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Tag: Clockwork

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A film about Northwest hip-hop from

Byrd's Eye View

Byrdie was a unique talent in the Seattle rap scene who was taken from us far too soon. Byrdie got his start in the late 1990s as a gangsta rapper on Street Level Records. He was a member of F.T.S. on their second album Money Motivated, and Byrdie stood out from the nine members of the group as a hard-working rookie with heart and a lot of hustle.

Byrd’s Eye View was released in 2015 as a tribute to the life of this notable 206 artist. After a voicemail intro, the album begins with the orchestral “Lift Off,” produced by D-Sane and featuring scratching by Bean One. Radio-ready “Cool Wit It” featuring the T-Pain of Seattle, Roc Phizzle, is breezy and easy. The sexy “Keep It On The Hush (Remix)” puts a new lens on a sultry hit from Byrdie’s first album, Poetic Epidemic.

R&B singer Jazz Digga is featured on six different songs, and I think my favorite Jazz Digga cut is “Lord Knows I Try,” for its realism and drama. “You can’t try to hide from life,” Byrdie instructs on this somber cut. Another standout song is “Talk Of The Town” produced by Funk Daddy, and featuring rapper Livio. The album’s title track, “Byrd’s Eye View,” is the last full song on the album. D-Sane reminisces about knowing Byrdie, “since Mercer Middle School,” as he puts it.

D-Sane organized a Byrd’s Eye View release party at Nectar to celebrate Byrdie’s life in 2015. It included performances by Jazz Digga, Jewels Hunter, Certified Outfit, Clockwork, and Grynch. The whole video is available on YouTube, and I recommend checking it out. Rest in peace to Jesse “Byrdie” Watson, 1978-2013. Written by Novocaine132

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Future Pastime

Seattle rap group Clockwork put in some serious effort in the 2000s. Their first album After Midnight in 2006 included party cuts like “Ride,” and “Dubs To Blow,” set against quieter reflections like my personal fave “Fallin Hard.” In 2009 the group returned with their second album Future Pastime. Producer Sekken Thaughtz is back for the second project, and he is joined by House, DJ Pro, and some beatmaking from Lace Cadence as well.

The easygoing, toe-tapper “Westinghouse” features Seattle stalwart DJ B-Mello on the turntables, and it reminds me fondly of summertime L.A. rap radio. “Welcome” aims to get listeners on the dancefloor, with its buzzword-heavy, singalong lyrics and snappy beat. “Blowin on dro, yelling out Fresh Coast,” goes one refrain of this rewindable hit. “The Weed Guy” is so ghostly that it had snuck in and then out like a cat burglar before I even noticed it was there. It’s as if the song is made out of see-through Megalopolis fabric, successfully merging itself with its surroundings. I’m not trying to dis, I actually like the track.

Clockwork filmed a standalone video for “Hold On,” which features the group in a studio and on location in Seattle’s industrial Georgetown neighborhood. This was a departure from the After Midnight videos which were, for whatever reason, released as two songs per video. There’s an easter egg in “Concepts of Reality” referencing the 1990s Seattle group that brought us Procreations and Everything is Nice.

The CD jacket for Future Pastime shows 17 songs, but if you let the disc run out, you will find two secret bonus tracks. One of the secret cuts, “Hard Times” is a fun exercise in rap skills and steady beats, and wins my pick for the strongest song on the album. According to Discogs, Future Pastime was the group’s second and final album. Written by Novocaine132

Future Pastime was created in and features appearances from:

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After Midnight

Clockwork is a three man operation consisting of Lace Cadence, Rockwell, and Take One. In 2006 they teamed up to drop After Midnight. Most of the beats on the CD are by Sekken Thaughtz and Catch PHRASE. Clockwork are assisted in the scratch department by none other than DJ Scene on a couple of tracks.

“Ride” by Catch PHRASE unfurls to a hiccuping beat, and kicks the album into a party mode. It’s got a seriously fun g-funk vibe, and the delicate synth melodies transported me to a bygone decade. Local Seattle production legend Bean One offers two beats on After Midnight, a slightly plodding “If Ya Wanna,” and an even slower and more intimidating “On The Move,” the latter featuring beloved Seattle rapper Byrdie, who passed away in 2013.

“Dubs To Blow” is an enjoyable, lazy romp through the topic of toking. “It’s like apples and oranges comparing Vegas to Swishers,” goes one line. Garcia Y Vega and Swisher Sweet were, of course, two of the most popular cigars with which to roll blunts. I liked the flamboyant energy and experimental production of “Drop That,” but the song never really finds itself. “Fallin Hard” stands out for its three-dimensional mood and its soft, rainy atmosphere which evokes a couple of Cancer Rising’s more mellow cuts. Because it truly captures the unique, resilient vibe of Seattle, “Fallin Hard” is easily my favorite track on After Midnight.

In my opinion, producer Catch PHRASE has a bold Lil-Jon-esque pop sensibility in which the beats may sound annoyingly simplistic, but they stay in your ear. Lil Jon is a certified hitmaker, after all, love him or hate him. Sekken Thaughtz’s beats go into the territory of jazzy/obscure samples and chops, which show respect for a more traditional New York sound. The MCs are all solid on After Midnight, showing good breath control and rhyme writing. The group dropped their second album Future Pastime in 2009. Written by Novocaine132

After Midnight was created in and features appearances from:

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Reigncraft, Volume 4: The Labor

After three successful compilations, Reigncraft series founder KNDNM could have just thrown in the towel and decided that the innovative Seattle rap series had run its course. Thankfully for rap fans across the Northwest, that’s not what happened. This Reigncraft Volume 4: The Labor compact disc dropped at the end of 2004, and it is yet another action-packed assembly of varied hip-hop talent from the 206.

“Questions” by Unexpected Arrival presents a number of deep thoughts to chew on, set to a compelling, stark beat. “Dammit all to hell, my life feeling like a jail. We won’t win the war if we’re still fighting amongst ourselves,” goes a heartfelt line. “Questions” was also featured on Unexpected Arrival’s third album, My Life For Sale in 2005. Bad Luk is a Reigncraft veteran who had a track featured on each of the first three CDs. His cut here, “Expectations” is excellent, and it shows that his hard grind really paid off. Bad Luk’s voice carries a devastating urgency, and the lyrics are very personal. “I wish you had to wear my shoes, so you felt my scars, so you could deal with real life when you was dealt my cards,” he raps.

The strange, zippy Kuddie Mack beat on “Dents In The Trunk” is intriguing. Stretch uses a conversational tone in his lyrics, which makes his voice approachable and familiar sounding, removing the distance between listener and performer. Because of the subject matter, “Dents In The Trunk” reminds me of the 1988 classic “Cars With The Boom” by L’Trimm.

“Pick Me Up” by Cyphalliance and “Stomp” by A-OK both bring the backpack, freestyle-circle vibe. These two songs explore the “metaphorical oratorical” to use a line from “Stomp.” The whole point of Reigncraft is to place tracks from the wordplay world against other more gangsta-oriented type of joints. Now, twenty years later, the genre of hip-hop continues to expand into a splinterverse of styles and experimentation. Reigncraft Volume 4: The Labor reminds us that it all comes back to hip-hop, and we are all part of the same family. Written by Novocaine132

Reigncraft, Volume 4: The Labor was created in and features appearances from:

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All In A Day's Work

Hmmm... There’s not a lot of information about this record in the museum encyclopedia.

This TOWN LOVE website was created in 2021 as a pandemic-era project. It was a volunteer-led effort to help document and celebrate the complete history of Northwest hip-hop between the years 1981 and 2020. This public archive we built is now available for free online for everyone to read and explore.

If you'd like to contribute, and you know something about this particular record--a story, a memory, or a favorite lyric--please email us a short write-up, and we’ll add your thoughts to the archive when we get the chance.

Thanks for your help in preserving the history of our scene!

All In A Day's Work was created in and features appearances from:

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