Last week I saw something incredible. Jake One, DV One, Tha Stahi Bros, Fatal Lucciauno, Spaceman, the Saturday Knights, Grayskul, Cancer Rising, Nite Owls, J.Pinder, Dyme Def, GMK, Blue Scholars, Grynch, Macklemore, Common Market, Piece, the Physics, Mad Rad, and others all sat in a room, ate a crackin'-ass dinner, drank like fuckin' fish, and gave a series of short, intimate, straight-up-thrilling performances. It was definitely one of the favorite experiences I've had since being involved in music—and this is coming from someone who got to fucking meet Marvin Gaye. I want to thank photographer Chase Jarvis and restaurateur Michael Hebb for putting that incredible event together. Having so much of our incredible scene under one roof, sharing their talents, sharing a damn good time, put us all on the same page for once and (color me a hippie here) fostered a real sense of family—a feeling that I haven't yet shaken. Okay—even without my grandiose sentiments, it's major just having everybody together in a setting like that, and seeing what each other can do in a real way.

I hope we can all keep that feeling going, remember it, and let it inform all our interactions in the future.

But now lemme inform you of some things you need in your personal future—like a li'l show at Nectar on January 22 starring one of the town's illest, Khingz. Hopefully on the verge of finally, at long last, dropping his album From Slaveships to Spaceships, the man once known as Khalil Crisis (hey, somebody loan me a copy of his Vitamin D–helmed debut Mi Vida Negra, huh?) is sure to shake the crowd up with his fiery brand of gumbo—part dread-whipping crunkrock crazy, part lifelong street rep real, part hello-third-world diaspora dialectic. He'll be in damn good company, too, as Step Cousins (XPerience and Macklemore), Waves of the Mind (Mic Flont, Inkubiz, and Khanfidenz), DJ WD4D, and host Rajnii Eddins (of Alpha P) will have his back.

On January 23, you've got a choice between talent-packed lineups: The Corner or "Bring Em Back Home"? The Corner (now on its 10th edition) is at the Rendezvous, featuring Lightheaded's Othello and Ohmega Watts, Dee.aLe (of OG 206 crew DMS—you know, "Back Up off My Tip"—and dude is killing it right now, too), Xperience, and Mr. Hill. Go check out Dee.aLe's MySpace page (/darealdeeale) and get up to speed—homey got spits. "Bring Em Back Home" at Neumos is a tribute to the Seattle Supersonics (RIP) featuring Neema, Grynch, Wizdom, Spaceman, DJs Money D and 100Proof, hosted by Jay Barz. Dave "Softy" Mahler of KJR Sports Radio, number-one Seattle sports fan Big Lo, Cedric Ceballos, and the Sonics Dance Team will also be there; I just know one of you fuckers on the bill is going to shed some manly, maudlin tears onstage for our lost team—I'm lookin' at you, Wiz! recommended