At present, two labels dominate the local indie hiphop scene: Mass Line, first, and Sportn' Life Records, second. The two have clear identities and areas of representation. Mass Line is essentially out of Beacon Hill and represents global Seattle, the part of the city that's connected with immigration flows from the East, the Far East, and East Africa. Sportn' Life, on the other hand, is essentially out of the Central District and represents the black American experience. In fact, the very reason for Sportn' Life's existence, which began five years ago, was to rebuild and recenter hiphop in a neighborhood that was devastated by crack, gangs, and violent crime.
The Central District is hiphop's first home in Seattle. It arrived here in the early '80s, and by the early '90s, it had produced a superstar rapper, Sir Mix-A-Lot, and the highest-selling single in the history of the Pacific Northwest, "Baby Got Back." But after Mix-A-Lot/Kid Sensation/Nasty Ness peaked, the neighborhood lost much of its visibility. Hiphop, of course, was still an important part of the street and club life of the CD, but little was happening beyond promoting hiphop shows and dance clubs.
"The reason why we started Sportn' Life back in 2003," says the label's part-owner and founder DeVon Manier, "is because there hadn't really been a voice coming out of our community, our black community, in a very long time. There hadn't been a source for some quality music in the hood. The Central District and South Seattle was almost out of the picture."
In 2003, Sportn' Life released its first CD, a compilation of acts primarily from the Central District area: Vitamin D, Silent Lambs Project, and the great Central Intelligence. Also on the compilation was Oldominion, whose center is really Capitol Hill, and BeanOne, who builds beats in the basement of a University District house. But Sportn' Life really didn't become substantial until last year, when it released D.Black's debut, The Cause & Effect. What marked this release from the earlier compilations and mixtapes was the professionalism of the marketing and production.
Few hiphop labels in this city can match the kind of organization that Sportn' Life has built over the years. The label aggressively promotes its acts, hires the best local producers, works the streets, gets its artists on stages, and provides the media with new material months before it's released. For example, everyone knew about D.Black's debut almost four months before the record hit the streets, and as for J.Pinder, if you don't know about his debut CD, The Backpack Theory—which will not see the light of day until late fall—you know nothing about local hiphop. The only other indie label in town that has that kind of preparation is Mass Line.
Despite Sportn' Life's strong work ethic and commitment to high standards, the label still struggles to obtain the brilliant recognition that Mass Line basks in. Why? Because many of its acts are from the streets, they rap about thug life and gang realities.
"The Seattle market is harder for us than the national market," explains Manier. "When you do a gangsta record that's about shit happening in your own backyard, the buyers here tend to freak out and stay away from it. But a gangsta record from out of town, like G-Unit or Jay-Z, they'll buy it. Seattle wants a safe distance from hardcore rap."
Indeed, one of Sportn' Life's rappers, Fatal Lucciauno, is presently serving an 18-month sentence for some street-related hustle. "But we not only do gangsta shit," Manier says. "We also have J.Pinder, who is much more in the Common/Kanye West school of hiphop. So our label is really about the diversity of the streets."
Another curious characteristic of Sportn' Life is the youth of its artists. Not one of the rappers and singers in its camp are over the age of 21. And this is something Manier, who is 37, wants to emphasize. His label is not for his generation, but the youth.
"That's what I have in common with BeanOne," he says. "We're old, but we prefer youth energy. That's what gets us excited. I started working with D.Black and Fatal Lucciauno when they were 14. And I even have turned over half of the label to D.Black because it's really about the young cats."
As for the label's name, where does it come from? To my surprise, it's not the name of the mischievous character in the opera Porgy and Bess, Sportin' Life, but instead taken from '80s street slang.
Explains Manier: "You know back then, you would say, sporting this, sporting that. Well, this label is sporting life." 
