Now that the sun is here to stay this summer, ya'll better get out and enjoy it, because it's already late August, which means the countdown to the end of summer has begun.

Hopefully a couple weeks ago ya hit Hip-Hop in the Park and caught Violet, the Breaklites, the MC Battle or someone getting down. If not I don't know what to tell ya. As far as I know there aren't any other outdoor hip-hop events this summer to see in Tacoma. But that doesn't mean there's no action to report.

Before I begin I must clarify something for all the don't-knows and the dumb-dumbs out there. I'm not a music critic. I don't let my personal taste dictate what gets covered in this column. All I'm trying to do is cover what's going on with local hip-hop. If an artist has shows, then they're worthy of my words. I'm not here to give ya my personal opinions. I write about what is happening in our scene. There are plenty of artists who I've written about with music I personally don't like, but I'm not reviewing their albums. I'm just telling ya'll what's out there locally and letting ya make ya own personal decisions. 

When I do like something, though, I'll let ya know. I dig Sonny Bonoho. He's one of the most successful rappers to ever come out of Tacoma. He's been on tour with B.O.B., Nappy Roots, Playboy Tre and more. Bonoho's new album, Jermaine, just debuted on the very popular national hip-hop blog, kevinnottingham.com.

If it was up to me, Bonoho would be on the cover of this paper and more people would be proud of him. The best thing about Bonoho is not his personality or his flavor (which are both real cool); it's his music - which is what this is all about. Bonoho makes extremely unique hip-hop music ... probably like nothing ya'll have ever heard. When a Sonny song is on, ya know its Sonny. There's no father to his style. I embrace Bonoho's originality and I encourage ya'll to do the same.