If you were at Nectar back in March, you might've caught the PUSH MC Battle, judged by Jake One, Sabzi, and yours truly. The judges got to lay out their individual (and oft hilarious) impressions between rounds, Ă la that one show you watch. It was a dope event, light on battle clichĂŠs and high on high jinks. If you wanna see a repeat, come to Nectar on Friday, August 17, for the Taking Names Battle, hosted by our own Cigar Rockstar Rik Rude, with wax spun by "b-boy William Wallace" djblesOne and custom beats from Dyme Def's MC/DJ Brainstorm. Sabzi and I will be in the house again, doing what we do bestâjudging people and pointing out their faultsâafter some of Seattle's best MCs do much the same, to each other, in far less diplomatic terms. If you're the kind of masochist that eats that shit up, I'll see you there.
That same night is the Sneaker Pimps show at the Showbox (and no, it's not the shitty '90s triphop crew), a world-renowned sneaker exhibition/shoe porn convention for a great deal of y'all who have (parents with) disposable incomes. Just when it gets no better, it's headlined by MF Doom, the Rapper Most Likely to Be Embarrassed by His Fans. Just kidding man, you're cool, you're coolâand yes, Operation Doomsday is a desert-island joint for me. Also on the bill are DJ DV One, DJ Sean C, MC N/NW, and Sportn' Life's J.Pinder. I'd like to report right now that Pinder is going to fucking kill shit when he drops... to get you ready for The Backpack Theory, he's soon to drop the mixtape Backpack Wax, with the young'un lacing a selection of classic breaks with his slick flow. Go to J-Dot-P's MySpace page now and peep "That Love" immediately, 'cause wow, that's one of the best Vitamin D beats ever...
Speaking of the Lifeâthe next night, Saturday, August 18, is the goddamn Sportn' Life Five-Year Anniversary show at Chop Suey! It's a trip to think that Sportn' Life comp came out that long ago! That said, this show is the One, like homie from Point Break... peep game. D.Black, J.Pinder, Cancer Rising, Grynch, DJ Jake One (yezzir), Life Behind Barz, GMK, and Tac-Town's own Jay Barz (request his "Rainier Fitted" on your favorite radio station, 'cause it's fresh), all throwing down. It's all ages, and the first 50 heads in the door walk with a FREE copy of D.Black's debut album, The Cause & Effect. Yeah buddy! If you somehow miss this showâand forget to slap fire out of yourselfâplease shoot me an e-mail, because I have a dedicated staff willing to immediately assist you.
Of course I'd be remiss if I avoided one last conflict of interest and failed to direct you to 206proof.com, the newest message board dedicated to Seattle hiphop. Between 206 Proof, the Mass Line forums, the Siccness.net "Northwest" boards, and NorthwestB-Boys.com you could spend all day speakin' on the six on the internet. As if I don't. 
