Like you, I grumbled a bit when I heard Bumbershoot was gonna bop us for a day of entertainment from here on. But apparently ditching Friday (one of my favorite high-school activities) has freed up enough One Reel paper to bring in some right decent hiphop—namely big dog Kanye West, your girl's homies Atmosphere, and the not-in-fact-reunited-but-doing-select-shows A Tribe Called Quest. Having been broke/lazy/stupid enough to not have seen ATCQ live once during their tenure, I will be in Memorial Stadium—or whatever it's called—to bear witness to one of hiphop's finest troupes, troop. I might even break from my usual Bumber-perch in the stands and brave the hack circles and the overenthusiastic frat types on the field to get a view of Q-Tip, Phife, and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. One wonders if current GOOD Music artist/former Tribe hanger-on/"weed carrier" Consequence will be onstage with Kanye, who doubtless signed him while in the grips of a wild fit of mid-'90s nostalgia. Tribe's forgotten son, Jarobi, meanwhile, will presumably be checking wristbands at the festival's Mercer Street entrance. Say hi, kids!
Saturday, May 6, a massive assemblage of local talent will be performing at the Emerald City Showcase, curiously enough, going down at Bellevue Community College. Why not? Cross the water and thrill to the sounds of Broken Mic Foundation, Silent Lambs Project, Cyphalliance, War Party Thugs, dRED-i, BYC Crew, Specs One, Otis Calvin, UniverSoul (AKA E-Real Asim of Seatown legends Black Anger), Gabriel Teodros, Alpha P/1st Platoon, and DJ Mr. Supreme, all hosted by Yello Dog and Dirty Dev of Hip Hop 101. No matter your tastes, there's bound to be something for you among this collection of 206 hiphop... even if it's in the 425.
I just got my greasy mitts on the new album from gravelly voiced Frisco vet San Quinn, The Rock: Pressure Makes Diamonds. St. Quincy has delivered a real heatrock here, with a nice balance of hyphy tracks and smooth sample-based gangsta shit... you know, how it used to be. The Simply Red jack on "Holding Back All These Years" may send my boy Tiles into a shit fit, but I think it's freakin' great, with San's reflective OG looking back on dues paid and obstacles overcome. Quinn's holding it down for the entire West, delivering lines like "from Keak Da Sneak to Cool Nutz, I bump my region." Say dat den.
I'd also recommend Fresh Air Ain't Free, the new EP/mix-tape (coppable at www.myspace.com/thefreshairfund) from South Floridians the Fresh Air Fund, which consists of MCs Raw Filth and Butta Verses. You oughta recognize Butta's name from his work with De La Soul, appearing on The Grind Date's "No" and rocking many a stage with the Plugs. Butta definitely shines on Fresh Air Ain't Free, bouncing all over the dope production (from Vitamin D and Bean One among others) with his slippery flow. I also love how he nimbly flips classics like "Patti Dooke" from my #3 desert-island album, Buhloone Mind State. Easy.
