FOR THE PAST 12 months, a hip-hop show has served as a creative outlet for Portland’s up-and-coming artists and bridged the gap between the city’s various hip-hop cliques. Starting tonight, the Thesis celebrates its one-year anniversary, and the event—held every first Thursday at Kelly’s Olympian by hosts/sponsors We Out Here Magazine and XRAY.fm (taking over for KPSU)—will expand to two nights, including its first ever all-ages show.
The city has seen its share of controversy surrounding hip-hop. A show at the Blue Monk was cut short in March 2014 when local rapper Illmaculate decided not to perform in protest of the overbearing police presence at the event. Since then, many artists have struggled to find venues to regularly host hip-hop shows; the Blue Monk has since shut down (it is now a venue/bar called the Liquor Store), while other hip-hop-friendly venues like the Alhambra Theatre have also closed. Relations between performers, fans, and city police have been strained in past years, but 2015 seems to have ushered in a new attitude toward hip-hop in Portland—perhaps best exemplified by the city’s first sanctioned Hip-Hop Day, an event that took place on October 15 in the courtyard of Portland City Hall.
“There aren’t many venues for hip-hop,” says DJ Verbz, who has been DJing the Thesis since the beginning. Verbz has been involved in Portland hip-hop for more than a decade, and has performed at just about every venue in the city. “The Thesis is more important than ever when it comes to providing a venue,” he says. “We’re helping to build this new batch of hip-hop, I swear to that.”
Every first Thursday, Kelly’s Olympian becomes a meeting ground for local hip-hop fans, producers, and emcees alike. The event prides itself on being more than just a monthly concert series, though—it aims to create an environment where hip-hop can thrive in a city dominated by other genres of music.