Look at your foot. —Treach
Yeah, check it out: What are those things covering your feet? Nike, Converse, New Balance, Adidas, Supra, Creative Recs, Alifes... is there anything more common to the 30-year-old global hiphop experience than sneakers? (Macklemore's genius "Air Jordans" monologue now comes to mind.) Shouts to all the places 206 heads cop 'em, from Sneaker City to Champs (ha) to all the fly boutiques like Goods, Rock Paper Scissors, Winner's Circle, and my folks over at Triple Crown, formerly known as Laced Up. TC is throwing a shindig at the Lo-Fi on March 27 called Shoe Shine, featuring a custom shoe installation from Emmanuel Labor and sets from DJs Fever One and blesOne, plus They Live! and TC fam B-Awake. B-Awake just dropped his debut album, Classic Material, a promising collection of the young MC's sober ruminations on self-elevation, greed, and poverty. The whole affair is exquisitely produced, with the majority handled by BeanOne (who also edited/arranged the album, giving it a seriously fluid DJ's touch; man, more cats need to arrange their albums!); the album also features productions from Jake One, Bladerunner, and Boop Nice. On the mic, freshman MC Awake has some personality, a welcome humility, and solid skills. I look forward to what he comes with in the future, but Material is definitely his best foot forward.
That same night (March 27), starting late (it's a party, y'all), is the first-anniversary edition of The Corner at the Rendezvous, featuring Corner founder Candidt, JFK of Grayskul, Silent Lambs Project with Felicia Loud (the killer combo known as Black Stax), Rudy and the Rhetoric, and Mr. Hill. By now you gotta know about this one: The intimacy of a basement Solo-Cup party; fierce, rep-making performances; and an unmistakable 206-hop family vibe have made The Corner a monthly must-do for anybody who loves Emerald City hiphop. Candidt's envisioning of a regular show where veterans and new jacks alike (a veritable who's who of both have performed here) have to really show and prove has paid off in a devoted following for his monthly party. I guarantee some surprises, some sweat, and plenty of the town's finest getting faded like 501s in the Jewelbox Theater.
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I recently sat in on a listening session for GMK's Songs for Bloggers EP, and it's definitely some next shit; here, GMK finds his opaque, tech-obsessed rhyme style buoyed on the Prince-funky futurism provided chiefly by Dot (who you might know as Vitamin D's younger bro). Clocking in around 30 minutes, the EP's ADHD rhythms sound much like an audio analog of the six-windows-open net-surfing experience. GMK and Dot have crafted an extremely ambitious project that succeeds wildly; I think this could be a name-making project for both. As the Golden Mic King would say himself: brilliant. 
