition, immediately visible to anyone with a wi-fi enabled device; state-sanctioned murder of America’s own citizens in broad-ass daylight, brought to you in easily digestible packets of corporate-sponsored news.
RA Scion — call him Seattle hip-hop’s best answer to Pete Seeger — remains a dissenting voice above the fray. Operating with the same social spirit as other Town MCs like Gabriel Teodros and Prometheus Brown, Ryan Abeo’s lyrical approach is just this side of obtuse — if you’re not paying close attention, that is. Recently, he and producer Indica Jones let loose with a three-part movement called “America, The Funeral (Part One).” It loosely channels Vietnam-era protest music, albeit with breakbeats.
Welcome to the end of the rope.
EarthEE, THEESatisfaction‘s sophomore LP release on Sub Pop records, is an illustration of the fluidity of the Black American perspective. Beats shift from the ancient to the vintage to the modern. Lyrics deal in the historic complexities of sexuality, race and art. The vocals of Cat and Stas show how intrinsically tied are hip-hop and R&B.
EarthEE seems committed to shaking off the baggage of centuries of skirmish for the sake of finding a higher, more redemptive groove. The best thing about this record is how self-referential it is without seeming exclusionary, something THEESatisfaction’s musical cousin Shabazz Palaces has achieved time and again. Most of us are envious outsiders — culturally, philosophically, musically — to THEESat’s particular pedigree, but the music of these two women couldn’t be more inviting.
Preview tracks from EarthEE and purchase the album over at the Sub Pop website and watch the video for “Recognition” below.
Diogenes (producer and member of beat head collective Filthy Fingers United) and Phreewil (rhyme-sayer and frequent pusher of buttons himself) crafted this four-piece EP, Know Accidents. Dio’s crafty boom-bap and smart left field sample progressions are paired with Phree’s observational, bragging flow for an absolutely satisfying (albeit too brief) musical handshake.
Graves33 drops ill lyrical science from a higher esoteric plane than most Seattle rappers of similar ilk. His brief but affecting Survive EP went live earlier this month. The highlight here is the anti-police brutality gut punch “Pelicula Tocino” (featuring Dox and Araless of Black Magic Noize), which will leave you nauseous and fucking pissed off — exactly where you should be concerning such states of affairs.
Watch the music video for “I Hope You Comprehend” (featuring Thaddeus David), below.
It appears the mythical Neema/Keyboard Kid collab The Cigar Room will indeed rise from the depths of an overworked hard drive and taste crisp Northwest air. See, Neema fans — it says “March 2015” in the track artwork above. Do your vocal warm-ups now and get ready to rhyme along in the car with the region’s beloved super-rapper. In the meantime, enjoy the nocturnal, crawling lyrical workout that is “Ten Stacks” featuring Mr. Xquisit on the hook.
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