POH-HOP 9
From Seattle to Portland, there is NW Love
By Bobby Spoon
Portland - Every year for the past eight years Terrance Scott bka Cool Nutz, and his Jus Family Records have hosted the POH-HOP Festival. The 9th edition of the Portland, Oregon Hip Hop festival was an eclectic mix of NW Hip Hop acts of all genres from Potluk, the bay area group and lone non-NW participant, to hometown favorites such as South Clic, Nonstop, and Synlyraseez.
Self Explanitory
The Black Duck
However, the strongest showings of the event's Saturday Night show at Berbati's Pan in Downtown Portland was from Seattle artists such as Byrdie, Blue Scholars and Oldominion group member and Seattle-to-Portland transplant Syndel, along with songstress Toni Hill, collectively known as Siren's Echo.
Siren's Echo combines hard hitting lyricism of Syndel and the sultry sounds and signature croons of Miss Hill as they set the stage ablaze with what was easily the best crowd response of the night. There was a solid foundation laid out by The Black Notes, a three piece band, which to Seattle heads might be reminisce of Source of Labor as they are comprised of Bass, Keys and Drums, talented musicians all of them, they laid an appropriate sonic soundscape for the budding divas Syndel and Toni. The true magic is in the chemistry of the two working and building off of each other. Syndel and Toni Hill are both very adept at working the crowd and playing to their interests and I am sure that either one of them would be able to rock a show independently of each other, however it is together these two stars shine the brightest. As Syndel's rhymes fly, Toni accentuates with a gentle grace and is poised to shift the energy her way as she vocally soars and takes over the stage, killing em softly. With a CD out and a NW tour in the works be on the lookout because I'm sure they'll tear it down in the town as well.
Byrdie
Cool Nutz
Seattle has long been familiar with Byrdie and with his 2nd solo album (4th overall) N-Flight out in stores nationwide, Byrdie is ready to take his Seatown Swagger abroad. The crowd at Berbati's Pan was amped and loving the live show as he got the crowd echoing his chants of "I'm from the N - O - R - T - H WEST AND I GOT NEXT." Performing songs exclusively from his new album, Byrdie rocked with predictable results, but in unpredictable fashion, the stage show was minimalist, just he and his hypeman/partner-in-crime Seattle Stack. It was a far cry from the stage shows we all have come familiar with in Seattle for years with the now defunct Full Time Soldiers, Byrdie's former group, and also from his time as a solo artist with Street Level Records where it wasn't uncommon to see five to fifteen rappers on stage all at the same time. Byrdie was never one to share the spotlight though, and even in those shows he would steal your attention away for at least the 16 bar bursts of rapid-fire rhyme that are his trademark and he was certainly up to task in Portland. Seattle should take advantage of this artist while they still can, he's on the fast track to the majors.
Siren's Echo
Maniac Lok
The last Seattle standout was our own Seattle Weekly Artists of The Year, The Blue Scholars. A classic 'Hip Hop Band' the DJ and Rapper combination that is The Blue Scholars suits both the rhyme style and song material of front man Geologic. Manning the 1's and 2's is turntablist and beatsmith Sabzi. The positive, inspiring and often narrative raps of Geologic are exactly the type of rap that some people have been starving for for years, as I overheard one onlooker in the crowd state. So if your cup of tea is the Native Tongue and you long for a return to The D.A.I.S.Y. Age then pick up the self-titled debut.
The 9th annual POH-HOP Festival was not just about Seattle Showcases and bombastic beats, there was also an educational purpose to the Festival, with two panels each on Friday and Saturday as well as another speaker panel on Sunday, covering such topics as Activism and Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop and The Election 2004, Live Performance Booking (such as how to get yourself a show), and the all too important Completing a Quality Project from Beginning to End. The panels were moderated by Omari Salisbury, of Definition Marketing, and Opio Sokoni, General Manager and Talk Show Host of Portland's 1480 AM KBMS Radio.
POH-HOP 9 Kicked off it's weekend-long festivities with an in-store performance at Music Millennium by Potluk, Tyrant Productions product S.P. out of Olympia, and The Rose City's own Trasheap.
With a Friday night show at Ash Street Saloon with performers such as Nonstop and Seattle's own hustler-on-the-move Sonny Bonoho amongst others, the full performance list included: Potluk - Humboldt County California, Thorn City Improv - Portland, Mr. Meezalini - Portland, Blue Scholars - Seattle, Nonstop - Portland, Craziness - Spokane
Trasheap - Portland, Black Duck - Portland, Phatback Records - Seattle/Bremerton, Soul Plasma - Portland, S-James - Portland, Fogatron & Maniac D - Portland, Byrdie - Seattle, S.P. - Olympia, X-Tac - Portland, TD32 - Portland, E-Dawg - Seattle, J-Kron - Portland, Sonny Bonoho - Seattle/Kirkland, Ramsey Brothers - Portland, Ray Ray of G-Ism - Portland, MyG aka Sinistapushaman - Portland, South Clic - Vancouver, WA, Mackin Rob - Portland, J-Rodd & Big Wilson - Tri-Cities, WA, Siren's Echo - Portland
The World Famous DJ Chill - Portland, DJ Wicked - Portland.
I don't know about you, but I'm looking foreword to number 10.
From Seattle to Portland, there is NW Love
By Bobby Spoon
Portland - Every year for the past eight years Terrance Scott bka Cool Nutz, and his Jus Family Records have hosted the POH-HOP Festival. The 9th edition of the Portland, Oregon Hip Hop festival was an eclectic mix of NW Hip Hop acts of all genres from Potluk, the bay area group and lone non-NW participant, to hometown favorites such as South Clic, Nonstop, and Synlyraseez.
Self Explanitory
The Black Duck
However, the strongest showings of the event's Saturday Night show at Berbati's Pan in Downtown Portland was from Seattle artists such as Byrdie, Blue Scholars and Oldominion group member and Seattle-to-Portland transplant Syndel, along with songstress Toni Hill, collectively known as Siren's Echo.
Siren's Echo combines hard hitting lyricism of Syndel and the sultry sounds and signature croons of Miss Hill as they set the stage ablaze with what was easily the best crowd response of the night. There was a solid foundation laid out by The Black Notes, a three piece band, which to Seattle heads might be reminisce of Source of Labor as they are comprised of Bass, Keys and Drums, talented musicians all of them, they laid an appropriate sonic soundscape for the budding divas Syndel and Toni. The true magic is in the chemistry of the two working and building off of each other. Syndel and Toni Hill are both very adept at working the crowd and playing to their interests and I am sure that either one of them would be able to rock a show independently of each other, however it is together these two stars shine the brightest. As Syndel's rhymes fly, Toni accentuates with a gentle grace and is poised to shift the energy her way as she vocally soars and takes over the stage, killing em softly. With a CD out and a NW tour in the works be on the lookout because I'm sure they'll tear it down in the town as well.
Byrdie
Cool Nutz
Seattle has long been familiar with Byrdie and with his 2nd solo album (4th overall) N-Flight out in stores nationwide, Byrdie is ready to take his Seatown Swagger abroad. The crowd at Berbati's Pan was amped and loving the live show as he got the crowd echoing his chants of "I'm from the N - O - R - T - H WEST AND I GOT NEXT." Performing songs exclusively from his new album, Byrdie rocked with predictable results, but in unpredictable fashion, the stage show was minimalist, just he and his hypeman/partner-in-crime Seattle Stack. It was a far cry from the stage shows we all have come familiar with in Seattle for years with the now defunct Full Time Soldiers, Byrdie's former group, and also from his time as a solo artist with Street Level Records where it wasn't uncommon to see five to fifteen rappers on stage all at the same time. Byrdie was never one to share the spotlight though, and even in those shows he would steal your attention away for at least the 16 bar bursts of rapid-fire rhyme that are his trademark and he was certainly up to task in Portland. Seattle should take advantage of this artist while they still can, he's on the fast track to the majors.
Siren's Echo
Maniac Lok
The last Seattle standout was our own Seattle Weekly Artists of The Year, The Blue Scholars. A classic 'Hip Hop Band' the DJ and Rapper combination that is The Blue Scholars suits both the rhyme style and song material of front man Geologic. Manning the 1's and 2's is turntablist and beatsmith Sabzi. The positive, inspiring and often narrative raps of Geologic are exactly the type of rap that some people have been starving for for years, as I overheard one onlooker in the crowd state. So if your cup of tea is the Native Tongue and you long for a return to The D.A.I.S.Y. Age then pick up the self-titled debut.
The 9th annual POH-HOP Festival was not just about Seattle Showcases and bombastic beats, there was also an educational purpose to the Festival, with two panels each on Friday and Saturday as well as another speaker panel on Sunday, covering such topics as Activism and Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop and The Election 2004, Live Performance Booking (such as how to get yourself a show), and the all too important Completing a Quality Project from Beginning to End. The panels were moderated by Omari Salisbury, of Definition Marketing, and Opio Sokoni, General Manager and Talk Show Host of Portland's 1480 AM KBMS Radio.
POH-HOP 9 Kicked off it's weekend-long festivities with an in-store performance at Music Millennium by Potluk, Tyrant Productions product S.P. out of Olympia, and The Rose City's own Trasheap.
With a Friday night show at Ash Street Saloon with performers such as Nonstop and Seattle's own hustler-on-the-move Sonny Bonoho amongst others, the full performance list included: Potluk - Humboldt County California, Thorn City Improv - Portland, Mr. Meezalini - Portland, Blue Scholars - Seattle, Nonstop - Portland, Craziness - Spokane
Trasheap - Portland, Black Duck - Portland, Phatback Records - Seattle/Bremerton, Soul Plasma - Portland, S-James - Portland, Fogatron & Maniac D - Portland, Byrdie - Seattle, S.P. - Olympia, X-Tac - Portland, TD32 - Portland, E-Dawg - Seattle, J-Kron - Portland, Sonny Bonoho - Seattle/Kirkland, Ramsey Brothers - Portland, Ray Ray of G-Ism - Portland, MyG aka Sinistapushaman - Portland, South Clic - Vancouver, WA, Mackin Rob - Portland, J-Rodd & Big Wilson - Tri-Cities, WA, Siren's Echo - Portland
The World Famous DJ Chill - Portland, DJ Wicked - Portland.
I don't know about you, but I'm looking foreword to number 10.