TOWN LOVE is an online art museum dedicated to celebrating the vibrant past and present of Northwest Hip-Hop. You can browse by artist or browse by year.

This gallery page is organized to highlight the creative work of

Artist: J-1

As you scroll, items are sorted from most recent to earliest.

A film about Northwest hip-hop from

Beat This

Rapper and musician J-1 recorded this thrilling three-song EP at Soul Studio One, in Tacoma, WA with help from Dangerous “D” and Beatmaster J.E. It was released on T-Town Records in 1989, making it one of Tacoma’s earliest rap records, if not the first.

A favorite cut here is the B-side opener, “On a Roll.” Against a backdrop of electro drums and gangsta synths, J-1 launches into a delightfully evocative monologue about being nasty, but smooth… You could learn a thing or two from him, he’s un-bitable, he can’t be stopped, even in the face of prejudice, he’ll “feed ya some cyanide lyrics, and cook you for supper!” After a lengthy barrage of verses, he switches it up and launches into a two-minute instrumental piano solo.

This whole EP is a real gem of early NW hip-hop. Seek it out!

Beat This was created in and features appearances from:

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