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Nightsalone: Redwoods Vol 1

This beat tape from Tacoma beatmaker and producer Wffls was mostly composed in the middle of the night, during periods of solitude and meditation. Sampling from a wide variety of jazz sources, he took inspiration from the concept of “woodshedding,” where musicians find a private place to rehearse alone, and also from nocturnal forest landscapes of the PNW. It’s no surprise that the opening track “Alonetro // Nightcalls (feat. Marissa Kall)” received more than 50,000 streams on Apple Music in the first month.

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Demo Mix '17

This seven-song mixtape, Demo Mix ’17, from Scribe Mecca, Yodi Mac and Wffls, is only available on physical CD-R. In an age when the public acts increasingly entitled to steam anything they want for free, it’s refreshing to see the conviction of these Tacoma musicians in producing a rarity: An underground physical release that you have to put effort into obtaining. (i.e. Go follow and DM the creators.) I will say you should absolutely go seek this one out. It hits the ground running: It seems impossible for these guys to write a bad song. There’s an overall laid-back vibe like you’re hanging out in a basement with a tuneful trifecta. Singalong raps like track 3, “Don’t waste your time you’re better off” or track 4, which recontextualizes samples from Rihanna’s Anti, are refreshingly out-of-step from what you’d expect from trap-centric Tac. (p.s. These guys should totally do a collaboration with fellow Tacoma resident Noo.) The last track, “ENEMIES,” recently found its way onto SoundCloud alongside a coveted Luna God remix. This whole mixtape is fire.

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The Shrouded Door

Listening to The Shrouded Door, a powerful new EP from Tacoma hip-hop duo B.A. the Scribe and Wffls, will leave you good and angry. Released on Election Day, it frames Donald Trump’s victory as no surprise—just the latest manifestation of a growing cancer in American society. It opens with the lines “Can’t look at my phone no more, it makes me mad.” We live in a country where law-abiding black citizens are murdered by police, where we tolerate injustice and your social media hashtag protests ain’t gonna do nothing. These six dense tracks are a call to action, a call to courage and hope. This is not a time to cower and hide. I’m reminded of a quote from our 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt: “Get action. Do things; be sane; don’t fritter away your time; create, act, take a place wherever you are, and be somebody; get action.” Great guest verses from Yodi Mac on “No Hands.”

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