Y’all know Yirim Seck from his scene-
stealing local guest spots for a hot minute now. Hear Me Out, his dope debut, is out, so go get it. Vibewise, you could say it’s midway between the Physics’ soulful grown-man rap and Khingz’s fiery “SouFend” freedom songs, but still all Seck’s own. On Thursday, August 20, get it over to Chop Suey, where Seck is celebrating the release of his new CD, with the Physics, Fresh Espresso, LaRue, and DJ WD4D, all hosted by Gabriel Teodros. The next night, Seck will also be at the Summer Classic up at Nectar, a FREE event starring Big World Breaks, Dyme Def, GodSpeed, Khingz, and Helladope (Return to Planet Rock is ’bout to be major), all hosted by the one and only Spaceman! BWB recently dropped their debut, 4 Those Lost…, a funky, Mandrill-hard whirl-up of their signature global styles with unmistakable 206 flavor.
Which reminds me—Thee Satisfaction‘s going-away party
is at Hidmo on August 22; you should take that opportunity to get their
new Snow Motion EP, because it’s daring, deeply DIY, and one of
the year’s very best local releases. Touching on the black nation,
Obama, space, haters, (bi)sexuality, and death (such as on the
Tyrone Love–dedicated title track) in just shy of 20
minutes, Thee Stasia aka Neon Warwick and Cat
Satisfaction paint a vivid, weed-smoke-trailing streak through the
cosmos. That said, they need to stay they asses here, so please,
everybody tell them that.
Check out universal NW soldier J-Mar Da Sik, born in Spokane,
lived in the South End (peep the overpass in front of Franklin High on
the cover), the Eastside, Atlanta, and more, soaking game. J-Mar just
dropped Be a G About It, the full-time grinding MC’s definitive
statement that he and Du4Self (what up E-Real!) are a
movement to be reckoned with. You gotta listen to this album’s whole
stylistic arc, front-loaded with buck chants and blippy space bangers
(“Get Low” is crazy), courtesy of producer Young Native.
But B-side wins again—the second half is part cold-ass rider
music, part soulful, full-disclosure melancholy (“Dead Wrong,” produced
by AJ, and the DJ Sayeed–laced swing low of
“Hustler’s Anthem”) that completes the album’s portrait with depth,
breadth, and heart. The CD release for Be a G is at Nectar on
Wednesday, August 26. Judging from what I heard him do at the Corner a
while back (D’Angelo instrumentals, the prerequisite
signature-drank ditty “Pimp Shake” off his upcoming jazz-hop project
The Cognac Lounge), there’s more good to come. I tried to
told you! This shit is too cracking right now.
Speaking of, please forgive me for not mentioning it before:
If you didn’t know, Massive Monkees (you know, Seattle’s own
incredible key-to-the-city world-champ b-boy superpower, those
guys?) are on America’s Best Dance Crew—MTV, Randy
Jackson, you get it, dawg! You should all tune in on Sunday at
9:00 p.m., watch them wreck fools, and vote a million times (it’s free)
for Massive Monkees, Massive Monkees, MASSIVE MONKEES. I really mean
it. 