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Live from occupied Duwamish territory, I bring you this massive post celebrating the Seattle hip hop scene.
I originally considered writing this article in my younger days when I first started this blog back in 2009, but decided against it for two reasons. The first was that I don't believe in ranking songs/albums/mixtapes as better or worse than each other. Good music should be appreciated as good music without the pressure of being quantified.
The second and frankly more pressing concern was that there wasn't enough of a Northwest hip hop scene to make it worthwhile. Had I put together this bracket four years ago, it would have been composed almost entirely out of Blue Scholars, Common Market, and Dyme Def songs and I would have had to stretch it to include 64 songs.
So, what's changed over the past four years? We've seen the continued emergence and growth of post-Massline generation acts like Dyme Def, The Physics, Fresh Espresso, and Grynch to name a few. We've seen the reconstruction of Nissim (formerly D. Black), the resurrection and subsequent explosion of Macklemore, and the emergence of talented young producers in P Smoov, Ryan Lewis, and Brainstorm.
For me, this post isn't so much about determining what Seattle songs are better, so much as celebrating the artists and songs that have transformed the city into a shining beacon within the hip hop community. Far removed from the draconian burdens of the Teen Dance Ordinance, hip hop in the Upper Left is alive and thriving.
The quality of the music has reached the point where, in the process of compiling this article, I narrowed down the potential songs to a quote-unquote "short" list of 187 songs. There are so many talented local artists that classics such as "Second Chapter," "White Privilege," and "North By Northwest" didn't make the final cut. Four years ago, I probably would have had to include "Baby Got Back." Today, it didn't even make the song short list (though "Posse's On Broadway" made the short list--the song is a lot better than memory serves).
Artists from 25 groups make at least one appearance on the list, pushing even the revered Blue Scholars song, "The Ave," (probably my favorite of their live songs) off the final 64 song cut.
The difference between #42 and #90 was minuscule, so an argument could be made for many more songs making the list. If you can't believe that I left off Song A or had Song B beating Song C, please be sure to give your preference and describe, in great detail, precisely how brain damaged you believe me to be in the comments section below. I encourage the conversation and enjoy hearing what other people's favorites are (especially if you believe that I overlooked an artist).
Considering the songs that just missed, the final 64 is a fairly select group that's also fairly representative of the music scene as a whole. As I mentioned, emcees from twenty-five local acts make at least one appearance on the list with Massline, Sportn' Life, Out For Stardom, and most local consortiums being represented. But enough of me talking. You want to hear the music.
