Tacoma and Olympia have raised a healthy crop of hip-hop/entertainment artists - from Criminal Nation and Wojack to High Performance, Black Anger, Black Caesar, DJ Hawkskee, Donald Glaude, DJ Dan, Slo Poke aka SP, Jay Barz and too many more to name in this humble column.

Adding to the relatively long list of South Puget Sound MCs is a rhymesayer finally dropping a long-awaited album - and he is named after the mighty Sound itself.

Puget is what they call him.

The timing of the release couldn't be better. With a polished new album, Music Is The Key, matched with the re-emergence of the Puget Sound hip-hop scene, Puget seems poised for a legitimate return. After connecting with his producer D-Cipher from Canada, and really spending time toiling in Olympia's hip-hop underground while raising his newborn daughter, Puget aims to bring forth the elements of hip-hop he grew up on - core elements he feels can re-ignite the passion he once had for the ever-changing landscape that is hip-hop.

Prior to the release party for his album last weekend, I sat down with Puget and his producer D-Cipher, who flew in from Toronto to celebrate and talk hip-hop shop.

"It's a crazy game, man", says Puget sitting across from me and next to D-Cipher at KAOS studios in Olympia, looking back on his nearly ten year career.

"Hip-hop has changed so much since I started rapping ... I've seen rappers fall off, turn to snitches and I've seen some keep getting their game on."

Puget has never been considered the ultimate MC or most popular rapper from O-Town, but he is a notable - one of the names you recognize as a quality MC if you're in or around the 360. He has all of the traits of a solid MC: the vocals, the lyrics, the charisma, the delivery, and - the most important component that rounds out a good MC's good album - Puget has a complimentary producer in D-Cipher.

"We met almost seven years ago online", explains D-Cipher. "We both rhymed, but I made beats and asked him to rap on some, because before that he just free-styled."

With Music Is The Key, Puget was inspired to drop an album that represents the best of hip-hop - from his perspective. Puget and D-Cipher cite producers like Premier, Pete Rock and Dr. Dre as influences when they talk about "the best of hip-hop."  To them, "the best' means the beats have to be bumpin', the lyrics have to be real - and the messages have to be meaningful.

But what is real, nowadays?

"Real to me means no bullshit", exclaims Puget. "I can tell stories, but I don't want to rap about things that are fake - doesn't fit me."

Puget doesn't claim to be perfect, but he does have a sense of character and integrity, which are not only missing in some pockets of the hip-hop community, but the entire world population right about now. He attributes some of his "grown-upness" to the fact he is now a father to his eight-month-old daughter, Lilly Ann.

"I have stepped up to the plate with Lilly Ann. I had to (re-evaluate) what I was doing with my career," he tells me.

Puget, fittingly, sees music as his key to success.