With one month of winter down, it feels like things are already starting to heat up. Here’s some new juice from V. Dewayne and Eso.Xo.Supreme, along with three hip-hop events to get you through the first few weeks of February.
“Warehouse,” by V. Dewayne feat. $noogz
V. Dewayne, formerly known as Vinnie Dewayne, recently dropped another cool (and super Portlandy) new music video that features a verse from $noogz. Like Dewayne’s last video, “Losing Direction,” it’s directed by Riley Brown and features shots of Dewayne in the parking lot of a North Portland gas station. While “Losing Direction” was about processing the loss of his good friend, “Warehouse” has a sillier, more lighthearted vibe and is also weed-themed. Dewayne shows he’s not afraid to use self-deprecation as comic relief: The video features him abruptly forgetting the words to his verse, getting clowned for smoking low-THC weed (“Don’t CBD-shame, my nigga”), hanging out in a warehouse of cannabis plants, playing a set at Kelly’s Olympian, and riding around on ATVs with friends.
“Facts” by Eso.Xo.Supreme
Portland-based R&B artist Eso.Xo.Supreme has been on my radar for a little while, and he keeps pumping out enjoyable tunes. The latest is “Facts,” which explores the unfortunate realities of a toxic relationship. While the topic is grim, the song is upbeat, with Auto-Tune and atmospheric beats produced by Reckless. My biggest complaint is that it clocks at less than three minutes.
Cabin Fever: Courtesy of Capes
There’s not nearly enough hip-hop shows happening in North Portland, but here’s one: According to a press release, Cabin Fever is “the first of many shows this year that Mic Capes will be throwing and curating” at the Fixin’ To in St. Johns. It’s hosted by Shrista Tyree, and the first lineup is great. There’s local staples Capes and Bocha, but I’m most interested in catching sets from the artists I’ve never seen before: Sacramento-based singer Zyah Belle and local hip-hop/R&B artist Mal London, who is also a producer. His Soundcloud tracks like “Soul Food” already piqued my interest, but his most recent Kcoyi-directed music video “Wayvmode” is what sold me even more. (Sat Feb 2, 8:45 pm, The Fixin’ To, 8218 N Lombard, $10, w/Zyah Belle, Mal London, Bocha, Mic Capes)
The Thesis
Remember last May, when Swiggle Mandela took a piss on a Willamette Week newspaper in his ruthless music video for “Dear Willamette Week”? The song basically told them to STFU when it comes to hip-hop and took shots at their lack of coverage of gentrification, and meanwhile, all of us over at the Mercury just waited quietly to see if we’d be next in line to get dragged? [SIGH] Good times! Well, now the outspoken Portland rapper is headlining the Thesis, which is an otherwise very non-Portland bill: Marco Pavé is coming from Memphis to play his set, and 1 Young Micah is here from New Orleans. As always, there’s a *surprise* special guest performer, but I’ll give ya’ll a hint: SHE is from the West Coast. (Thurs Feb 7, 9 pm, Kelly’s Olympian, 426 SW Washington, $10, w/ Swiggle Mandela, Marco Pave, 1 Young Micah, Verbz)
Wiz Khalifa, Curren$y
Wiz Khalifa is expected to put out a joint album with New Orleans rapper Curren$y this year, so it only makes sense that they’ve decided to go on a 22-date North American tour together. They’ll probably be playing new shit, and definitely some stuff from their joint How Fly mixtape from 2009. And we won’t have to wait long to see the live collab: After kicking off in Seattle, Portland is just the third date on the trek. (Sun Feb 10, 8 pm, Roseland, 8 NW 6th, $39.50-250, all ages)
