Happy Pride months, music nerds! I personally like that the Portland Pride vibes are now being extended from June through July. The forecast is showing a bright and eventful summer. The Blues Fest is right around the corner, and legends like Diana Ross and Janet Jackson are touring through ON THE SAME NIGHT! As always, Hear in Portland has plenty of locally minded music-related releases and events to praise.
MUST SEE:
Upcoming local show(s) featuring local artist(s).
Late Lyrics
It’s always a good time to attend an installment of Late Lyrics: A hip-hop open mic series at Kelly’s Olympian presented by local comedian and rapper Shrista Tyree, (stylized as just “Shrista”). You basically come for the booked acts, but stay to be entertained by the open mic slots, since of course, the main attraction of the night is baked in. The usual Late Lyrics steez is inviting emcees to sign up to perform up to two songs max! This week, guest performers worth catching include charismatic rapper Jahdi—who’s on the song mentioned in our “Must Listen” this week—and sultry ’90s-informed R&B singer Romeo, who recently recorded an interesting cover/interpolation of Destiny Child’s “Say My Name.” (Kelly’s Olympian, 426 SW Washington, Thurs June 15, 8 pm, $3-$25, tickets here, 21+)
MUST LISTEN:
New release(s) from Portland-relevant artist(s).
“Prescription,” The Pharmacee
At the top of May, Portland emcee trio the Pharmacee—which includes rappers Jahdi, Chain Taylor, and KGKing—collaborated on a new ultra-lit club banger called “Prescription.” The song features a totally screwed vocal that repeats the mosh-pit mantra in the chorus: “We pop shit like prescriptions, uh.” As a whole, the song creates the feeling of getting a little rowdy, ignorant, and inebriated with your friends, then hyping each other up. (On the appropriate day of April 20, the group also released “Medicine Man,” a more downtempo sister to “Prescription,” an indica-strain of a song if you will.) This song will make for an apt summer party anthem.
ADDED TO THE QUEUE:
Some upcoming music buzz to put on your radar.
Nonbinary Girlfriend
Specializing in emotive pop-punk, new-ish Portland band Nonbinary Girlfriend will soon bring their ethereal bedroom pop to the Rontoms patio for the lounge’s weekly free show, Sunday Sessions. In February, the band released its debut album, Big and Kind. Immediate standouts on the record are the wistful indie title track and the feel good anthem “Okay.” However, the seven-minute-long “Body,” is probably the most ambitious and marvelous song on the sampling—super moody and ever-evolving, it feels like witchy blues at its core, and explores—you guessed it—“my bodyyyy, ohhh!” In the music video for the single, a creepy, borderline-frightening experience unfolds, depicting lead singer Anaïs Genevieve being dressed up and then pawed at by disembodied hands. The last minute escape is glorious: the joyful rebellion when a truer gender expression is found. Genevieve’s powerhouse voice telegraphs the struggle to define oneself and celebrates each epiphanous step. (Rontoms, 600 E Burnside, Sun July 23, 8 pm, FREE, 21+)
