Here’s a nice track from two budding emcees still building reps in The Six. The Good Sin (aka. Sinseer) and Young TH (aka. the most talented third of dem S.O.T.A. boys) both have engaging, capable flows that could take them to greater heights than where they currently fly. Preview the track below and click the image for the free D/L link.
Click image for D/L link.
Click to listen to “Put Ya Hands Up” by The Good Sin f/TH. Click here for the D/L link.
Delightfully low-budget and mostly pleasing, Katie Kate’s video for “Constellation” annoyed me the first time I watched it. Upon repeated viewings, however, I’ve become amused and charmed. You might know Katie from her scene-stealing guest shot on State Of The Artist’s “Jealous.” (Come to think of it, all of the guest shots on SOTA’s album were scene-stealing. Hmm…) Listen to that track here:
And peep the “Constellation” video here:
August 10th, 2010 is The Day of The Video, apparently. Peep SOTA’s visuals for “Extrahelladope” (featuring Helladope and Jarv Dee from the Cloud Nice camp). Stephan Gray is the man behind the lens on this one.
Seattle hip-hop still hasn’t found its definitive “sound.” Artists over the last two years have, for the most part, taken a get-in-where-ya-fit-in attitude toward determining their particular place in the 2-0-6 hip-hop sphere. The closest Seattle has come to forming its own unique rap persona was the so-called “conscious boom-bap” stylings of Blue Scholars, Common Market and Abyssinian Creole way back in the mid-aughts. (And yes, I say “way back” with tongue planted firmly in-cheek. The South Bronx, Seattle is not.)
What’s good, loyal readers?
Just wanted to put the word out that your dude is away on vacation, thus explaining the lack of posts this week.
I’ll be back at it soon with full album Reviews of S.O.T.A.’s world-conquering debut, SuperCaliFragilisticExtraHellaDope, Dark Time Sunshine’s genre-progressing Vessel, and a whole host of other hip-hop related sundries.
Until then, one.
State Of The Artist drops their official full-length debut, Seattlecalifragilisticextrahelladopeness this Friday, 4.23.10, at Pravda Studios. Peep the flyer below. In the meantime, click here or below to download the track, “Hey Hey” (featuring P Smoov and Shaprece Renee) from the forthcoming album.
(Click here or above to download.)
Any group that’s interested in properly representing Left Coast hip-hop should first take a trip down I-5 to the Golden State, the place where the West Coast sound was originally developed, nurtured, and fully realized. Something about the combination of fresh Pacific Ocean air, perpetually sunny weather, and other (ahem) “natural” remedies, fuse to get the creative juices flowing something proper.
Makes me feel like I’m in college. DIY-aesthetes, State Of The Artist, celebrate weed, Cali sunshine, parties, and hip-hop. It’s all good for these 206 up-and-comers.
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.
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.
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…
A SEATTLE HIP-HOP BLOG 