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: SassyBlack

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

A film about Northwest hip-hop from

Stuck

In their annual year-end critics’ poll, The Seattle Times ranked Stuck as one of the very best Seattle albums of 2020, saying:

The Seattle neo-soul staple drapes her jazzy-as-ever vocals over crisp, futuristic productions leaning on electro-funk and psychedelic synths. Fresh out of funks to give, SassyBlack triumphs over anxiety and buoyantly dismisses cop-calling “Karens” who value dogs above Black lives on her second EP of the year.

Stuck was created in and features appearances from:

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Space Daze Beat Craze

Over the past eight months, we’ve all struggled with not only surviving this pandemic but thriving in spite of it. Early on, SassyBlack rose to the challenge by launching a weekly livestream of music, improvisation, and comedy on Twitch—for two hours every week when she’d engage with fans and create work live in front of us. Those efforts over weeks and months led to the release of Space Daze Beat Craze on Bandcamp, 21 tracks of spacey beats, improvised jams, and hologram funk. A wide range of ideas are explored here—some more fleshed out than others—but it’s the rawness of these tracks and the window they provide into the creative process that makes this release so rewarding. (To any rappers reading this: SassyBlack makes beats that you can buy!) SassyBlack also dropped two hella fine EPs this year. The most recent one, Stuck, includes the tune, “Karen Don’t Care,” which pointedly comments on the realities of our wild year.

Space Daze Beat Craze was created in and features appearances from:

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Ancient Mahogany Gold

I’ve found Ancient Mahogany Gold sounds best on a patient, quiet morning when its honest affirmations caress your ears at the start of a new day. KEXP says this is a record about “being true to yourself,” while Alternative Sound describes the lyrics as “empowering, energizing, and comforting.” Bandcamp declared this one of their “Albums of the Day” and The Stranger says “you’ll find yourself absentmindedly offering support to your neglected inner child.” This record of personal ritual fittingly debuted alongside a custom SassyBlack cannabis blend.

Here’s another take:

In their annual year-end critics’ poll, The Seattle Times ranked Ancient Mahogany Gold as one of the very best Seattle albums of 2019, saying:

“I’m from space, I’m not from this earth,” professes Seattle’s cosmic R&B queen on funky, synth-clunking album closer “Black Excellence.” We’re inclined to believe her. The third solo album from THEESatisfaction alum SassyBlack is likely to send body and mind (not necessarily together) into the thermosphere with the wavy synths and nimble bass lines of the aptly titled “Sweet Vibes” and starry glider “Depression.” It’s no wonder her holistic new record, born into the galaxy this fall, inspired a cannabis oil of the same name.

Ancient Mahogany Gold was created in and features appearances from:

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Wakanda Funk Lounge

Twisted Soul calls this Black Panther-inspired project “a ray of sunshine crammed with intricate details … A wonderful array of electronic R&B and soulful gems interspersed with subtle jazz touches.” Shondaland says this is “emotionally and sonically complex music celebrating black freedom that’s meant to make us think.” While Scratched Vinyl reminds you to head to the dance floor because of these “smooth dance anthems about black pride and the powerful mythology of Wakanda that will get your feet shuffling.”

Wakanda Funk Lounge was created in and features appearances from:

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New Black Swing

In the three years since the dissolution of THEESatisfaction, SassyBlack has released nine projects: two full-length albums, three beat tapes and four EPs. For anyone devouring this prolific output, you’ll bear witness to an artist finding new footing, traveling through the cocoon to unveil this 2017 butterfly, New Black Swing. Early on the record, the stripped-down “Passion Paradise” seduces you softly with a slow burn, spacious synths, heavy bass, and sweet R&B vocals. That’s the case with many of the songs: starting skeletal, and then through verses and chorus, adding tendon and skin, until emerging fully, foot-tappingly formed around the three-minute mark. These songs demand repeated listening, each journey through revealing new layers and levels. Catchy single “Glitches” has a danceable snap-skip-step beat, while lyrics explore one’s struggles with trust and intimacy at the start of any new relationship. Intimacy is a good way to describe many of the tracks here, be it the hypnotic “I’ll Wait For You,” the phat guitars halfway through “What We Gonna Do,” or the singalong backstep funk of “Worthy.” There’s an Indiegogo-sponsored vinyl-edition rumored for release this summer. These songs are gonna sing sweetly on that vinyl. Regardless, I’m already addicted to this release.

New Black Swing was created in and features appearances from:

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Personal Sunlight

Last night, SassyBlack played a gorgeously hypnotic show at the laser dome. What a trip! All future hip hop shows should be performed there. She played several songs from her excellent 2015 six-track EP, Personal Sunlight, pictured here. Between weirdo synth stabs and off-kilter beats, this EP rewards patience. A song like “What’s The Sun Without The Rain” takes time to coalesce, but is a joy when you relax and let the music unfurl. This track is a particular favorite of mine, on a record full of favorites, critical of our sloth, an anthem of anti-corporate environmentalism… I find myself repeatedly singing, “They profit off our season depression.” (Also refreshing is music about more than just “makin’ it.”) Not quite hip-hop, not quite neo-jazz, with records like this, Sassy Black continues to invent new musical genres.

Personal Sunlight was created in and features appearances from:

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No More Weak Dates

Listening to the new solo record from SassyBlack today. No More Weak Dates is the best sort of nouveau disco—strange, soulful music with snappy beats that you might initially feel shouldn’t work, but it does, and later you realize you’ve been humming along. Her lyrics pull from a wide range of personal themes: Star Trek, throwing shade, the dating scene, and dairy obsession. (Trust me: You’ll love that song.) One of my favorites is the slow-burn relationship realization described in “Forest of Desire.” As an advocate of the Seattle hip-hop scene, Cat is very inspiring to me: I often see her out at shows supporting other artists, standing in the cheering section. She’s active in the scene, hustles her butt off, and turns her beliefs into action. And she’s one hell of a musician, and innovative beat maker, too.

No More Weak Dates was created in and features appearances from:

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