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: Sol

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A film about Northwest hip-hop from

Soon Enough

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Soon Enough was created in and features appearances from:

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A film about Northwest hip-hop from

Tacos on Broadway

The Stranger picked Tacos on Broadway as one of the “Top 5 Albums of 2013,” saying that:

The two young rappers, Tiglo and Cole, of Brother from Another had a very good year for three reasons. First, they were correctly selected by XXL magazine as one of Seattle’s “rappers you should know,” and second, the EP Tacos on Broadway, which featured production by one of my favorite beat-creators in town, Nima Skeemz (he not only did beats for one of the best tracks of the year, Raz Simone’s “Sometimes I Don’t,” but also the local hip-hop classic by Sol, “Stage Dive”), has a consistently crisp and chill sound. When listening to this EP, one feels that Tiglo and Cole are in no rush to become famous, but are more concerned with getting their sound and rap mode down. Third, they also released the best hip-hop video of the year for “Pike & Broadway,” which expressed new urban values for the hip-hop culture of the future: the pleasures of cycling around the city and visiting/enjoying parks.

Tacos on Broadway was created in and features appearances from:

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A film about Northwest hip-hop from

The Blank Canvas

Filmmaker and hip-Hop musician Rafael Flores spent six years making The Blank Canvas: Hip-Hop’s Struggle for Representation in Seattle. The film attempts to document the unique identity of hip-hop culture in Seattle, through interviews with over 100 rappers, producers, DJs, graffiti artists, break-dancers, fashion designers, and promoters from The Town.

It takes us on a journey that investigates the origins of Hip-Hop in the Northwest, the legacy of Sir-Mix-a-Lot, the notorious 1985 Teen Dance Ordinance, Clear-Channel’s dominance over commercial Hip-Hop radio, the increasing popularity of white rappers in Seattle, and hip-hop’s struggle for representation in a seemingly liberal city.

The full 96-minute film is available for rent on Vimeo for $5. Watch the trailer below.

The Blank Canvas was created in and features appearances from:

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A film about Northwest hip-hop from

The Otherside

The Otherside is an hour-long documentary predominantly covering Seattle’s Capitol Hill-centric “third wave” hip-hop scene, circa 2010. This was a time when MP3s and streaming were fairly new and completely reshaping the music industry. Artists like Blue Scholars were experimenting with Kickstarter and direct fan support. Everyone was trying something new.

There’s a wealth of great interviews, concerts, and backstage footage from artists across the Town. There are hella people in this movie. It’s clear the filmmaker tried to talk with anyone and everyone who was willing. There are some great long chats with Jake One, Prometheus Brown, and Sir Mix-A-Lot. There’s also lots of footage of pre-stardom Macklemore & Ryan Lewis as they prepare to drop The Heist.

Larry Mizell Jr. offers up a four-point guide to being successful in the Northwest: “Be truthful to yourself. Be respectful and knowledgeable of what’s going on and what came before you. Be good: Work on your craft. Further the culture at all times.”

The Otherside premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival and was an audience favorite, selling out two consecutive screenings. It was also chosen as “Best of SIFF” by festival programmers.

The Otherside was created in and features appearances from:

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A film about Northwest hip-hop from

Yours Truly

Seattle hip-hop blog 206UP picked this record as one of the “Top 10 Albums of 2012,” saying that:

On Sol’s Bandcamp page, the rapper dedicates Yours Truly to “the human pursuit of deep understanding,” an endeavor the MC is no doubt currently pursuing on a post-college graduation trip around the world. Most of this album — the culmination of a series of shorter, free EP releases — is an attempt at universal appeal, heavy on the pop hooks and R&B melodies which serve to make it all just feel very…easy. But when you consider Yours Truly in the context of the artist’s statement, it makes sense: we’re more immediately bonded together when our commonalities are highlighted, hence the depth of understanding we can find when enjoying an album like Yours Truly together. This may sound annoyingly meta and shit, but the threads that connect us through musical experience don’t exist at the surface of listening, which is true even when an album as easily enjoyable as this comes along.

Yours Truly was created in and features appearances from:

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A film about Northwest hip-hop from

Tomorrow People

Today is one of those beautiful Seattle days with infinite blue skies and cool breezes, where all you want to do is lay on the grass or drive to the coast with the top down. The perfect accompaniment is The Physics 2012 album Tomorrow People. Contrasting many laptop-produced hip-hop records, here you have a group of musicians riffing and jamming and rapping together. Laid-back, organic, and gorgeous.

Seattle hip-hop blog 206UP picked this record as one of the “Top 10 Albums of 2012,” saying that:

Tomorrow People reaches for a broader context than The Physics’ previous album (last year’s outstanding Love is a Business) without sacrificing any of what makes the group so appealing. Soulful, funky, and beautifully nuanced, TP is 13 tracks of grown-man/woman hip-hop. MCs Thig Nat and Monk Wordsmith are thoughtful, conscious, and raunchy always right when they need to be. And producer Justo and don’t-call-them-back-up singers Malice and Mario Sweet put the finishing touches on each track so they shine at just the right angles. This is a crew with a rare nonchalance that never translates to dull, a sure sign of artists who truly know who they are. There is something for everyone on Tomorrow People. You could play this album for your grandma and she would probably love it, and I mean that in the best way possible.

Similarly, The Stranger selected Tomorrow People as one of the “Top 5 Albums of 2012,” saying that:

“So Funky,” the first track on The Physics’ latest album, Tomorrow People, is, for me, hip-hop in a pure state. It’s spare and it has a big and chunky beat, a raw and rubbery bass, bits of scratching, and no singing or chorus—this is a rapper’s paradise.

Tomorrow People was created in and features appearances from:

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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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A film about Northwest hip-hop from

Dear Friends EP, Vol 1

Today I’m spinning Sol‘s Dear Friends EP from 2009. Six solid tracks, chill and funky as hell, with guest verses from Grynch, Philharmonic, Scribes and Kush Carter.

Dear Friends EP, Vol 1 was created in and features appearances from:

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Murda On The Mic

Ever since his recent telephone experiment, I’ve been revisiting Sol’s extensive back catalogue. Here’s Murda on the Mic, a 2008 debut ep from the then 19-year-old Sol. It’s a killer first release, low-fi and raw, containing a brashness that’s softened and become more polished in his recent work. For me, it’s exactly this early, gritty sound that makes these seven songs so special, finding just the right arcs between serious and funny, nudging your mood a degree or two off-center and in unexpected directions. Take, for example, the flute solos in “Rock On.” These should be cheesy, and maybe they are, but Sol and a funky guitar move you in a way that convinces you that flutes are cool. You come away wondering why, honestly, there aren’t more flute solos. Or the grand, orchestral “Never Thought” that features doubled and tripled vocals doing call-and-response, and choral singers, too. This song and “Tomorrowless” remind you of the moments you love in Kanye’s early work: Energetic, assertive experiments dripping with talent.

Murda On The Mic was created in and features appearances from:

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