Join Crosscut Live for A Hip Hop History of Seattle!

What do public policy and hip hop have to do with one another? A lot, it turns out. We’ll trace with history of Seattle’s jazz scene, the rise of hip hop, and the present day music scene as they’ve been shaped by redlining, the Teen Dance Ordinance, gentrification and the tech boom.

We’ll hear from local musical luminaries, view archival footage from the golden days of jazz and hip hop and enjoy live performances that will change the way you look at the city and give you a glimpse of where the action is now.

This first event in our Crosscut Live series will feature the following artists:

• Sir Mix-A-Lot & Ricardo Frazer – Hear the Seattle-born and -bred rapper and his manager, producer and music business pioneer Ricardo Frazer, talk about the historical significance of their work, the ground they broke and their experiences in the Central District and beyond.
• Gifted Gab – The Seattle favorite and current LA resident, Gifted Gab, will perform two songs and a brief live interview about what’s different, what’s the same, and where we go from here.
• Gabriel Teodros – The KEXP DJ and rap artist will discuss the history of the Teen Dance Ordinance and his experience performing at “Sure Shot Sundays”, the infamous all-ages hip hop gathering that pre-dated it.
• Porter Ray – Recently signed to Sub Pop Records, Porter skews the modern experiment that is contemporary rap music wildly.  He is in a word: Authentic.  Porter Ray is a natural… he sounds like East Seattle feels. We’ll talk to Porter about the past, present and future of hip hop in Seattle.
• Vitamin D – The producer, rapper, DJ and audio engineer from Seattle who is widely acknowledged as one of the most important contributors to the Seattle hip hop scene and the founder of the “Seattle Sound” will bring his thoughts on the Teen Dance Ordinance to the stage.
• Upendo Moore – The son of Seattle hip-hop legend Jonathan Moore will open and close the show from the DJ booth.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit https://crosscut.com/event/crosscut-live-hip-hop-history-seattle