Tonight: Hip-Hop at the House of Rock

Hip-hop shows on a Friday night in Seattle have become a regular occurrence in the past year, and the latest venue to embrace it is our friends at Hard Rock Cafe. As you bob and weave through the rock memorabilia you’ll be reminded that rock n’ roll comes first, but the chain’s Seattle outpost is adapting to our diverse music scene. Like any good business, the Cafe has tailored its lineup of shows to suit our city.

This evening’s live performance features Seattle rap trio State of the Artist started to put itself out there about two years ago when the group began releasing mix tapes into the wild. It wasn’t until last year that they really began gaining traction after releasing Seattlecalifragilisticextrahelladopeness. One could argue that the entire album is a ballad to the hip-hop scene here as it includes songs with Helladope, THEESatisfaction, Fresh Espresso & Champagne Champagne. The song “Hey Hey” featuring P. Smoov (MAD RAD, Fresh Espresso) even made it onto the Amazon Best 100 songs of 2010 list, the only local group that is on the list.

Setting the tone for the evening is Gran Rapids. Not a whole lot is known about them at this time, but they do have their first album, Saturday Mourning up on Band Camp for free right now right here. Based on what we’ve heard so far, it will be a great addition for the bill.

9 p.m. // Hard Rock Cafe // $7 tix