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“It’s All Happening!”

I just finished watching Almost Famous for the second time. The first time was in 2000, the year the film came out and I enjoyed it then but never got around to seeing it again until about three hours ago. Of course, the flick has nothing to do with hip-hop music, but it does have broad appeal across genres because it speaks to the music fan in all of us. We’re a lot like the movie’s main character, William Miller. We seek to understand the histories, personalities, and motivations of those artists that we follow.

(An aside: It’s why, as fans, we read and write blogs, and obsessively re-fresh Twitter feeds. It’s why I like to listen critically to an album and then write something on how it made me feel and what my impression of the artist is based on what I hear. Contrary to what some readers or local artists might think, I’m not out to hate just for the sake of hating. Or disparage because it makes me feel good personally and will increase readership — though that is a convenient by-product of being honest. But anyway, I digress…)

In Almost Famous, the idiom “It’s all happening!” becomes the catchphrase throughout the movie, its motto. It’s a simple slogan meant to embody the singular emotional exuberance felt by the film’s characters as they take part in their respective musical experiences (and life experiences in general). “It’s All Happening!” is reserved for those who haven’t yet achieved fame, but may just be on the cusp. Or for those musicians experiencing for the first time that being widely appreciated for their art is a true possibility. It’s a feeling that I imagine a lot of local artists are going through right this moment as Seattle’s hip-hop movement continues to expand like Shawn Kemp’s waistline.

So, by way of a virtual 206-UPPERY! dap, here are a couple artists for whom “It’s All Happening!” They’re a group and solo act that I haven’t mentioned yet on the blog, but that I have a lot of love for.

Shapeshifters (SOTA)

Shout out to SOTA (State Of The Artist), a three-man crew that is getting a fair amount of burn in The Town these days, though I hear they’ve recently relocated (temporarily, I think) to SoCal. Download their free mixtape Shapeshifters on their blog (linked above). This crew is one of those rare breeds in rap, a group equally balanced with both individual talent and great chemistry as a collective.

The Ride (Sol)

Another virtual dap to the rhyme animal Sol. Purchase his debut album The Ride on iTunes right now. Technically, Sol’s a virtuoso. He’s the rap equivalent of Mariano Rivera, proficient and consistent, and always on point lyrically. He’s a rapper that you’d confidently hand the ball to in the ninth inning or trust taking the last shot in OT because, like a clutch performer, he never fails to make the competition look silly. Once the majority stops sleepin’, best believe Sol will get his due shine in Seattle.

That’s it for now! More for your head later…

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The Whole 206 World Goes, “OOF!”

Alright then, I’m back on the blog after a brief hiatus. Went camping east of the mountains (that’s the Cascades) with The Lady and some good friends. Lots of good eating, swimming, and lounging around in 100-degree weather, but very little in the way of Seattle hip-hop. (Lake Chelan might have the only bars left in Washington that Fresh Espresso hasn’t played.) And, while it was nice to be away from technology for a while, it’s good to be back on the blog, once again connected and in-the-loop with the goings-on around town. So without further ado…

oofonlineflyer_5bux

Since it’s all about Geo and Sabzi today (and most likely tomorrow as well), I might as well hitch my wagon to the OOF! train and do my part to plug our favored sons of hip-hop in the 206.

The local rap giant that is Blue Scholars is once again coming down from the mountain to drop their highly-anticipated OOF! EP tomorrow. The limited edition disc will be available at the Capitol Hill all Caffe Vita locations. Get yours, son. All the information that’s fit to print is here on the group’s blog.

The Scholars crew is on their grind again, promoting the hell out of the EP, encouraging us fans to basically stalk them around The Town all day, and topping off the release date with a performance at local Hawaiian outpost Ohana, in Belltown. I’ll be there, hyped up on Caffe Vita espresso with loco moco in hand. Show your love, too!

I haven’t heard the entire EP yet, but if the first two pre-released tracks (“Coo?,” “HI-808”) are any indication, then it’s likely this disc may be the most light-hearted and party-rocking collection the crew has released thus far. Granted, my affinity for the duo lies mostly in the fact that they choose to be so intensely political and *ahem* conscious, but lighter subject matter is always welcome from any of my favorite hip-hop groups. It is party music, after all.

After I get in a few good listens, your faithful 206-UP!’er (that’s me) will be offering his always over-opinionated opinion. Until then, however, check out Andrew Matson’s (Seattle Times) review here. A-Mats also interviewed our favorite doods and both offered insight into the direction of the group, its evolving musical stylings, and the 206 hip-hop community in general. Peep those interviews here and here, they’re both worth reading.

More later — enjoy the sun and the OOF!

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Hip-Hop Takes A Vacation

Well, being on vacation is not conducive to keeping up regular posts on the blog, so, apologies to those who read me on the regular and have caught me slippin’ as of late. Plus, I am without my personal laptop and regular access to the internet, so I’ve mostly been Twittering and nothing really beyond that. The ironic part of all this is that I’m finally back home in Seattle, where the hip-hop that I write about is actually happening, and yet I haven’t had time to really partake of the scene.

Anyway, I’m on my way to Easy Street Records (Queen Anne) to catch up on my local record browsing. I’ll probably cop a few discs while I’m there including a *ahem* legitimate copy of Glamour (BTW, I swear my full review of Fresh Espresso’s seminal work is coming soon…).

For now, click here for Seattle’s flavor of the week, a track called “Robin Hood” by local hero Tay Sean. It goes nice with this 90-degree weather and an iced tall Americano from El Diablo.

Now, which bag did I pack my iPod in??…

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Back In The Sea

As expected, my coffee intake has increased at least three-fold since arriving in Seattle on Wednesday evening. I’m perpetually caffeinated now — not that my state of consciousness in NYC isn’t usually thrown off-kilter by the country’s most dangerous legal stimulant, but I’m just sayin’, out here, fresh espresso (for better or worse) is a way of life. (Ha! Get it?! Fresh Espresso/fresh espresso — a way of life for better or worse?!…Uhh yeah, so anyway, moving on…)

The weather, thus far, hasn’t exactly been conducive to summer riding. In fact, I don’t think I’ve rolled down the window once yet in my 1984 Toyota 4WD wagon (the whip that I’m currently pushing [actually more like gently coaxing] through the city — thanks to my Lady’s parents for providing me with yet another reason to be self-conscious as I drive through Downtown, Fremont, and New Ballard).

Anyway, all this to say, it’s good to be back in The Town! Good to be gorging myself at breakfast at Portage Bay Cafe, good to be eating a Dick’s Deluxe with Bill Gates at 10:00 at night (no joke, he was really there at 45th Street on Wednesday), good to be sinking my teeth into a Paseo grilled pork sandwich yesterday afternoon. (There seems to be a theme developing here.)

And good, of course, to be back in the city where the hip-hop movement is as fresh and optimistic as a box of newborn kittens.

So, if you see an idiot in the front row at Yirim Seck’s album release party who seems to be on some sort of bad drug trip, don’t worry. That’s just over-caffeinated me, enjoying the realness.

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Leavin’ On A Jet Plane…

I only have a few minutes before I gotta pack for my triumphant return to the Sea, which is happening in t-minus 9 hours…8…7…6…

But I wanted to just briefly pass along two of my favorite pieces of hip-hop media. They don’t relate specifically to the 206 scene, but the last time I checked, hip-hop was happening in every damn nook and cranny of our fair nation. (Sometimes I even need to escape our little insular 206 world!) That being said, peep game:

The first thing you need to check for on the regular is Ill Doctrine, Jay Smooth’s online hip-hop/politico/pop-culture op-ed series. Smooth is proof that there’s a hip-hop nerd hiding inside all of us. Ill Doctrine is kinda like The Source. If The Source grew a brain, a conscience, and a soul. (Oh, snap!!) It always seems like Jay says what I want to say, but in much more eloquent and creative ways. Here’s his latest post, on the Budden vs. Raekwon beef:

The second worthwhile item is the film Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, a documentary by filmmaker Byron Hurt. Here’s a preview:

It’s a film that tackles themes of masculinity, homophobia, and sexism in hip-hop music. It’s easily one of the most important music documentaries ever made. Byron Hurt really turns hip-hop upside down and shakes all of its ugly parts onto the table so they can be explored carefully. Don’t miss it.

(Quick story about this film: I first saw it at a free screening at Columbia University. The main reason I went is because I heard Talib Kweli would be participating on a discussion panel after the screening — along with Mr. Hurt and a host of other hip-hop intelligentsia. Kweli was his normal thoughtful and engaging self, but the real star of the screening was Byron Hurt and his film. I came away impressed and with a disturbed perspective on how a lot of rappers end up marginalizing themselves by the lyrics they spit. I also had my first celebrity encounter in New York when I ended up standing at a urinal next to Talib Kweli. I resisted the urge to challenge him to a freestyle battle.)

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Seattle U.N.I.T.Y. (For Now)

graffitijohnschuhHere’s a post from today by Andrew Matson (music columnist for the Seattle Times), our faithful voice of realness in the too-often watered-down mainstream media (props to Andrew!). I would second everything he said in his blog entry — the Seattle hip-hop scene is blowing up like Saint Helens in 1980!

(Someone needs to sample the corny intro song to this video. We need an official Seattle anthem. You can’t tell me Marcus D couldn’t flip that folk song into a slapper worthy of a beat battle showdown!)

This blog is still in its infancy (I just started it the first week in July). Its creation was borne from a desire to write critically and thoughtfully about hip-hop and I purposely limited its scope strictly to Seattle because the task of keeping a blog that addressed hip-hop across the nation was absolutely daunting to me. (Not to mention virtually impossible for one person working a normal nine-to-five and attempting to maintain any semblance of a life outside the Interwebs — I don’t know how Shake and Meka over at 2DOPEBOYZ do it, but they hold it down admirably!) The point is, I’m quickly realizing that with the local scene blowing up, it’s hard even keeping pace on a website that’s limited to just our town!

Like A-Mats said, it’s not just an overwhelming quantity of music, but quality, too. Not even five years ago was there a movement this firmly-rooted in The Town. In the last two and-a-half years Seattle hip-hop has blown-up like Bret Boone’s biceps in 2001. It’s like an evergreen tree on PEDs, with a strong root system, a sturdy trunk, and new branches sprouting out every which-way.

There’s even an established hierarchy — though always unspoken. The most revered and respected artists know who they are and the fans who pay close attention can identify who’s got the National Juice by the rumored record deals, the national connects, the outsourced distribution, etc., etc.

Right now, though, it’s such a love-fest that no one’s beefin’ (all you gotta do is follow the rappers’ gabbing on Twitter to see that — it’s like a virtual fraternity house on there, for real).

Likewise, nearly everyone’s write-ups in The Stranger and Seattle Weekly are favorable. Critics don’t want to offend anyone. You’ve got local venues taking cues from their investment bankers: “Diversify your hip-hop, yo!” Fresh Espresso is sharing the stage with Dyme Def on one night, while Thee Satisfaction and Fatal Lucciauno share it on another. Like I said in a previous post, everyone is eating at the same table. And (thankfully) we’ve certainly not reached a Tipping Point, where the community starts to fragment itself into cliques. This happens in other cities — granted, in ones that are usually larger than our modest hamlet. Here’s hoping it doesn’t occur in Seattle.

For now, I say we continue to enjoy ourselves. I’m still gonna bump my favorite artists faithfully. And probably offer some unfair (?) criticism of others that I don’t favor. I suppose we should all take a cue from Brainstorm and “rock out with (our) cock(s) out!” as he recommends in “I’m Gone.” (But only figuratively, please. We don’t want this to turn into a Mad Rad concert…)

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Hawaii 808

hawaii_satelliteSome more OOF! EP sh*t from Blue Scholars. (I’ve been posting a lot about BS lately — I swear this is not a fanboy site for them dudes. Their sh*t is continual dope, though, that cannot be denied…)

(UPDATE, 8.5.09, 11.35am: And here’s a story from the Seattle Weekly that gives the best explanation, to date, of the deal struck between Duck Down Records and Caffe Vita.)

(UPDATE, 8.5.09, 5:35pm: And a little video preview of the OOF! EP. I’m diggin’ the marketing campaign, thus far. Thanks, Duck Down!

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Seattle’s Far From Harmonious, But I’m Just Sayin’…

One of the truly remarkable things about our local hip-hop community, is that artists from all walks of life can share the stage together and be heard, understood, and, most importantly, accepted, by an audience of fans that is sometimes just as diverse as they are. The relative smallness of Seattle has a lot to do with that. It’s a place where a short, skinny, white kid from Ballard can rhyme alongside a tall, African-American dude from the South End and both are celebrated just because they sound great on a track together.

It’s not that fans in The Town don’t typify the artists (that’s just a natural reaction to different styles of music), but the community is so small that everyone is allowed to eat at the same table. Because of this, Seattle might be one of the least-marginalized hip-hop communities in the country. In this way, at least, we are truly “progressive.”

I hope Seattle’s inclusive nature helps to dispel the myth (usually held by casual or unlearned fans of the music) that you don’t have to be a gangsta, or surrounded by the gangsta lifestyle, in order to be a legitimate hip-hop artist. White kids can laugh knowingly and rap along to “My Volvo,” and then hopefully pause and listen carefully to a track like “This is Why.” The true power of hip-hop is displayed when it unites us through familiarity in the music, our heads “nodding in agreement” despite our differences that keep us divided. Of course, the music itself doesn’t solve all our problems borne from society’s ills, but at least it opens the door for dialogue. It’s our job as conscious listeners to step through.

All that being said, everyone still knows that the gangsta aesthetic plays a huge role in the lives and careers of many artists. Some just borrow the image to fit their desired style (always to the detriment of the culture), and some artists have lived through it, or are living it for real.

Here are two perspectives from local emcees that have lived it, survived it, and are now imparting their knowledge from their experiences:

khingz

The first is an interview with Khingz from the hip-hop lifestyle blog 12ft Dwende.

Fatal_SoundNW-Cover

The second is a video interview and performance by Fatal Lucciauno from Sound Magazine.

One final thought:

“Gangsta rap” is a tricky piece of terminology. Mainstream media and the music business have removed virtually all societal value from that style of music, boiling it all down to an easily-marginalized brand of rap that has been happily commodified and put on sale, and yet simultaneously blamed for contributing to negative stereotypes and teenage violence. And, while pundits are not always completely wrong to criticize its shortcomings, gangsta rap has been stripped of its power to inform. Too many artists are quickly qualified as “gangsta rappers” and then summarily dismissed as nothing more.

It’s important to note that neither Khingz nor Fatal Lucciauno are “gangsta rappers” in the commonly-defined sense of the term, but both speak about issues related to that walk of life.

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“They Say I Come Off a Little Self-Righteous…”

I just pulled this clip off another blog (shout to Blogs is Watching). It’s RA Scion being interviewed by some floppy-haired dude from Seattle’s Sound Magazine. Take a gander (and peep the antique-style throwback lamp in the background, probably purchased for $19.99 at the Fred Meyer Mothership in Ballard):

(Note to Sound Magazine: YOUR EMBED CODES NEVER WORK, YO! Check the video HERE.)

It’s fitting that RA’s on some cable access-type sh*t here, being that he’s perpetually “about the people.” A couple thoughts:

1. Are RA’s opening words a foreshadowing of an official “Due to irreconcilable differences, RA Scion and DJ Sabzi have decided to end their creative relationship” statement? Here’s hoping that doesn’t come to pass any time soon. Still, it was interesting to hear him say he thinks the group has gone as far as it can creatively. Makes me wonder what RA has in mind for his future musical endeavors. (Please don’t say “dance record,” please don’t say “dance record…”) There’s a huge amount of artistic integrity there when he says he doesn’t want to “milk” the group for more than it’s worth; lord knows CM’s musical endeavors haven’t been hugely rewarding from a financial standpoint so that can’t be what he’s referring to.

2. At about the 5:50 mark, RA starts speaking his mind on the supposed “progressive” mind-state of Seattle’s residents. He calls Fremont “the biggest fucking sham of progressive politics that I’ve ever seen in my whole life…a bastion of bullshit.” I like that this statement caused a few uncomfortable chuckles around the room — I really hope some of those folks live in Fremont. I definitely feel RA on this one. A few hippie artists and their naked bike-riding friends a “progressive neighborhood” do not make. All I know is that going out on a Saturday night in Fremont is only fun if you’re a white male between the ages of 23 and 30, six feet or over in height, and wearing a severely creased Abercrombie and Fitch hat (save for those nights at Nectar when Sportn’ Life wrecked sh*t on the regular).

I’ve never met RA, but he seems to possess a very intense personality, which is probably why his lyrics are so often inspired. Say what you will about him, but you certainly can’t question his love for hip-hop, nor his commitment to being honest and true to the art form.

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BCC + DTA + BS = ?

What do Boot Camp Clik, a Double Tall Americano, and Blue Scholars have in common?

A lot, apparently. They’re the latest creative collaboration to hit the hot Seattle pavement this summer. Click here for the gory details.

Our boys Geo and Sabzi have never gone the traditional record deal route (and that’s partially why we love ’em), but this partnership between Duck Down Records and Caffe Vita looks to be the most interesting to come around thus far.

Distribution by Rawkus last go ’round was cool. Partly because it was nice to see Blue Scholars get so much shine nationally. (I came across a few copies of Bayani in the hip-hop section at the Virgin Megastore — may she rest in peace — last year in Times Square, not to mention that beacon of hip-hop independence, Fat Beats, in Greenwich Village.)

Honestly, though, I was a little scurred that it was the start of something bigger; something nefarious. Something that might even result in their hasty departure from the Emerald City and *gasp* normal rotation on MTV2. Then I remembered that it was Blue Scholars. “Sell-out” is simply not a term in their vernacular (knock on wood). Also, MTV2 doesn’t even f*cking play videos anymore, so whatever. It was all paranoia on my part, anyway. (Plus, even De La eventually had to go a little commercial to get paid.)

Anyway, this new partnership is cool. Duck Down has been a standard-bearer in hip-hop (as was Rawkus, of course). And I used to hit Caffe Vita every morning on my way to work. Which reminds me: what the hell does coffee have to do with any of this??!! Judging by Geo’s somewhat esoteric blog post, I presume their role is of financier. Speculation abounds.

In any event, I’ll be checking for the OOF! EP on August 25th and so should you.

Stay UP!

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