
A film about Northwest hip-hop from 2017
:30
Presto
There’s a lot to love on Presto the 2017 debut from Tacoma’s :30, a group that includes more than one member of ILLFIGHTYOU. But my favorite things are the drum breaks. It’s like when some experimental music is in 5/4 time or in thirds. The bass drops away when you least… In the meditative, minimal “Not Me No Mo,” a song barely held together, it’s floating above the grooving waves of a giant lake, in a cave, and you’re spelunking. On “Trappin Ain’t Dead” the bass emerges like a heartbeat and for a while, in the middle, you’ll realize that your jaw is on the floor. The drums accent like scaffolding, that scaffolding that’s everywhere these days in Seattle, dusty and another sign of emergence, of a new egg. This hatchling is a bold tower, ready to reach and stretch and cast a shadow. “Fees | Things” has much to say about this new economy.