Lawz Spoken, PDX Boom Bap

This kid who goes by Lawz Spoken makes bangers on the low and he lives south in Bridgetown. I've had his project Standing in the Rain in the iTunes since it dropped last year but fronted on it until today, playing it through a couple times. It features an array of spitters from the 503 and surrounding communities - Illmaculate, Tope, Dain, Only One, Sapient and Sole Pro to name a few. Don't sleep on Oregon!

Learn more and download it here.

Learning more about dude it caught my attention that he has remixed two Evidence cuts from The Weatherman LP as well as dropping one for "To Be Determined." I compiled them into a folder, you can grab em all here.

Luck One "True Theory Outtakes"

I love listening to Luck One discuss his beat selection process. He has to be the pickest rapper ever when it comes to what he wants. It shows. Last year he impressed all with his debut EP Beautiful Music. Entirely produced by Dekk he showed a depth that most emcees lack and a tongue that's been trained to spit darts with the best.

As he prepares the world for his debut full length album True Theory, he first must hit us with one more free EP. True Theory Outtakes makes you wonder about the album, but it should also make you think about the artist. Across seven songs Luck selects seven different producers and crafts unique tracks that will have you coming back and considering their weight well into repeated listening.

On “Move On” Gen. Erik and Mic Crenshaw join Luck over haunting pianos, HARD drums and strings that you may not even notice until the first several bars of Luck’s verse when he drops the drums out and spits over just keys and strings. It’s beautiful and his words fall with the same weight the drums did.

The lead single closes the record out, “More” is an awesome celebration that is bound to make you feel good. Throughout Luck’s music resides a theme of embracing potential. He has embraced the struggle and he is making urgent music for anyone going through life. Positive, thought provoking, ill Hip Hop music

“Ribbon” shows a different side of Luck, but it’s a good touch, distracts from an otherwise heavy album. The beat features some great dusty drums that change their pattern through the song to great results. Through the verse Luck pulls no punches about what he needs from a woman before the understanding that he can’t rush to his desires for it to be right.

We will all have more than enough to sink our heads into with these seven tracks, we should have no need for True Theory anytime soon. Just marinate on this here. Not only do they make me nod my head repeatedly they make me learn and prompt me to think about what it was that made me fall in love with this music. This record is dope. Download it here.

Luck One & Dekk "Beautiful Music"

Early last year a little known emcee from Portland Oregon emerged onto the blog circuit with an EP titled Beautiful Music. Produced entirely by Dekk the seven tracks found within show you who this young man is over stellar instrumentals that evolve as they play out - a trademark of any beat Luck selects.

While he is a self admitted beat freak he is also a very serious lyricist who refuses to waste even one breath. Having seen more than many of us will in a lifetime Luck One left prison after 5 years with a passion to move forward in a positive direction with his life and music. Don’t come into this project expecting tales from hood corners and Oz like memoirs, Beautiful Music is more reminiscent of that philosophy course students across the nation are sitting down in this month.

Opening with the awesomely bombastic “80s Back” celebrating the maturation of those of us who were born in the decade. Luck makes sure to shout out all the trends people have to look back on in confusion, and at the same time gets you hyped up and ready for more. The first time I saw dude live his set was opened with this cut and it provided him the opportunity to capture the crowds energy - we were locked on him for the duration of his set.

Illmaculate has made a name for himself nationally as an incredibly talented battle rapper. In Portland everyone knows his success, but it’s tempered by the fact that he is out their trying to prove himself as a well rounded emcee. Even though Luck was defeated by a 15 year old Illmaculate years ago, today they are peers and two of the more lyrically talented individuals from the 503. “Back At Long Last” and “Road To Destiny” are both more serious tracks towards the end of the EP, the former giving both emcees room to blow of frustrations and the later being the flip side of that coin as they show optimism and hope for their dreams to be reached.

Undoubtedly some have and always will hate. If you are gonna make a complaint about Luck One I would guess it relates to his vocabulary and the use of words some may not know. If that is the case for you good for Luck teaching you something and good for you for allowing what is viewed as entertainment to be more. Big words may be present in his bars but you can’t elevate anything listening to Wiz Khalifa all the time.

Content can be lost in exchange for any number of things in this biz, Luck One doesn’t compromise anything for his art. He makes music with a message that shouldn’t be forgotten. Thanks to the production by Dekk cats won’t be able to stop nodding their head to it and in the process Lucks words will flow into your mind. Whatever that opens you up to, it’s bound to be positive. How many rap albums today convey pure hope?

Download Beautiful Music here! And be watching here or any of your other favorite Hip Hop blogs for Luck's new EP True Theory Outtakes coming next week!

Diezel P @ Jet Set, 5.24.10

I first heard Diezel P last year at the charity even in Portland Cold Nights War Coats which saw over 20 of the city's emcees come out and rock to a crowd that gained admittance either with a 10 dollar donation or they brought in coats to be distributed to the homeless and needy in the area. It was a great event and showed me a wide array of talent that the Bridgetown possess.

When Swerve told me he had booked Diezel P for Jet Set I was excited and he didn't disappoint that evening. This video captures his energetic presence and serious delivery and the crowd totally seems to be into it. He gave me a copy of his album that night and I never did make it through it unfortunately but this video has me on the hunt to dig it out and give it another go.

See you on Monday when we got DV One and The Mayor holding down with your resident DJs 100Proof and Swervewon!