Go on, relentlessly I continue...

I sit here listening to the mandatory listening, classic Seattle comp 14 Fathoms Deep—specifically the track "Continuations" by Union of Opposites, featuring a verse from my homie Shomari "Sho Nuph" Shanks, a beloved veteran MC and good spirit who many of y'all know. My thoughts are with the big homie—one of the coolest, most positive and knowledgeable cats I've met in this burg; last summer Sho experienced end-stage renal failure (that is, both his kidneys stopped working). Shomari needs a transplant, and like the majority of artists in this town, he's uninsured; so the good folks of 206 Zulu and his friends (including some of the town's best from the hiphop and electronic scenes) are throwing him a benefit called ALL4SHO. Lineup includes Afrika Bambataa's son and the inventor of hipstep, TC Izlam, along with Flave, Gabriel Teodros, Aaron Walker-Loud, Naha, Darrius Willrich, Asun, WD4D, Silver Shadow D, Massive Monkees, Soulshifters, BYC, Noisemaker, Andrew Luck, Grym, Silent Lambs Project, Orbitron, Tecumseh, Dev J, Miss Broadway, Sonic MC, Theory, Sky Rose, La Balianne, Jason Curtis, Northstar, Topspin, Ra Khan, Slantooth, Lifecycle, Lukki, and Stone 1. It's going down Thursday, June 11, at Trinity, people. It's five bones, it's a great lineup, and it's Sho—fucking do it already!

Seatown's favorite New York City dealers of swagadelia, Camp Lo, are back (after their reportedly nutso show at War Room from months back), spreading the "amaretta" over at Chop Suey, Friday, June 12, with Fatal Lucciauno, Clockwork, and Helladope! Your host is none other than the Stay High Brother number one, Vitamin D, plus DJs Sosa and Mr. Marc Sense. This time I'll be in town, thank god—I've already enthused enough over the Lo-ah in these pages—but can I hereby put in an official request to Camp Lo to call upon the big homie Ish, if he's available (totally unrelated, you should hear this new Shabazz Palaces ish), for "Swing"? Everything I've heard off of their new album, Stone and Rob: Caught on Tape, is straight heat like last week.

Almost there, and there's still some great, must-see shows this week... Saturday, June 13, at Motor (First Avenue South and Holgate, pimp), check out the Saturday Knights, Fatal Lucciauno, the Girls, DJ Sessions, and AZ the Phonomancer. That's a good fucking time—and don't sleep on these sneaky-awesome mixed-bill shows, hiphop and rock fans. Sunday, June 14, at Nectar is the CD release for Make More, the new album from Sandpeople's foremost major threat, Sapient. Also rocking the bill is Candidt, Xperience, Rudy and the Rhetoric, Iame, Smoke, and Sadistik, with host Macklemore. Monday, June 15, at the Columbia City Theater, check out Kokane—a name a lot of you are familiar with, but I'm actually talking about the veteran MC/singer formerly of Above the Law and Ruthless Records. Cop Funk upon a Rhyme and you can just thank me when you see me in the streets, which I'm used to by now. Just kidding.