Show And Tell
The weekend of April 20-21, The Grand Cinema is hosting our first ever 24 Hour Movie Marathon. This is an event that we've wanted to do for a long time, but finally moved forward with this year as a support event for our Digital Conversion Campaign — to which all
Show And Tell
If I had a penny for every time I felt guilty for supporting artists whose work I know to be prejudice or socially harmful I'd have more than enough cash to pay off my student loans. I'm talking about Jay-Z who, pre-Beyonce and Blue Ivy, used to be one of the
Show And Tell
There are profoundly powerful human experiences that are captured and recaptured seemingly annually by filmmakers. Then there are those that are equally or exceedingly powerful yet are seldom selected for depiction. What's even more peculiar is that the large majority of humanity shares some of the experiences that seem to be
Show And Tell
Ever walk into an argument long after it began and found that it's seemingly too late to take a side? The dueling parties have been firing off rationale after rationale, their heels are dug in, and as you watch them quarrel you decide you might as well stay out of
Arts
LGBT leaders and allies all over Washington are launching a new campaign for marriage equality called Washington United for Marriage. The campaign's goal is to pass a marriage equality bill in the Washington State Legislature and for it to be signed into law by Governor Christine Gregoire. To reach this
Guides
Tuesday, April 19, three days before Earth Day, the Tacoma City Council will introduce two new sustainability policies, one regarding the city's internal purchasing standards and the other relating to its construction and building maintenance standards. Both policies are designed to ensure Tacoma leads by example as it encourages businesses
Arts
Over its six-month lifespan Spaceworks Tacoma has introduced and reacquainted the community with local artists, tremendously improved the aesthetic of many downtown storefronts and been a popular subject of discussion at many a Tacoma party. This month the program releases its third installment, which includes 16 spaces and 51 projects. City
Music
It's late in the afternoon on a recent Sunday and Ra Scion (of Common Market fame) and I are finishing up a session with DJ Phinisey at his East Tacoma studio, Remedy Recordings. As he is putting his jacket on, Scion inquires about a song of mine, "I Know Better,"
Music
If a romantic dinner for two at Maxwell's Speakeasy isn't your ideal Valentine's Day, or if you're looking for something to do after diner, local hip-hop will be out in full effect this Monday evening at El Perron, located at 13021 Pacific Ave. Local mainstays Doughkain and Josh Rizeberg are
Music
The Tacoma hip-hop community is uncommon in that it is most often represented on a citywide scale not by its local rap music, but by its local graffiti and B-boy communities. These two communities along with Fab-5, the educational and community arts program that helps organize them, had a very
Music
As far as the masses are concerned, vinyl records were eclipsed by tapes decades ago. But records still hold a special place in hip-hop culture. Producers use them to "sample," which is to cut brief segments out of a record and piece them into a beat - a common method
Music
This year, 2010, was a busy year for Tacoma hip-hop music. Many different individual artists and groups released and promoted good music and built their fanbases. However, there was no clear-cut top artist, and therefore I didn't feel compelled to spout 500 words of my own opinion about who had
Music
As the landscape of hip-hop changes to account for the gift and the curse that is the Internet and the free download epidemic, local and national artists have been forced to adjust their promotional strategies in response. In particular the role of the mixtape, a constantly evolving pillar of hip-hop
Music
From Jay-Z to Tupac to Kanye West, hip-hop's most beloved emcees have found a balance addressing their hardships while maintaining a high level of charisma and charm. Hip-hop is rooted in the racial and economic struggles endured by New York City minorities in the late-1970s and the '80s, but it
Arts
If you've driven down the 900 block of Market Street in the past couple of months, you have probably noticed the spectacular new mural on the side of the Rialto Theater. Like much of Tacoma's greatest art, it arrived with little celebration or acclaim, despite its beauty, grandeur and mystique.
Music
The Tacoma hip-hop scene is an ever-evolving community. Artists and supporters come and go on a yearly, sometimes almost monthly, basis. Walls are painted and covered (and then sometimes painted again). Emcees rise to prominence only to vanish (paging Can-U). And venues and boutiques the scene has called home rise
Music
Joell Ortiz, a longtime indie-rap darling, is quickly garnering a reputation as one of the best emcees in hip-hop. Tacoma's best rap group (as deemed recently by the Weekly Volcano), City Hall (Todd Sykes and EvergreenOne), is buzzing in the Northwest and beyond after the recent release of their first