Words by Luke Wigren

As I turned the ripe old age of 27 this year, and later as I watched Sam Lachow’s recent video “Young Seattle 4,” I began to wonder to myself: What is “young.” Who has it? Is it a physical state or a media conspiracy designed to make us go to malls? And most perplexing of all: Where does all the old stuff go?

“Young Seattle 4,” the latest in a series which began in 2010, didn’t really answer my questions, but I did like it. The video is not “young” in the sense that we have become accustomed to seeing many of these artists around the Town, but “young” because they do all happen to be among Seattle’s emerging rap vanguard. They face the daunting challenge of taking on the mantle of what, on nearly every measure, was a stellar wave of Sea-town hip hop, from Macklemore’s world domination to the Blue Scholars’ soulful dissent. (“Old Seattle” anyone?)

As if creating art and growing up in the shadow of giants weren’t hard enough, “Young Seattle” is maneuvering the pitfalls of this generation’s age obsession where appealing to Tweens on Snapchat trumps musical ability, where we narrowly obsess over an annual Freshman Class by a print magazine desperately clinging to relevance, and where, well, every 5th rapper is “Young Something.”

The “Young Seattle” new wave promises to be no less stellar than its predecessors, and this video is wonderful for our busted attention spans, but remember a sampler platter does not a meal make. Do as the video was meant to inspire you to do, and dig into the vast trove of music these artists have crafted in such a short time.

Check out Sam Lachow’s latest album, Friends, Funk & Liquor, here.