"Yeah, I play harmonica while I rap—fuck you." The informal graduation party for Shoreline Community College's music department naturally has a lineup of student acts on the main stage in the basement. The party begins with the quick dispatch of a Disney princess piñata, leaving candy and Pop-Tarts strewn across the lawn for the rest of the night. The first musical act is an engaged singer and guitarist couple, who warm up the crowd with jokes about drinking whales (and an aside from the singer admitting she didn't actually graduate) before transitioning into festive songs about leukemia.

The aforementioned rapper puts out quick, sharp rhymes to heavy bass that reverberates and intensifies in the cramped space. In one song, he describes certain individuals to be "deep like the plots in pornos." Following this, with a few shout-outs to Shoreline faculty, he raps his final project for pop theory class.

As the next group sets up, I warm myself against a backyard bonfire, fueled by scrap from around the garage. I wonder if it's legal to do this in Seattle, but the amount of green flame illuminating the other partyers usurps this train of thought and instead makes me wonder if I'm slowly being poisoned. Shortly thereafter, the keg is tapped out, but more graduates keep arriving, transforming the party into a BYOB event. The cupcake supply holds steady as the final set of graduates show off their state-certified musical skills. recommended

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