SassyBlack Texas Isaiah Having started my career as a music/arts/culture writer up in Seattle, the Emerald City’s Afrofuturist artist Catherine Harris-White, AKA SassyBlack, has long been on my radar as someone I sought to cover and, eventually, interview. Harris-White’s musical alter ego makes space-age electronic soul that’s a breeding ground for radical self-love. The unapologetically […]
Jenni Moore
Jenni Moore is a former music editor and hip-hop columnist and current freelancer at The Portland Mercury. She also writes about comedy, cannabis, movies, TV, and her hatred of taxidermy.
Posted inMusic
SassyBlack’s Ancient Mahogany Gold Is Natural Therapy for the Independent Soul
Seattle singer/producer SassyBlack is back and better than ever, plays make-up show with headliner Madame Gandhi.
Posted inMovies & TV
Queen & Slim Is Thrilling, Powerful, and Strikingly Black
Andre D. Wagner / Universal Pictures Queen & Slim may be the best—and is almost certainly the Blackest—film of 2019. One of the most striking things about the movie is that it’s intentionally absent of the white gaze. The directorial debut of Melina Matsoukas (of Master of None and “Formation” fame), it’s also the first […]
Posted inMusic
Press Play: Music News for the Week of November 22
Courtesy Portland 5 “Think about it/There must be a higher love/Down in the heart or hidden in the stars above/Without it, life is wasted time/Look inside your heart, and I’ll look inside mine.” Happy Friday, music nerds! Let’s get into some of Portland’s best news bites from this week, shall we? Yesterday, Portland’5 Centers for […]
Posted inUncategorized
Handmade Gift Guide: Five Great Spots to Replenish Your Craft Cupboard
Artist and Craftsman Art Supply Kathleen Marie / Mercury Staff Those big corporate arts-and-craft supply chains like JOANN and Michaels no doubt have lots of variety and notoriety. (Is it just me, or are those places spendier and more unpleasant than expected during every visit?) But there are lots of smaller, locally owned shops around […]
Posted inMusic
Local Hip-Hop News: Bossin’ Up with KayelaJ, New R&B from Motaz, and More!
Portland Mercury Welp, we have officially entered the slow-and-cold holiday season, when Portland is presented with significantly fewer opportunities to experience live music. While there are not nearly as many shows happening, it’s a great time to stay in and sit with the expansive plethora of new music that’s been released at the end of […]
Posted inMusic
The Latest in Portland Hip-Hop: Bossin’ Up with KayelaJ, New R&B from Motaz, and More!
The latest in Portland hip-hop.
Posted inTheater & Performance
Theater Review: The Hip-Hop Nutcracker Was Way Better Than I Expected
Courtesy Hip-Hop Nutcracker I walked into The Hip-Hop Nutcracker with an open mind, high-school level dance experience, and a noted history of loving the traditional ballet version. That said, expectations for this show were pretty low, simply because I hadn’t heard too much buzz about it. But Michael Fitelson and choreographer Jennifer Weber’s 2019 production […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
Rap Pioneer Kurtis Blow Talks The Hip-Hop Nutcracker, New Film Projects, Jesus Is King, and More
Kurtis Blow Courtesy of the Hip-Hop Nutcracker I’ve had a mild obsession with Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker pretty much since I found out about it at age five. The combination of three of my favorite things—dance, quality holiday music, and a love story—typically results in a magical time. But in recent years the various Nutcrackers I’ve […]
Posted inFood and Drink
KEX Is Portland’s Brand New Design-Focused Social Hotel
Mikael Lundblad Yesterday, KEX—an upscale “social hotel” born out of Reykjavík, Iceland, in 2012—opened its first US location in Portland (of all places)! After opening the first Kex in 2012, KEX Iceland founder Kristinn Vilbergsson searched for the Portland space for seven years, and finally bought the historic Vivian apartments building in 2018. Now that […]
Posted inFeature
Handmade Gift Guide: Five Great Spots to Replenish Your Craft Cupboard
Five spots around town to shop for handmade gift supplies!
Posted inMusic
Girl Fest Reveals Lineup, Plus Three Additional Events for 2020!
Girl Fest—the annual all-ages concert that showcases women and gender non-conforming artists from the Northwest region—just announced its lineup for 2020. On Sunday, January 12 at Holocene, Seattle electronic music producer Chong the Nomad will headline; there will also be experimental hip-hop from Tacoma artist Guayaba; indie rock four-piece Pool Boys; Portland synth-and-prog group Dan […]