Seattle has launched two rappers into the sphere of pop stardom: Sir-Mix-a-Lot and Macklemore. To the rest of the country, these figures appear to have come out of nowhere. And in a way they did. Seattle is kind of nowhere, in the sense that Atlanta or Miami are certainly somewhere. But Seattle’s nowhereness has never been sleepy but very busy, and very creative. It is a place with a deep and complicated racial, class, and musical history. It’s also very green here. Now, no panel could fully capture the richness of this region and all of its oddities in the time available, but we (Mudede, Abe, Mizell) certainly hope to provide an introduction to what makes 206 hip-hop 206 hip-hop. This panel welcomes you to the gates of the Emerald City.

Daudi Abe, “The Roots of Seattle’s Progressive Hip-Hop”
Larry Mizell Jr., “The Sounds of the Frontier”
Charles Mudede, “What Is Green Gothic Hip-Hop?”