Part lament, part performance piece, Raz Simone’s new video “All In My Mind” taps into the sexually and emotionally vacant sub-layers of the human psyche. Watch Raz ignore cops (and their mounts), curious passersby, even a bad woman in a flowing black dress, for the sake of connecting to the camera. Perhaps, in the midst of a month-and-a-half long stint as the most discussed rapper in the Town, that’s all he feels connected to at this moment. From his upcoming project Baby Jesus (due April 7).
Good things happen in empty parking lots on rainy Seattle nights. Brothers From Another come a little harder than you’re used to — albeit not without a dose of their trademark playfulness — in “Windows Down” featuring fellow Seattle rap youth Dave B. From BFA’s recent 3-Peat EP. Video directed by Jon Holman, track produced by Gus Goldman and Nima Skeemz.
Randy Robbins blends themes of Christianity, relevant parable and hip-hop period piece mash-up into his new video “The Worthy James” (probably a reference to either this James or this James, but likely not this James). The clip is no small feat and an indicator of why Randy is one of Seattle hip-hop’s underrated creative minds. Check out the rapper’s recent The Grass Is Always Yellower.
Free-wheeling, free-spirited antics feature prominently in Sam Lachow’s new video “Cadillacs & Videos” from the rapper’s equally maverick Huckleberry. Magik and Ariana DeBoo lend aspirational soul. Catch Sam live on tour with Futuristic when they hit your city.
Wanz — and friends Warren G, Grynch and Crytical — now have the appropriate high-def to go along with their West Coast dedication to the late Nate Dogg.
Bruce Leroy’s 10 Feet was one of this blog’s favorite hip-hop records from the Northwest last year. Go get that now. The track “Nutrition” gets a set of appropriately chilled-out visuals courtesy director Lea Godoy. Tragedy Jones on the production tip.
Filmed on location in some scrap yards in Queens and what appears to be the dankest house party in Long Island City, Seattle native and NYC-based Aaron Cohen and his Inner City Kids teammate ABGoHard with a new track and video, “Right Here” from their upcoming Ugly Boyz EP.
Sam Lachow and buzzing (and buzzed) Tempe, AZ rapper Futuristic are profane party rap soul mates and soon-to-be tour buddies. Check their new video “Watch Yo Mouth” below and catch them causing trouble in your town soon. Man I hope they paid that mini Mr. T a fair appearance fee.
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.
Yesterday marked the 18th anniversary of the passing of Christopher Wallace, aka. the Notorious B.I.G. To reflect on the somber occasion, Seattle rapper Draze re-released his 2009 “mixtapemovie,” “Notorious,” which “samples” clips from the biopic of the same name and interpolates them as the visual accompaniment to an original track written and performed by Draze.
The song imagines an alternate universe where Biggie returns to New York to make amends and pay visits to past lovers, homies and business associates. Assuming the disembodied voice of one of rap music’s most beloved heroes is not a blithe task, but Draze musters the appropriate gravity. Watch “Notorious” below and watch for a new round of mixtapemovies from Draze this year, including “The Devil’s Advocate” which concerns one Kanye West.
A SEATTLE HIP-HOP BLOG 