‘Hip-Hop’ Archives
Dibiase – “Lumberjack”
Hailing from L.A and the hip-hop sample swarm therein, Dibiase creates an electronic synthesis easy to view as an inevitability. 8-bit video games, funk-groove, and strident soul samples mash together for a sonic condiment that can be described as chunky and bold in taste, a boldness that could make many roll their eyes with the advantage of hindsight. However hindsight has never been a virtue [...]
Song of the Day: Murs – “And This is For”
"And This is For..." is one of my favorite Murs tracks. I started thinking about this song after I saw the Capitol Hill Block Party hip-hop lineup. An always timely song, reminding us that "we ain't the same color when police show up" and that those of us with lighter skin are "blessed to have a chance to even glance the scene." For real.
Tonight in Music: Vampire Weekend, Cancer Rising, and more!
Vampire Weekend, Beach House, Dum Dum Girls @ Marymoor Park | 8/29 | 6 pm | $47.50 | All Ages Once upon a time they were just some boys from Columbia, with the catchy single "Oxford Comma" that would define their sound. That was when I saw them at Capitol Hill Block Party 2008. Some in the audience danced and held their heads in sheer joy. Others scowled and stuck their hands deeper [...]
BumberPick: Helladope Gives SSG a Private Show!
Seattle hip-hop/funk duo Helladope has been shutting it down this year. I've talked hip-hop with a lot of folks recently and asked them who they think are the local hip-hop acts to watch. Larry Mizell Jr. of KEXP's radio show "Street Sounds" and Ishmael Butler of renowned avantgarde hip-hop crew Shabazz Palaces are two men deeply ingrained in the local rap psyche and have both named Helladope as [...]
Tonight in Music: Grayskul, Shemekia Copeland
Xperience, Grayskul, Black Stax, Sonny Bonoho, hosted by Macklemore @ The Nectar Lounge | 8/19 | 9 pm | $5 doors/$10 with album | 21+ Grayskul live on KEXP This show is Xperience's release party for his new album William the VII. As usual, he's rolling with Oldominion cohorts like Grayskul and Sonny Bonoho. This means groups will overlap on songs like XP's new "Black Nails," which features [...]
Rhymesayers’ Psalm One Drops New Single & Video
Psalm One, first lady of Rhymesayers Entertainment, has a new LP, Woman At Work Vol. 3, available for download. Get it for the price of NOTHING, here. Psalm traces the footsteps of women emcees like MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, and Lauryn Hill. She has a comfortable ease with her rhymes which is on display in the nonchalant first single, "Woman At Work (The Song)." Peep the video and download the [...]
Win Tickets to LaRue Album Release Show @ Chop Suey
LaRue w/ P. Washington, Yirim Seck, Quarter After, M Pact and DJ Intylek @ Chop Suey | 08/20 | 8:00 pm | $8 | All ages The Seattle underground hip hop scene is booming and there’s no one who deserves to succeed more than 29-year-old LaRue. Honing his craft since age 14, Jawaan LaRue enlisted in the army upon graduation to avoid the streets, and spent eight years in the service. During a [...]
Bodega System – Ditch Masters
Score: 6.5/10 Release Date: February 6th, 2010 Label: Grant's Tomb Bodega System MySpace The Internet tends to bring the popular audience together across vast geographic distance in the name of music. All it takes is a MySpace profile out fitted appropriately, affiliation with other groups, and the process of coming up through the musical hierarchy in a layered manner as a group gains [...]
Gabriel Teodros & Amos Miller’s “Air 2 A Bird”
The spirit of Gabriel Teodros' music has always resided in the space between oppression and uprising, in that delicate and fleeting balance called Justice. His musical philosophy is all-inclusive in that it considers perspectives from every walk of life, but its primary concern lies with those marginalized by overarching repressive forces. So, in the Fall of last year, when the would-be [...]
Digable Planets at Neumos on 8/20
Digable Planets @ Neumos | 8/20 | 8 pm | $17 ADV | 21+ Before his current incarnation as the enigmatic Palaceer Lazaro, founding member of forward-thinking hip-hop collective Shabazz Palaces, Seattle's Ishmael Butler was known by another name and another group. In the early to mid-90's Digable Planets held a place in the consciousness of hip-hop heads everywhere, and Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler [...]
