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

Tag: Parker Joe

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A film about Northwest hip-hop from

Love, Love? Love.

Someone recently described Seattle to me as an exhausting place where everyone is trying to out-cool everyone else. I wonder if Isabella Du Graf was feeling those vibes when she wrote the chorus of her latest single, “All The Different Ways.” In it she sings, “Take off your cool, let me show you, all the different ways I could love you.” For those unfamiliar with this record, Du Graf’s music occupies a terrain somewhere between jazz and R&B, while also dipping her toes in Seattle hip-hop, on local tracks as featured vocalist, guest performer, and producer. Her body of work speaks to the ongoing malleability of music is this town. The aforementioned “All The Different Ways,” channels a space-jazz sound reminiscent fellow local chanteuse JusMoni, while “Looking All Around” shakes a Motown dance floor. Both are tracks from Love, Love? Love.. an album that it appears is being assembled in real-time, with new songs added to SoundCloud every few weeks. (Current track count: 6) It’s perfect music for a sunny Saturday afternoon like this one.

Love, Love? Love. was created in and features appearances from:

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A film about Northwest hip-hop from

Born Rich

Born Rich by Mackned is ideal music to accompany your next solo, introspective, nighttime drive. When I bought this record I also picked up Drake’s Views, and have been listening to both together at random. In my mind they’re commingled, and it’s easy to see why: both artists are drawn toward auto-tuned singing raps, minimal drums, and luxury brooding. However, Born Rich is the one I spin more often, with standout tracks like “Dope Man” and ’80’s throwback “Fanta Blue.” At only nine short tracks, it’s the sort of record you listen to all the way through and then restart and listen to every track again.

Born Rich was created in and features appearances from:

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A film about Northwest hip-hop from

Dopamine

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!

Dopamine was created in and features appearances from:

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A film about Northwest hip-hop from

Ready For Life

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!

Ready For Life was created in and features appearances from:

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

A film about Northwest hip-hop from

SeattleCali Fragilistic ExtraHella Dopeness

Seattle hip-hop blog 206UP picked this record as one of the “Top 10 Albums of 2010,” saying that:

The album equivalent of a 2-0-6 hip-hop house party, by design SeattleCali wasn’t exactly an official debut LP for State of the Artist, but a showcase for much of the talent in the city. The three SOTA emcees were consistently outshone by their guests and a lot of times the lyrics didn’t seem to make any sense. As strictly a party album, however, there wasn’t one better.

SeattleCali Fragilistic ExtraHella Dopeness was created in and features appearances from:

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