In 2001 Bulldog News, a magazine and newspaper store in downtown Olympia, hosted a small hip-hop show for up-and-coming Los Angeles rapper, Aceyalone. 

Ten years later Aceyalone is now considered an underground hip-hop legend, and will easily pack out The Royal Lounge Thursday, Sept. 29 when he comes to town on his West Coast tour with Bay Area rappers Opio of Hieroglyphics, Equipto and Z-Man. 

Opening up the evening will be Tacoma rappers CityHall and an Olympia group that has been catching a buzz as of late, Fresh Heads.  A familiar story, Fresh Heads met while attending the Evergreen State College and were able to begin creating music with people they felt chemistry with, all while making an impression on their new college hometown. 

Last October MCs Substance and Megalo met while attending Hip-Hop Congress meetings on campus at Evergreen.  With both rappers new to Olympia – Megalo from Anchorage and Substance from Bellingham - they were very surprised to meet someone right away that they shared the same musical taste and clicked so well with.  Shortly after meeting they teamed up with Olympia-bred DJ 360 and began writing music and rocking house parties. 

Megalo tells me he hadn't had much experience being an actual performer before arriving in Olympia.  "Back home in Anchorage it was hard to find a hip-hop scene to be a part of," he says. "It may have been out there, but I couldn't find it. But I'm just happy to be a part of a good scene in Olympia." 

Megalo isn't even old enough to get into a bar right now, so I'm sure finding a hip-hop scene in Anchorage would have been difficult.

Substance, on the other hand, has been not only rapping but making music for quite some time.  He raps in Fresh Heads, but he's also the drummer for another Oly-based hip-hop outfit, Never Sleep, along with dabbling with production.  He also says he struggled to find a hip-hop scene in his hometown of Bellingham, but was still able to make some progress there.

Luckily, both these young MCs have found their stride in Olympia. If they keep putting in hard work they've got a bright musical future ahead of them.

Come check out Fresh Heads Thursday at The Royal in downtown Olympia, opening up for Aceyalone. And look for their new EP, Too Nice, in the very near future.

[The Royal Lounge, Aceyalone, Opio, Equipto, Z-Man, CityHall, Fresh Heads, Thursday, Sept. 29, 8 p.m., 311 Capitol Way N, Olympia, 360.705.0760]