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The Desertification of Seattle Has Begun
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At last, 2007 draws itself to a close! We've spent the latter half of December rocking out to an unhealthy amount of local hiphop and, accordingly, nursing a terribly un-hiphop head cold. We've had plenty of material upon which to reflect, however, including our experiences at Days Four and Five of The Program; allow us to offer you this monster post on that very material, after which we promise to only tangentially mention this five-day hiphop event for at least six months.
Day Four
While we waited for Day Four of The Program to begin, we milled around the floor at Neumos and conducted a short, certainly scientific but methodologically flawed poll. "Are you here to see any group in particular? Have you heard of any of the groups performing tonight?" we asked. Out of ten participants, four were there to see Blue Scholars, two and a half came for Dyme Def, one half of a person had even heard of J. Pinder, and three were there to see "no one." The most common question Seattlest received in return: "What time do the Blue Scholars start?" Day Four: GMK, J. Pinder, Dyme Def, and the Blue Scholars.
Seattlest came to Day Four mostly for GMK and Johnny Magnum, whom we feel are primed to take on the local hiphop universe in a big way this upcoming year. Deliciously catchy, upbeat tracks like "Let it Go," "Dream On," and of course, the too-short "Baby Wanna Drop That" had the crowd at Neumos enthused, hands in the air, and Johnny came over afterwards to talk to me about the show. Both he and GMK were sick as dogs the week before The Program. "We were at 98% tonight, and we're usually at 120%," he said. "I've been taking every pharmacy drug I can find... It's a big honor to be here." The guys rocked it, although we agree with Johnny that perhaps the show was less magnificent than what we've seen from GMK before.
Photo by Jeanine Anderson from the Seattlest Flickr Pool
J. Pinder is a wiry, sharp guy long on dark, coiled talent, complex beats, and brisk, intense, well-timed rhymes. His mixtape Backpack Wax is awe-inspiringly good, but we were underwhelmed by his live show. We were feeling the beats (produced by Vitamin D, so it's no wonder we were feeling them), but Pinder himself seemed a little off. What was up? GMK joined him for several tracks. Dyme Def put on a fantastic show, as usual. The three MCs don't let up. "Game Needs Me" has been getting regular play on KUBE, which is a huge accomplishment for this power trio. Talent backed by a certain bravado does get you places, apparently. And "What Can I Say" is Seattlest's new favorite from the guys. Blue Scholars rocked out with the live band again, managing to avoid the freaky Latin nightclub vibe we'd picked up on from Day One.
Day Five
Day Five of The Program was the only 21+ night, and though the show was sold out (oh, how it was sold out), most of the crowd didn't show up until after 10pm. Before The Physics opened (reviewed at a recent show here), early attenders were treated to some impromptu break-dancing from a determined, gorgeously lithe and disciplined b-girl. The Physics were a big hit, unsurprisingly, and handled this show with more suavity than the last time we saw them. We've heard FutureTalk, their 2007 release, and recommend you pick up a copy, especially if you heart beer and loose-jointed, good-natured (but never saccharine) hiphop.
Barfly, of The Saturday Knights and Nite Owls fame, hosted this final night of The Program and brought his own flair to it (a slow clap, of course, and not a few references to Sonny Bonoho's drunken moans from Day One). He introduced Cancer Rising, and the night kind of got blurry for us from that point on. Gatsby and Judas performed several tracks off their new album, including "Everyday Bidness" and "Perseverance" (two of our favorites); Judas did one song almost entirely from the floor, which we're hoping turns into a signature Cancer Rising occurrence. They yelled, jammed, grabbed fans' shirts (and once, a particularly thrilled front-row guy's hair!), and had the room spinning. Wait. That last part might have been courtesy of our whiskey soda.
Ohmega Watts had a fantastically long and intense set. "For those of you who don't know what I do, I produce, I emcee, and I dj," he introduced himself. He was up on stage completely by himself, but had no problem keeping the audience engaged; Watts is graceful, in control, and inspired. Blue Scholars wrapped up the final night with a bangin' show that played well. Even though we've heard "The Ave" song dozens of times, it's still a LOT of fun (and a lot of dorky... oh well) to shout "Fuck class!" with the masses.
After seeing Geo and Sabzi perform so many nights in a row, Seattlest can definitely say that we are in awe of the guys' physical endurance and their star power. Who else in local hiphop could sell out Neumos five nights in a row, in late December? For artists on and off the lineup, it was a chance to network, sell cds, and get some face recognition with a new horde of potential fans. For Seattlest it was a marathon week, and we got a little temporarily burned-out on hiphop; for the next few days, the strongest beat we could handle was from Peter, Paul & Mary. Still, though, we feel purified by the fire and grateful for the chance to have heard such a broad variety of local hiphop in such a concentrated amount of time. We also feel just a little bit more prepared to take on all the glorious local hiphop coming our way in 2008. What a party!
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