Top of the morning, or whatever. I started out mine much like I did
the day before: hearing Fresh Espresso‘s triumphant “Diamond
Pistols” trumpet from my clock radio. KEXP is loving Rik Rude and P Smoov, and so should you. Glamour is major fuckin’
work and in stores now. In other P Smoov news I’d also like to report:
I’ve come around on Mad Rad. I know, I know. Stranger writer likes Mad Rad, stop the fuckin’ presses, right? Y’all know I was
initially skeptical of White Gold, but their heart, live
insanity, and feverish grind have officially won me over—and I’d
virtually guarantee that you are not working harder than Smoov,
Terry Radjaw, and Buffalo Madonna (and of course, DJ
Darwin) right now. The few things I’ve heard of their next record
sound like some crazy crunk Pet Shop Boys (Dem Pet Shop
Boyz?), and judging from the sweat and very open throngs of
ladies at their shows, they’re bringing a whole lot of sexy back to
local rap—if local rap was ever sexy. I can’t be mad at that, so
neither should you.
Nor should you sleep on the veteran duo of producer BeanOne and MC G.Soulo, collectively known as Dopkwe. Bean’s on
his very best golden-age swang, and G.Soulo’s Brother-J-meets-AZ flow just knocks it out of the park. Listen: Go grab their 10-track
demo free from Bean’s MySpace page (/beanone76), now.
Please! For the children! Speaking of, Bean’s son Saunjay has a killer song on that same page, going in on Toto‘s classic
“Georgy Porgy.” Between that and his awesome run-your-Now&Laters anthem “Candy King,” we need a Saunjay record
next!
Local MC Tulsi is back at ’em with a new EP, Nothing to No
One, produced entirely by SpecsOne, which piques my interest
(and it should be noted here that Specs as a true Seattle original and
sonic iconoclast goes too often underappreciated). Tulsi’s got a couple
solid releases under his belt (Fresh Points on Life and
Waterflow), but I think his mostly workmanlike flow would sound
dope on Specs’s dusty double-feature weirdness. Check the CD release at
Chop Suey on July 17 with Specs, Thee Satisfaction, and DJ
Able.
The next evening, one of my favorite Canadians ever, the inestimable
turntable stylist A-Trak, eh, is cold rocking a party at Chop:
the 10,000 Lb. Hamburger Tour featuring Treasure Fingers, Rye
Rye, the Dowlz, and OK Dave. If you missed
M.I.A.‘s protégé Rye Rye at Neumos, here’s your
chance. This party is going to be insanely popping, or my name’s not
Orville Redenbacher. Then, July 19 at Nectar, the whole damn
Doomtree fam’ straight outta Minneapolis put it down. Headed up
by Rhymesayers’ punk-as-fuck powerhouse P.O.S., Doomtree as a
collective run the gamut from heart-on-hoodie-strings emo raps to
fist-pumping, burn-this-mother-down anthems. Go see about it. Also,
many of your girlfriends will be at this show, I promise—if
they’re not busy with Mad Rad. 