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. recommended