By Tyrelle Phillips, CWU Publicity Center
|| Seattle is a melting pot for diverse cultures, and it shows with all of the varying areas and different people that encompass the entire city. One of this city’s unique characteristics aside from the people’s loyalty to an incompetent baseball franchise is it’s people’s appreciation for art. Though we hold our musicians up high, not many are getting the coverage and attention they need to fully break into the mainstream. Today we’re going to cover 5 artists from “The Town” that you may or may not have been missing out on.
Dave B
Otherwise known as Dave B spacedot, Dave B is one of the hottest upcoming Seattle artists making a scene right now. Backpack rap influence is very prominent in his sound which makes sense for his quick-witted rhymes, but he also has a very Drake-influenced flow and is not afraid to use his singing voice to make his songs full-circle. Dave has had a huge couple of years- whether it be performing on the Bigfoot stage at Sasquatch 2016, releasing his widely acclaimed project with fellow Seattle native Sango, or doing guest verses on mainstream artist’s projects, such as Macklemore’s “Corner Store,” from his latest LP, Gemini.
Campana
Reigning from West Seattle, west-coast rap influence is seen most heavily through Seattle’s most versatile rapper, Campana. He has been at his rap craft for some years and seeing most of his success through his versatile band, Cosmos. The band, known for their hip-hop jazz fusion, had a fantastic 2016 that started with winning the EMP Sound Off music contest, which landed them gigs all throughout the year, including Sasquatch and Bumbershoot. 2016 has been another touring year while both acts create their next projects, but you can check out Campana’s latest single above.
Travis Thompson
Carrying the kind of energy you may find in a young Chance the Rapper, Travis Thompson exploded from uploading songs to the popular indie music streaming service SoundCloud just over a year ago to currently performing on a nationwide tour with Macklemore. His rise in popularity is well-documented, and all began with his “Horchata” music video making the front-page of Reddit in 2016. He released Ambaum, his first full-length effort in 2016, to wide local acclaim. Ambaum is the name of the street he grew up on in West Seattle. You can check out his latest music video above.
Porter Ray
Not much is known about Porter Ray outside of his East Seattle influence and partnership with Sub Pop Records, which he released his new Watercolor project through. His music carries a very minimalistic trap sound that is joined by sharp flows that cut through the production. I stumbled upon his latest album on the iTunes front page new artist spotlight, and his music did not disappoint.
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