Everybody Knows - Bridge Expansion Pack EP

The latest in ridiculous free form narrative rapping from Hawaii's greatest living salmon fisherman, this one is all knobs to the right. EK is the dude who shows up in town with a grab bag of party supplies, trades them for other more powerful party supplies and you invariably end up hanging out and yelling into microphones while he records a new album or 3 in the course of a few days. You wish your cup floweth over like this.


Tracks featuring chaboy right here:

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[VIDEO] Sapient - Shotgun In My Spaceship

Northwest producer/emcee Sapient has announced his new album and today released the first video/single, "Shotgun In My Spaceship". First up over at Pigeons and Planes, and spreading around the internetz, this video is perhaps the sweetest, nerdiest love story ever created by an artist known for banger hip hop.

But this is Sapient's new direction - melodic, multi-textured indie-pop that echoes Brian Wilson and will find its place among other genre-mashers like Ratatat or Beck. The single is available for free with a Pre-Order via Bandcamp, or you can purchase it on iTunes as well.

Slump comes out February 19th 2013 from Camobear Records

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VIDEO - Jake Kost "It's All Good" [Honest Hip Hop]

Jake Kost is back with another excellent video, just to remind us "It's All Good", over a classic funky beat that recalls the best of the golden age. Jake Kost has a flow that smoothes out multi-syllabic rhymes and bounces in the pocket. The video, by Martin VanLonden, seems like it just might be a comment on American race issues, but I'll let you decide on that one. CHECK IT OUT, and leave a comment for the kid on his youtube channel.

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BIG BANG - Tis The Season ft. Rocket One Official Video [Honest Hip Hop]

"Tis The Season featuring Rocket One" by Big Bang, available now from Big Bang Broadcast Company.

Recorded at Valiant Records. Shot at Valiant Records and the rest of Salmon St. Studios. Produced and directed by Martin Van Londen for Rainy Day Solutions.

We have 3 compilations up on Bandcamp and more coming every month. Don't Sleep. Follow @WEBANGBIG. Find us on Facebook. CRACK YOUR SKULL OPEN.

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BIG BANG VOLUME 3: LATE IN THE DAY

So we have been spending most of our nights at Valiant Records abusing the studio privileges for the past few months. BIG BANG. Not sure what to say about it yet so why don't you listen and make up your own mind. (FREE DL VIA BANDCAMP) myfirstbigbang.com

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VIDEO - Jake Kost "The Raw Deal" [Honest Hip Hop]

The homie Jake Kost is back with another video produced by PortArea productions. This dude goes in harder and more complex than most of the kids out these days...apparently people are starting to notice cuz this vid got near 3000 views in a week. CHECK IT OUT

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Big day for Portland - New Releases from IAME and Serge Severe [Honest Hip Hop]

WHATUP YALL, I have been so busy workin on this Big Bang project that I have clearly neglected this blog. Thankfully my inbox is full today with great news: two of the more dope rappers in this town full of dope rappers are kicking the spring off right some well anticipated new releases.

Serge Severe, who has been crushing solo for a while, as well as with the group Animal Farm, dropped an EP today entirely produced by Terminill, who's production credits include Luck-One and Mistah Fab. Titled Service Without A Smile as a "metaphor for the ruthless music industry", the project features appearances from Luck-One, Jon Belz and DJ Wels. Dope beats and the emcee who has already let us know he is Back on My Rhymes - yeah go get yours here: Via Mediafire

IAME, the perpetual line crosser from both Oldominon and Sandpeople, has also dropped a project today that you can grab as a pay--what-you-want download from the Heaven Noise Bandcamp. Lame$tream, produced entirely by Smoke M2D6, is a follow up to last years Lame and is filled with the same depth of storytelling that requires a rewind. This time around its less self-deprecating humor and more dark undertones. The press release is calling it "post-swag music for a new day and a new wrong." Maybe just to keep his humor intact IAME also dropped The Deaf Kid Mixtape featuring the swagged out Young Coconut...this past Sunday (jus sayin). Get it all at the Heaven Noise Bandcamp.

DAMN. Okay you got your double (triple really) dose of Portland Hip Hop, so spread the word and enjoy this video while your DL completes. #SWAGGUPY EVERYTHING



YOUNG COCONUT!

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BIG BANG rocking with Kool Keith, Serge Severe, Dain, March 23rd at Hawthorne Theater, Portland, OR - [Honest Hip Hop]

WE ARE STOKED TO BE A PART OF THIS SHOW.

If you havent heard the madcap insanity that is Big Bang, check out the music on Bandcamp. If you havent heard the madcap insanity that is Kool Keith, well....

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VIDEO - Jake Kost "Keepin' It Cool" [Honest Hip Hop]

Jake Kost is a Portland rapper who works non-stop to elevate his style and tell stories that reflect all facets of reality. His punchlines play with street ideology, ambition, relationships and geopolitics with an intelligent swagger that shows depth beyond his years. "Keepin' It Cool" is a nice introduction to the young emcee over a classic Pete Rock beat ("The Boss" from PeteStrumentals), which goes to show the type of artists that influence his style. With his first offerings at this level of quality I'm looking forward to see what he does over fresh instrumentals on his official projects to come.

Find him on Facebook, Soundcloud and YouTube and say whats up.

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VIDEO: Terminill and V1 Creative present "PDX Pass The Mic" [Honest Hip Hop]

This just came out today, here is the info from from Terminill's website:

"Gather up some dope video guys (v1creative) a recording studio (Flatline Studios) a producer (Terminill) and 8 of Portland’s top lyricists (Serge Severe, Th3ory Hazit, Jon Belz, Luck-One, Quiz Zilla, Mila Gordana, Cassow, & Braille) and you get PDX Pass The Mic."

Download it here via hulkshare
NICE

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DMLH watercolor portrait by Erin Please

WOW. "Artist & Adventurer & Half Centaur" Erin Please just posted a super nice watercolor portrait of yours truly, as part of a collection of Portland rappers. I am way honored to be included in this snapshot of what is actually happening here in the northwest! Also more than a little stoked to read the quote he got from Onry Ozzborn (Oldominon/Grayskul/Dark Time Sunshine) that compared me to Buck 65. WORD.

DMLH Watercolor Portrait by Erin Please

Gonna have to hit Erin up to show this in next years PRISMactivism

I'm Playing at a Massive Hip Hop Festival - Fire In The Canyon

go to fireinthecanyon.com

yeah its gonna be pretty sweet.

i'm stoked to see alot of the artists, hang out and have some fun.

yes. this is ACTUALLY HAPPENING

I have been working on this album for the past year. It has been a process of writing, performance, reflection, editing, writing, recording, listening, editing, writing, performance and recording. I am very pleased to have met Joe Cyrus who was kind enough to let me take home some of his beats and begin work on this project. We have found a mutual love for soul music and positive energy and it has led to some incredible songs and great times.

This album is many conversations at once. It is my response to Joe's production. It is my response to the music of my brother. It is my response to the multitudes of beauty i find in the creative communities I take part in. It is my response to a falling world. It is a statement of where I am at, so that I may someday recall the moment. It is a letter to the friends I've lost touch with, and even to those I see every day.

This is a remedy for a broken heart.

This is ACTUALLY HAPPENING

prismACTIVISM: Artists in Dialog + DMLH album release party!

YES. THIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING. DMLH is finally releasing the full length album, and i'm not too proud to say it is fucking dope. For real, i am stoked on this project and it is the independent honest hip-hop I wanted it to be. Entirely produced by Joe Cyrus, the music is soulful and funky, classic hip hop style that provokes dancing in the club and nodding in the whip. Entirely written by DMLH, with a few quotes from friends just to say whats up. No guest appearances, this is 35 minutes of DMLHISM.

Actually Happening will be available on Tuesday May 3rd for download and physical mailorder. I am hand-collaging (with paint, stamps, pen and photobooth images) 200 cases for a limited release (signed and numbered of course) and this will be available exclusively in person or via my bandcamp page.

BUT WAIT, that is not all. This Friday May 6th, from 6-12, at the esteemed Launch Pad Gallery here in Portland OR, I am celebrating this release and the arts community I have become a part of. I have contacted 20+ artists who's work has inspired me in the course of making this album and asked them to create a response to the music. I could be a comment, a translation, an abstraction created while listening - anything that comes out of their relationship to what I have created.

This is prismACTIVISM - direct action and full spectrum effect.

Featuring music from DMLH, JOE CYRUS, DAPS, GEPETTO, NEW PIONEERS and JAKE KOST, Live painting and an incredible hanging show, this is gonna be alot of fun.

SEE YAWLZ THRRRR!

New Album from The Height of 63 - "A Thousand Swords & The Flooded Cave"

The Height of 63 is Michael Griffith, aka Griff who slays keyboards in Archers. A Thousand Swords & The Flooded Cave is a long awaited collection of songs that have been growing for the past 8 years. In that time Griff has lived in SoCal, Geneva and Portland, all the while crafting a space for himself in the world he hears.

The album opens with the classic pop refrain "ah" repeating into spaciousness, and settles into oscillating 8bit frequencies. Griff follows this with "Clouds Burst", acoustic guitar and organs that build from a subtle strum into a heavy wash of emotion, over a sparse electronic beat. I dont feel as through I am well versed enough to talk properly about The Height of 63. There are so many layers of sound and tone, and Griff moves through them all with a timeless, seamless feeling. Sometimes this album sounds like waking up after a shipwreck, washed ashore in the seafoam.

A Thousand Swords and the Flooded Cave is an immersive listening experience from start to finish, and you can hear it all and download at The Height of 63 on Bandcamp. DO IT.

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Show Review: Eddie Valiant, Mt. Tabor Theater, Portland, OR 2.13.11

A few weeks ago, while hundreds of fans lined up around the block at Portland’s Mt Tabor Theater to see Del The Funky Homosapien, I was fortunate enough to be inside to catch the opening act, Portland locals Eddie Valiant. The house was already filling up by the time DJ Zone began to warm up the stage with some choice cuts. He was joined by a drummer and three vocalists, and it looked like we were in for a typical underground rap act.

Eddie Valiant is anything but typical. Max Graves (a rapper), David Mann (a singer), and Scotty Del (a vocalist who does both), belt out personal anthems and pop harmonies, while DJ Zone lays down beats that blur the lines between indie rock and hip hop, and Chase Pingree’s drums never stop carrying the momentum.

photo by Lindsay Nacko

Graves’ rap voice speaks in stacatto bursts of confident poetry, like the hard truth smashing though the mundane. His stage presence is strength personified, power in the flux of restraint and release. David Mann’s vocals sing from the other side of the spectrum, reaching deep for emotive tones that ride the melody like a trip down the rabbit hole. He illustrates his lyrics with his actions, and comments on their meaning with his eyes. Scotty balances the combination, with a raw flow and singing voice that belie the truth in verses of everyday struggle for personal growth. From his words to his actions on stage its clear that this is not a front, this is his heart laid out in unapolagetic terms.

The production moves from hardcore hip hop to melodic indie rock and even into alt-pop territory. Bolstered by the live drums it had a huge portion of the crowd dancing by the end of their set, no small feat for an unknown opener in a huge, cold room. Every member of the group contributes parts to the music, so their mashup of sounds is a true reflection of the identities of the group.

I got a copy of their new EP from David, and bumped it on my ride home. It held the same huge energy of their set, and had me nodding to the shifting dynamic between the members of the group. It just came out this month on Taxidermy Records, and has already garnered a good bit of interest. With a mixtape download coming out in June, and a bunch of shows coming up over the next few months, he said the group is looking forward to a summer full of more awesome times, and I am stoked to see where it takes them.

Writing On The Wall - DMLH and Joe Cyrus Live at Launch Pad Gallery

Last September I was fortunate enough to be invited to partake in a live installation project at the Launch Pad Gallery in Portland. The idea behind the project was to create a space for words to flow freely, where people could interact with each other, the space, and the words that were created. It was an honor to be a part of this moment, and a great chance to introduce some Portland Hip Hop to a lot of new listeners.

The event was promoted with index-card sized flyers, and on the back they were blank, except for a tiny bit of text: "your word here". On the night of the event more cards were supplied, along with pens and markers, thumbtacks and yarn for connecting strands of thought. A 30 foot wall was offered to the crowd as a space to begin self organizing their words and those they came in contact with.

After this had gone on for some time we cranked up some beats and ran around with wireless mics, freestyling literally off the wall. It was one of the most enjoyable nights of my year, and really of my entire career as a performance artist. We went on like this for an hour, mixing in our songs with the freestyle, feeding off the vibe, even rapping according to words handed to us by the crowd.

Thanks to Ben Pink and Launch Pad Gallery for making it happen, Portland Hip Hop heads Joe Cyrus, Kable Roc and Dagda Sun for rockin the mics with me, Shermstixx for DJ'ing and Wellis the Taoist Fool for making the document that exists above.

Just more Honest Hip Hop Art from my Indie Rap Adventure
-DMLH

DMLH Live Honest Hip Hop at The Pub at the End of the Universe - Portland, OR - 1/12/11

SO last week it was my homie Joe Cyrus birthday and we were celebrating, with a bunch of heads dropping new material and a badass freestyle cypher late in the night. In attendance was Daps, Gepetto, Abadawn, Wellis Fool, Diction One, Prime Source, Kable Roc, Gavin Theory and many more heads from the pdx scene (dont hate if i forgot you).

Anyway this guy who was there captured video of most of the night and caught my whole set in one take. I was losing my voice to this nasty cold that everyone in Portland has right now, so by the end of it its pretty much gone, but check it out, watch the whole thing or just skip through, this will give you an idea of where my songs are at these days, as I finish up and get ready for my album release party in May.

Just more Honest Hip Hop from my Indie Rap Adventure.
-DMLH

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NIGHTSHIFT at ROTTURE 2.16.11

NIGHTSHIFT is back for a second round. Come party, dance or just chill with the homies while enjoying genre blurring music from some of Portland's finest. Do you like to make party? So do we. Come say hi and join us for a drink. Featuring various takes on electro by START FIRES, THE SEXBOTS and SPESUS CHRIST with an opening set of subtle ambient by WEATHER EXPOSED SKELETON MUSIC to warm up the room.

At Rotture 315 Se 3rd Ave, 9pm,... $5 for the bands, 21+ for the young at heart.
More Info on all the bands is after the jump.
Check out the Event page on Facebook and invite your friends!

NIGHTSHIFT at ROTTURE

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