Saturday, November 25, you hiphop-minded types got a couple of choices. One, you can go ‘head and get your lefty on at Neumo’s with two names you can trust: the Coup and Mr. Lif. Both are always a good bet for politically minded rap blessedly paired with dope, danceable beats and well-developed senses of humor, and both are local faves. A few of my favorite NW locals are also opening up—the Step Cousins (Macklemore and Xperience) and Braille of PDX’s Lightheaded.
If, however, you’re feeling saucy and actually wanna get off the Hill to see some rap, go check out Main Squeeze at Nectar that same night so you can catch one of Seatown’s youngest in charge, Grynch. His debut, This Is What I Do, and his tight, if badly named, mix tape, How the Grynch Stole Hiphop, showcase his undeniable skill—plus, dude can rock a stage. Don’t sleep on Seatown—there’s a whole lot happening.
DMC demigod and Invisibl Skratch Piklz founder DJ Q-Bert will be holding court at Chop Suey on Wednesday, November 29, punishing direct drives and boggling minds as always; it’s a rare treat, too, as dude is giving you two sets of the raw. Also opening up that night are the 206’s own turntable vandals the Elefaders, with a two-hour set. Showbot, Able, and Hail have been representing since 2003, and in ’05 they were invited to bring their styles to the Universal Zulu Nation’s 32nd anniversary in Harlem. All fans of turntablism should just watch their moves like Dooley-O, dig?
I know what y’all niggaz asking yourself
Is he gonna ever fall off?
Here we are in the fourth quarter, and the labels are bringing out the big guns. There probably isn’t a bigger “event” album than Jay-Z‘s Kingdom Come, and the hype threatens to reach a Scanners-style, ear-splitting fever pitch, with Hov seemingly everywhere at once. Let’s run it down—he’s partnering with the UN to raise awareness of the global water shortage (via his recent world tour), he’s shilling for HP, he’s “cobrand director” for Budweiser Select (whatever the hell that means), he’s one of GQ‘s Men of the Year, he’s doing anti-anti-Semitism PSA’s with Russell Simmons, and, let’s not forget, he’s running a successful label, putting out some other anticipated LPs (namely the Def Jam debut of former rival Nas‘s Hip Hop Is Dead). So the real slam dunk would be for this to be another Hov classic. Fact of the matter, Kingdom Come truly is an event—it’s the first mediocre Jay-Z album. Jay’s legendary focus is nowhere to be found, as he shuffles offbeat and chooses awkward cadences—and somehow, at his most secure, his confidence seems shaken; the very heart of the album appears to be his own insecurity as he grows older. There are real cases to be made for thirtysomething rap—comfortable-in-my-own-skin cats like Ghostface or RA the Rugged Man—but for the first time, Shawn Corey is sounding like he’s trying. Thing is, his comeback is supposed to be so freakin’ great for hiphop—but seeing another one of rap’s heroes slipping sure as hell doesn’t make me feel any better.