Best thing I've seen all week: a KOMO News story about runaway steers invading a Puyallup convenience store (why not?), featuring color commentary from Mr10K himself, Neema. Seems the arrival of said cows in that locale was not unexpected, though, as Neema's classic response was simply "It happens." Pure Zen.
What the Doublemint? What are the chances of two lovely pairs of sisters rocking in town on the same night? First, you got NYC's badass Boricua wonder twins Nina Sky—who be on some bullshit, fuck what you heard. They'll be doing their reggaeton/hiphop/club thing down at Venom on Thursday, September 23. That same evening, you've also got the French-Afro-awesome sister act Les Nubians down at the Showbox Sodo, strutting their jazzy, smoky stuff; opening up will be the silk/sandpaper stylings of 206 veteranos Black Stax.
You'll recall Dead Prez were down in Oly a couple of weeks ago; they might have come across some good weed or something, because they're just now getting up to Seattle, Chop Suey to be exact, where they'll be rocking with Suntonio Bandanaz (with DJ Seabefore), Orbitron, Graves 33, Nathan Wolfe, DJ Gumbeaux, and your host King Khazm on Tuesday, September 28. DP's rap is harder than the gutterest grimiest gangsta shit, being that they're talking about dumping on cops and taking power back from the rich and all, but their controversial talking points may have caused some folks to overlook the fact that they are damn good MCs with some compelling music in their catalog. Could be crazy to see a Seattle crowd chanting, "Slap a white boy," so you know what to do. Otherwise, that same night the homies Champagne Champagne are opening up for the grinnin' dance-punk stylings of Matt & Kim at the Showbox at the Market.
Got a hold of LaRue's new album, Saturn Returns, a 14-track-strong feast of frustration ("Back to the Old Me"), braggadocio ("Grown Man Grind"), and solidarity ("Rise Up"). The album's title refers to an astrological concept: the time when Saturn returns to the same degree it occupied at your birth—roughly a 29.5-year process, the idea being that around 29 or 30 is when the structures you have built your life and person upon are tested and you truly become an adult. The track truest to the LP's loose adherence to this concept is also my favorite, the album closer "Foot Steps"—a story of unplanned pregnancy, fatherhood, and breaking from the example shown by his own father, all floated on Marvin Gaye's silky moan from "What's Going On." Saturn is rock-solid hiphop, with some moments of true dope—touching on his grind, his people, his culture—but at times, when LaRue tries to prove his steel and lyrical fitness (and make no mistake, he's got 'em), he'd be better off crafting material as universal, emotionally resonant, and mature as he does in that one stirring song. 
