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 Seattlest here. Though the show started late, DJ Hanibal won us over when he played Snoop and Dre's "Nuthin But A G-Thang," which we'd coincidentally just finished reminiscing about with our show-going companion. more ›

Seattle hiphop artist Kublakai (aka Ian Waller) released 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! more ›

Seattlest hopped over to Fremont last night to experience Kublakai's much-anticipated , and a couple beers in our belly. It was a good night's work. more ›