My Philosophy

First off, if you haven’t seen the video for Jake One‘s
“Home” yet, stop reading and hit the YouTube immediately. I’ll wait…
Glad you did, huh? You see my cameo? Whatever. “Home”—featuring
Vitamin D, Narkotik‘s own C-Note, Maineak
Tubman, and Ish—was already the gorgeous Seattle-pride
anthem off of White Van Music, and now it’s the single
greatest 206 rap video to date. Director Zia Mohajerjasbi has outdone himself—that gorgeous tone, that muted color is
Seattle to a perfect T; the landmarks and lyrical references resonate
like tuning forks in visual form, right down to the re-creation of
Supreme‘s hating on Mix-A-Lot from the OG “Posse on
Broadway” video. Admitted hometown bias aside, it’s a beautiful thing.
Hopefully it’ll help you with that pride thing I was telling you about
a couple weeks ago.

Seattle now has its first real entry in the blog-rap category:
GMK‘s new EP, appropriately (and ever self-consciously) titled
Songs for Bloggers. Clocking in at just under 30 minutes, this
quick-moving concept record explores the nooks and crannies of Al
Gore’s creation—some of you call it the internets—finding
the quirks and nuances of “human interaction” that happen in the space
between the ones and zeroes. Striving to find some kind of
connection, our hero clicks, drags, IMs, and Gchats through the
disinformation superhighway in short, spacey vignettes occasionally
punctuated by a chorus of anonymous side chatter, evoking the kind of
robust discourse often found in YouTube video comments (“This is not
the same dude from White Van Music!”). The effect is spacious
yet claustrophobic, curious yet self-absorbed—the audio
equivalent of traversing the infinite digital terrain from your
dirty-ass room. It’s an engaging, fun listen, both as shallow and as
deep as virtual life can be.

The production (courtesy of Dot, known to many of y’all as
Vitamin D’s younger bro) is all post-Kanye synth washes and warbly
Auto-Tune hooks; he seriously shines on the shimmery sunfunk of “Adult
Swim” and the surging, fully charged hello-motorik of the EP’s best
moment, “Music Swinger.” GMK’s own halting, abbreviated flow is a study
in rap minimalism, conjuring opaque visuals about blog templates,
Robot Chicken, and unfulfilling LDRs (is there another kind?) in
a funky, less-is-more manner that recalls Slum Village‘s
T3 and Baatin at their “Untitled” best. GMK’s trajectory
grows ever more intriguing; it’s clear he’s looking to actually
do something different and not just say he’s doing something
different. If you’re feeling way 2.0, and ready for some
forward-looking local sounds, make sure you download Songs,
bandwidth willing.

Then take a break from the babble box right quick and catch a couple
shows. On June 4, go see Gran Rapids (a dope, up-and-coming duo
given to party rhymes and animal costumes), the Let Go, and
DJ Swervewon at High Dive. On June 9, check the Cypress
Hill don B-Real at Studio Seven with Bone Thugs‘ own
Bizzy Bone (along with my guy Bruce Illest, 5
Mics, D.I.V., and DJ Pheloneous). Because you can’t
download a show yet—unless it’s on SyncLive, I guess.