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Sang Stasia!

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

Stas doesn’t so much rap over beats as the emcee/producer’s relaxed flows aerate her misty tracks with the feeling of a dream you’re certain is real. The former THEESatisfaction member might have a New York address now, but she’s still pushing the needle for Seattle hip-hop.

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Love Memo / S'WOMEN

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On The Quarner

On The Quarner was recorded and released in quarantine, inspired by the Miles Davis record of (almost) the same name, featuring nine mind-bending tracks fused into a single, continuous mix. Shortly after it dropped, The Seattle Times declared that On The Quarner was one of “the best Seattle albums of 2020,” praising its “loops and fragments that drift by in a slow-rolling haze, with tightly packed punchlines and metaphors.” KEXP called the record “a masterwork that warrants uninterrupted listens,” adding that “Stas is a sculpture artist, building statues out of every musical element possible, stacking rhyming sounds and pitch-shifted harmonies, unpacking complex thematic concepts and rapping circles around even the best of her peers just for the hell of it.” This year, Stas again proved to be an unstoppable, multitalented force in NW hip-hop.

Here’s another take:

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

Rapper/producer/DJ Stas THEE Boss has blessed us with her first solo project since 2017. With her new EP, completed as the pandemic took hold, the former THEESatisfaction member stitches together a series of pieces into one 16-minute movement that plays like an abbreviated mixtape. While its collection of loops and fragments drift by in a slow-rolling haze, there’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it quality in Stas’ unflappable delivery as she unfolds tightly packed punchlines and metaphors.

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S'WOMEN

Stas Thee Boss subtitles this record, “An aquatic explanation of failed female companionships.” Pitchfork described it as “a collection of innuendos that deliver bravado and honesty with ease.” Regardless what you call ’em, there are 11 terrific tracks here, the sum too short at 23 minutes total running time.

Most songs are dense 120-second pops. French chefs have a name for their tiny, tasty morsels: “amuse-bouche” or “entertaining to the mouth.” Let’s call these songs “amuse-oreille” because they greatly entertain the ears, like little explosions of audio delights.

Back in September, I was talking with Stas outside a party and she said this record is made from “hella samples” and that for her, samples contain life and soul.

In each track, the individual elements breathe at their own pace. Songs slowly coalesce as though you were half-listening to multiple stories all at once… When magically their grooves transfixingly lockstep. I wonder if this is a reflection of Stas’s prolific DJ life, always queuing up a new joint while the current one shakes the speakers.

On December 21, Erykah Badu quoted this memorable verse from “Tried It” to her 2.6 million Instagram followers: “How you got the sage and the incense, but still got the rage in your intent?” These are songs you can listen to 10 or 20 times through and still hear something new. That’s the beauty of breath, and of samples that have souls.

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Stas for Hire

A while ago, when Stas had a regular Wednesday DJ residency at Havana in Capitol Hill, I once saw her perform DJ magic: In the middle of playing a song from Beyoncé’s Lemonade, she extracted a phrase and looped it–imagine a carefully curated skipping record–leaving us in the audience rapt as we repeatedly anticipated an imminent crescendo, extending that one powerful moment into infinity, and transforming a well-loved song into something completely fresh and new.

Stas for Hire is a six-track instrumental beat tape from 2014 composed of short song sketches where she uses this technique is used to great effect, especially on a song like “Kilted then Skirted out.”

“The Many Ways In Which She Tried It” was reworked, rapped upon, and re-released on her 2017 album, S’WOMEN. Though there are no verses on this EP, the voice is sampled and used in oh so many joyous ways.

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