A film about Northwest hip-hop from

Bobby Ro$$

Bobby Ro$$ is a vibe-heavy hustle through the landscape of art, blackness, and self-love. On it, Porter inhabits a trap music avatar of the much-loved PBS painter and uses snippets of interviews with cultural luminaries such as Kara Walker, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Maya Angelou as a narrative lattice to paint himself into the canon of black art. NPR calls him “A skilled rapper and a multimedia threat,” while Respect My Region says that “Perry Porter paints a masterpiece with his latest album.”

Here’s another take:

In their annual year-end critics’ poll, The Seattle Times ranked Bobby Ro$$ as one of the very best Seattle albums of 2019, saying:

Since the breakup of his rowdy mosh-rap group Sleep Steady, Perry Porter has established himself as one of Seattle-Tacoma’s unique talents through infectiously fun hybrid rap/live art shows. The charismatic rapper/painter (or is it painter/rapper?) looks and sounds increasingly comfortable grooving in his own watercolored lane on Bobby Ro$$, which arrived this summer with a track-by-track color wheel guide to match the variegated album’s many moods. The man can still annihilate a trap beat with the best of ’em (see: breathless five-alarm banger “Sink or Swim”) while alternately cooling down with beatific cuts like the closing “Watercolor,” which samples artist Kerry James Marshall discussing the dearth of “self-satisfied” Black people depicted through art. Porter, who often paints vibrant, bright-colored portraits of Black women, is refocusing the narrative while doing equally beautiful things with 808s and acrylics.

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A film about Northwest hip-hop from

Fresh Cut Flowers

The Fresh Cut Flowers EP from Taylar Elizza Beth summons that primal childhood feeling of hiding under the covers, reading by flashlight, afraid you might be caught, where the smallest rustling carries massive weight. But these delicate petals summon phantom roots, asserting growling resilience against the wind. “I am afraid of no one,” Taylar declares on “High & Haunted,” before conceding, “I am afraid of myself.” This track is a menacing centerpiece emboldened by Wolftone’s dirty production. This EP has many highlights, but foremost are the collaborations with five of city’s producers-du-jour: Luis Vela’s reverb wash, Urban Nerd’s electro-pop, Luna God’s ear for funky timing, and the mesmerizing keys on “The Storm,” from Sendai Mike. This is music that smolders at an unhurried pace, aware of its mortality. On “Synthesis” she sings, “I am dying,” and in that pause, you are faced with the fact that you and everyone you know are marching through life toward our collective, eventual deaths. At only 18 minutes, these are five-song mic drop moments worth clinging to.

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A film about Northwest hip-hop from

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Influence

Influence, released this summer, is a stellar side project from former Nu Era member Blaine Davis and guitarist Joseph Comin. They’ve sampled recognizable riffs from Seattle’s rock and grunge greatest hits, and then magically transformed well-loved songs into hip-hop bangers—each one sounds completely new and fresh. The opening track “Cobain” lifts the haunting strains of Nirvana’s “Heart-Shaped Box” into a loop before veering in unexpected directions. It’s a revelation, as is “Hendrix” and “Miller.” Blaine’s verses throughout are powerful and deep, questions of gentrification and the changing city. Let me simply say this: Go get this record on Bandcamp. The many references to local legends should land this album on every Seattle publication’s record-of-the-year shortlist.

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Morphic Rez

Between abstract cover art and the title Morphic Rez, you might assume this to be an album of stark minimalist techno. But don’t judge Sendai Era‘s 2015 EP by its packaging alone: Tapping play reveals deft, smart, and danceable hip-hop, even when the dance floor is your living room or your morning commute. As MC Era rat-tat-tat raps on the catchy “Sense Deprivation,” this is some hella great “shit that makes you vibe with your eyes closed.” I’ve had the chance to see these guys live twice recently, and it’s always a great chance to vibe out.

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