Friday's show at Nectar Lounge was a great showcase for both classic and fresh, emerging talents in local hiphop. Alpha P, a gratifyingly professional, unflaggingly high-spirited crew of twelve headlining the show, were working NW underground hiphop in the 90s; the other acts on the bill included Tacoma-based Jay Barz (a raucus party act, himself), pissed-off Neema of Unexpected Arrival, fast-talking Premonition and the bulging vein on his neck, and charismatic story-teller Kublakai--interviewed by......

Seattle hiphop artist Kublakai (aka Ian Waller) released The Basics in early January, and we've happily kept tracks from the record such "Oh Lord" and "Power Food" in our frequent playlist rotation ever since. This week, Kublakai talked to Seattlest in an exclusive about jazz, Snoop Dogg, his mom, a budding film career, and more! What kind of music did you listen to during your growing up years? What was the first record you......

Seattlest hopped over to Fremont last night to experience Kublakai's much-anticipated The Basics release party, featuring not only new material from Kublakai but also sets from Illegitimate Children, Unexpected Arrival, and Phil In The Blank w/ The Oddfellows. (Joseph Average performed, as did Murder Dice, but we must have just missed them.) We lost $20, but left the richer for a solid show, a copy of The Basics, and a couple beers in our belly.......