"There are hints of ‘it's all fucked up.' But it's not. There's hope."

They tell you in journalism school never to start an article with a quote. Without context, quotes lack meaning. It takes the punch out of the punch line.

What they also don't tell you, but probably should have told me, is to absolutely avoid opening with a quote from an unattributed cybernautical garage shaman who has inadvertently summed up social media, hip-hop in the South Sound, and life in general using wine tasting vernacular and the word "fucked."

But that's where we at.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, pimps, playas and hustlas, time to talk about hip-hop. And there is indeed hope.

We begin with Compost - a fitting first dip for hope-o-philes. Compost, like his namesake, has helped provide a rich, fetid bed for little hip-hop seedlings. He gets dirty. He makes things grow from the darkness. As a man who helped breathe life into hip-hop in Olympia as co-progenitor of the show series Word Life; as one-third of (((SoundAsylum))), which recently produced one of the best, most slept-on albums ever created in the Northwest; and now as one half of Homeland Security, Compost is the Yoda of Oly hip-hop, and he knows what we don't, or wish we did.

All is well in Olympia, says Compost. Homeland Security is preparing for a heavy spring lineup, including a release party for Seattle fam Onry Ozzborn and his new project Darktime Sunshine; a visit from Josh Martinez, still one of the best live performers in the game; and a night with Project Blowed new blood Dumbfoundead and Nocando. New albums are on the way from the soon-to-be-legendary Xperience, QStorm, Nicatine (the other half of Homeland Security) and (deep breath) a solo album from Compost himself.

"I'm six songs deep," he says.

For anyone who's heard Compost wreck a microphone, that's reason number one for a lot of hope.

Another reason for hope, says Compost, is something called Nightfox. That's emcee Heady Leonne along with Chonie Diego and Scout.

While we're focused on Oly, it would be entirely inappropriate not to mention Smoke, who moved to Olympia a few years ago and basically helped half the city step its game up with nothing more than his sweat, genius, and relentless dedication to pushing the envelope. He is a stellar producer, emcee and all-around conceptual juggernaut. Just being in the room with Smoke is inspiring. If you're damn lucky, he'll give you some tracks to rhyme on.

Currently Smoke is working on something called The Villain Machine. It's a concept album - half post-hip-hop, half pre-Mogwai (Google it) - exploring the metaphysical, artistic and social implications of technology and so-called social media.

Yeah. It's heavy.

"It's about wrapping your soul in cellophane and selling it," Smoke says.

This isn't your typical apocalyptic "technology is out of control and it's going to destroy us all someday" sort of exploration. Like any artist worth his salt, Smoke explores his subject in all its complexity, offering no easy answers. These days, this is a hell of an achievement - especially in the world of hip-hop.

For the full experience, you'll have to wait for the album. But here are a few quotes to whet your whistle:

Smoke on technology as efficiency engine: "Technology is causing evolution right before our very eyes. God ... the amount of work I can get done in eight hours. ... It took Brian Wilson forever and a ton of money to record Good Vibrations."

Smoke on social media on the Internet à la Facebook and Twitter: "It gives everyone's ego a place to be center stage. If everyone is given free license to flash their ego and pretend like they're a star, it skews their sense of themselves in a really bad way. Basically, it turns people into douche bags. Follow a list of people on Twitter for a day. People's egos are out of control. Everyone thinks they're in US Magazine, and it's disgusting and vile. You're a star because you think everyone cares about the soggy oatmeal you had for breakfast."

You have hip-hop to thank for that bit of brutal truth.

Finally, before we leave Olympia, a quick mention of William the VIII - the soon-to-be-released atom bomb from Xperience, another Oldominion crewmember. He recently opened for Snoop at the Showbox and is about to unleash a ton of talent with his latest.

Up north, Q-dot is still pushing the recently released Underground Railroad, working on a couple videos and helping develop lineups for the Grit City Festival. Q-dot says there's a lot to watch out for in Tacoma. Keep an eye out for work on the way from NY native and Tacoma resident Spaid, who is working with producers Tryfe and 2Fifty3 on something heavy for 800 LB.

"I'm excited about all the local people getting national attention," says Q, noting Seattlites Jake One, D-Black and Fresh Espresso.

Also on the rise is Tacoma's Josh Rizeberg, who is working on an all-ages monthly at the Viaduct and is about to drop a second album - Word to the Wize, soon to be available for free download by anyone interested in hearing how this local hustler has evolved since Spoken Worlds. Rizeberg has pushed himself on this one. There's a lot more hip-hop flava; guest spots from Alpha-P; and another collection of dirty goodness from producer Xaviant Haze. And there's a full range of concepts to chew on - plenty of politics, metaphysics, and some other things that will bend your noggin right.

"I basically wrote a book for this thing," Rizeberg says. "I don't really have anything to say after this until I take some Ayahuasca or something."