A film about Northwest hip-hop from

Soon Enough

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A film about Northwest hip-hop from

Gemini

Gemini is Macklemore’s self-released celebration of our town: Because of their features on this record, local talents Dave B and Travis Thompson were on The Tonight Show singing “Corner Store,” and representing our hip-hop community on national television.

But let’s start here: I’m headbanging in my car. It’s 1:00 am and “Firebreather” roars. It’s no surprise there’s a car on the cover. This is car music. You turn up the dial and you keep wanting to turn it up.

Macklemore’s devout honesty is found throughout Gemini, leaving you with the feeling that you need to reduce the hypocrisies in your fraudulent life. Despite our desire to make work and be artists, “waking up to a screen and watching TV, it’s easy.” On “Intentions” he begins, “I want to be sober, but I love getting high.” Rather than pursue our own dreams, we choose to “live on social media and read other people’s thoughts.”

Recorded at home, in the basement, the music is intimate. Every song is so thoroughly considered and contains the sort of details it takes dozens of listens to notice, both in the music and the storytelling. In lieu of usual producer Ryan Lewis, there are talented local and mainstream collaborators galore here: Budo, Tyler Dopps, Xperience, Saint Claire, Dan Caplen, Abir, Donna Missal, Reignwolf, Otieno Terry, Ke$ha, Offset, Lil Yachty, Eric Nally, and Skylar Grey, whose hook on the second track is truly “Glorious.”

For everyone out there hoping to one day to have the worldwide stadium-level fame that Macklemore has achieved, may this record be your textbook for success.

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A film about Northwest hip-hop from

The Woods

Seattle musician Sol was doing a live chat. He shared his insight that the effort of making an album is one’s attempt at achieving a masterpiece.

By way of follow-up, I asked him if any recent local records lived up to his definition: He barely hesitated in saying The Woods, a new thirteen-song album entirely written, produced, and performed by Otieno Terry. Not long after, we ran into Sol again at the launch party, held in November in Belltown at J. Moore’s old space. With lights and props, the room was magically transformed into a gathering on a forest floor.

In the weeks since I’ve been listening to The Woods and this is most certainly an album worth your time. The summertime crush of “Honesty” is a standout, evocative of sitting in the park and riding your bike on endless blue sky days. The electrifying, playful final 30 seconds of “Jaguar Stupid” leaves me in such a great mood I always rewind and play this song again.

Overall, the production is luxurious and tactile: you feel the physical thump of the drums and the bass notes. It’s clearly a record intended to be heard on headphones, connected to your intimate smartphone. More than once, the music is interrupted by the buzz of an incoming phone call, which causes you to stop and pull your phone from your pocket. It’s an effective magic trick, only slightly less successful when listening on a home stereo system or your car. What I love so much about “The Woods” is that it takes you on a journey, and Otieno is a man of so many talents and singing styles that you look forward to where the next track might take you, and it’s rarely where you expect. There’s also room for field songs like closer “Ashé.”

Congratulations on your masterpiece, Otieno.

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A film about Northwest hip-hop from

Seattle's Own

On the first track of Seattle’s Own, a 2016 full-length from Draze, he spits, “I’m slept on, that’s why I had to set this alarm.” It’s a welcome clarion call and he’s right.

This album is steeped in Central District hip-hop history: At the end of the first song, he deftly weaves verses around more than 50 town shoutouts from Larry Mizell Jr to Gifted Gab to Raz Simone to Shabazz Palaces to Sir Mix-A-Lot and more. (If you’re local talent, you were probably name-checked here.)

What follows are 13 honest, personal, and intimate Seattle stories. Many of these powerful tracks clock in over 6 minutes and delve into social politics, the gentrification of the CD, and a questionable facelift imposed by outsiders. (Because there “ain’t nobody talking about no real shit.”)

There’s a big, polished sound here with big ambitions, calling to mind the work of Jay-Z and Drake. (The latter of whom my phone’s autocorrect keeps changing Draze’s name to.) Make sure to check out the Zimbabwean-influenced “Children of The Sun,” featuring Nia Hyped.

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A film about Northwest hip-hop from

SuperSquare

Hmmm... There's not a lot of information about this project in the museum encyclopedia. We'd love your help! TOWN LOVE is maintained by an awesome community of passionate volunteers who keep it all up to date.

Do you know something about the history of this record? Do you have a favorite lyric or a favorite memory? Send us an email on why this is one of the great hip-hop albums from the Northwest. Thanks!

Did we get it wrong? It happens. Send us an email and let's get it corrected right away!