1984 Underground Hip-Hop Essay
1989 SWASS Essay
Historylink.org, a free online encyclopedia of Washington State history, has added two additional essays chronicling the epoch of Seattle hip-hop and its boisterous beginnings. The retrospective vignettes by Peter Blecha recount pivotal turning points in Seattle’s hip-hop history, including the 1984 rap concert at the Seattle Center Exhibition hall and the release of Sir Mix-A-Lot’s SWASS album in 1989. With the advent of hip-hop talent such as Mix and DJ Nasty Nes entering the scene it was a groundbreaking and progressive period for Seattle hip-hop. To balance out the business end of newly formed Seattle hip-hop labels and rap records going gold (and eventually platinum) there were wild hootenannies such as the 1989 “Nastymix Gold Party.” To read the Seattle rap culture infused expositions follow the Historylinks above and enjoy some old school hip-hop community history from the original golden era of Seattle rap culture.
SEATTLE SPRING RAPFEST ‘87 RETROSPECTIVE
Historylink
Last week Historylink.org, a free online encyclopedia of Washington State history, posted an article chronicling the epoch of Seattle hip-hop and its tumultuous beginnings. The retrospective vignette by Peter Blecha highlights the 1987 Spring Rapfest held at the Paramount in and the events surrounding the concert. With the advent of rappers such as Sir Mix-A-Lot entering the scene it was an exciting time for Seattle hip-hop, but also a turbulent one as Blecha points out in the dissertation. With chaotic clashes and between police, fans and media, Blecha writes, “It was a scene probably not seen in Seattle again until the WTO protests of 1999.” While these events created quite the controversy at the time, they heralded the sheer energy of the Seattle hip-hop era yet to come. To read the Seattle rap culture infused exposition follow the Historylink above and get ready for some old school hip-hop community history.
