Tacoma’s The Breaklites make rap kitsch and tongue-in-cheek Americana worship hella catchy on “Shine”. No small feat. Watch for I ❤ America coming this winter.
Category: Downloads
NEW MUSIC: Kings Only – Perry Porter
You might know Perry Porter as one half of Sleep Steady, the enigmatic duo that’s been making underground noise around Town for the last five years or so. Kings Only is Perry’s new solo EP and the rapper sounds the most self-assured he’s ever been. Vocal comparisons to Jay Z are a little lazy but not completely out of bounds (from a superficial standpoint anyway). Nay, Perry Porter seems like that rare cat who marches to the beat of his own inner metronome — definitely one to watch. Kings Only features production by the Supreme Sound Architects (BlackMic x The1storn x DJ Semaj).
NEW MUSIC: “Whiskey Mask (Remix)” – Ka.lil (feat. Grynch & Fatal Lucciauno)
Fresh off the internets today: A remix version of Ka.lil’s “Whiskey Mask”, featuring Grynch and Fatal Lucciauno. Check for Ka.lil’s Between Saturday Night & Sunday Morning here.
NEW MUSIC: Thanks Krit – Peta Tosh
Peta Tosh borrows four beats from Big K.R.I.T.’s 4evaNaDay instrumentals album for this brief mixtape, Thanks Krit.
NEW MUSIC: “Sarah’s Last” – Thaddeus David (prod. by SAT Beats)
Thaddeus David goes in a different sonic direction with the first drop from his upcoming Laws of Attraction. “Sarah’s Last” is a glance at the rapper’s more introspective side over an emotive track by SAT Beats.
NEW MUSIC: “Pirouette” – Made In Heights
Made In Heights seems to get busiest during the Holiday season. Winter Pigeons found the first light of the internets in December three years ago. When we caught MIH’s first live show in Brooklyn last month, my fiancee described their music as “romantic”. I agree, and what better time of year for romance than the Holidays. “Pirouette” is a delicate ballad to curl up to.
NEW MUSIC: “Play It Off” – The Physics
“Play It Off” is the most recent evidence of the massive creative growth found on The Physics’ upcoming album Digital Wildlife (December 13). The ballad is synth heavy with a dramatic, churning beat. And is that Thig Nat singing? How did we not know dude could blow like this before?
THE SIX: Porter Ray
[THE SIX is a regular interview feature on 206UP.COM with a simple format: One member of the local hip hop community and six questions. For past editions click here.]
Porter Ray is shining on the strength of three stellar albums. His BLK GLD LP dropped mid-May and was followed by two EPs, WHT GLD and RSE GLD, in October. In partnership, they are the most exciting hip hop to originate from the Town this calendar year, and will undoubtedly find slots on all of the self-important blog year-end lists that populate the local internet from now until the annual turn. (And of course keep your browser tab tuned right here for just such an entry.)
Accolades are immaterial except for the most narcissistic among us, and Porter Ray is not Seattle’s answer to Kanye West. His raps are observational in tone, a little like Kendrick’s and a lot like Nasir’s. When he does stop to honor himself, it usually feels in passing, like his hustle is already rap’s oldest certainty and listeners should know this because they probably read about him in an ancient book — or blog — somewhere. In this way he reminds you of Shabazz Palaces: A brief flicker of genius that sparks up from the communal rap flame burning in perpetuity.
All this to say: Porter Ray’s shit is the new, but it already feels like a fable, son.
206UP: Local media and rap heads around the Town have been quick to place you in that ambiguous “alternative / indie hip hop” category. Does the segmenting of rappers into different sub-genres offend you, or do you welcome it?
Porter Ray: I welcome it. There are different styles of rap music, just as there are sub-genres of rock. We have classic rock, heavy metal, acid, punk, etc… The same principals apply to hip hop.
What’s your earliest Seattle hip hop memory?
Watching Sir Mix-A-Lot’s limo drive past 23rd and Jackson in the video for “Posse On Broadway”. The video for “Baby Got Back” was another one of my first memories of Seattle hip hop as well.
There seems to be a transition in sound from the BLK GLD album to the RSE GLD/WHT GLD EPs: Softer beats on BLK GLD to a bit harder on RSE/WHT. Was this a conscious decision or did it just come about organically?
The transition of sound from BLK GLD to RSE and WHT was definitely a conscious decision we made to try and elevate the music. At the same time, it is something that happened organically being that all of those albums were recorded in the same stretch of time. The music that we were creating, naturally developed into different sounds and vibes as we progressed as artists and began to find ourselves. We’re stepping it up another notch for my next project.
Describe a typical day in the life of Porter Ray these days.
A typical day for me consists of writing, recording, rehearsing and strategizing. I spend a lot of time searching for things to keep me inspired and fuel my creativity, whether its reading, searching for new music, or watching a film. In between all of this I usually have my son Aaron during the late afternoons and evenings. I’ll play him beats and rap to him, or we’ll hit the park and I’ll draw while he plays. After I drop off my seed [with] his mom I’ll link up with MFB or B Roc and hit the studio.
Your rhymes have a strong philosophical and observational quality to them. Would you describe yourself as more of a “watcher” or a “participator”, and why?
Both. I consider myself more of the “observer” as an emcee, however I feel that I’m the “observer” that somehow always ends up participating by proxy.
What’s the last great book you read?
NEW MUSIC: Underrated – Carl Roe & Ripynt
L.A.C.O.S.A.’s Carl Roe and local rap veteran Ripynt teamed up for Underrated, a nine-shot EP of furious rhymes, bars and lyrics… Oh, right, those are all the same thing. Well this duo has ’em in spades. Carl Roe’s production is serviceable boom-bap: check the well-interpolated Jimi Hendrix sample on “Want It For You” (featuring Mack E) and the retro futurist knock of the title track. Eminem would sound damn good rapping over these instrumentals — whatever that means. Download Underrated for free below.
NEW MUSIC: “Death” – Made In Heights
The gradual rise of Made In Heights (Blue Scholars’ DJ/producer Sabzi and vocalist Kelsey Bulkin) has been a slow but intense burn. For a time, shortly after their relatively low-key but intensely beloved debut in early 2011, the duo topped this blog’s “most searched-for” list for about 30 days straight.
206UP has been a fan since the start. MIH is that rare electo-pop act that finds the perfect balance between the glaring computerized elements of its compositions (Sabzi), and the organic humanist component of its vocals (Kelsey). Success for groups like this depends on existing in the harmony between. (See also: Lorde.)
Made In Heights appeared live on stage for the first time at the Blue Scholars show in Brooklyn, about a month and a half ago. A lot of the songs they played were like the new one you hear below: calculated, bombastic and, at times, seemingly frantic. What remains most impressive about Kelsey Bulkin is how she uses her upper register to neutralize Sabzi’s digital bluster. This new track is called “Death”, but it’s really all about how much life this impressive singer breathes into a modern musical device that is, for all intents and purposes, inanimate without her.
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