Could the biggest MC from Tacoma be someone ya never heard about? I think it could, and his name is Clemm Rishad.

Rishad has been the Boy Wonder of Tacoma rap ever since his days at Foss High School, circa the early-to-mid 2000's. He's been respected by other MCs in the local scene for at least that long. While he never really did enough local shows to get noticed by the populace, he was so good that he did get noticed by Universal. The label signed Rishad to a deal and he's been ghostwriting verses for literally the top rappers on the national level for a couple years now.

In a sense, Rishad skipped the local scene and kind of went straight to the top.

Rishad just dropped a slick-looking video for the song "Back to the Paper." The video highlights Rishad's rise, showing him pushing CDs locally all the way to walking into the Universal Building signifying his deal.

Rishad's strength is his story-telling delivery and use of metaphors. Not to sound cliché, but Rishad's flow really is similar to Jay-Z's. He often gets compared to Hov'. Get to know Rishad's music and career before he hits super-star status. That way ya can say, "Yeah, he's Tac' and I bumped him before."

One of the underground street hip-hop favorites of our scene is Tall Cann. If I were you I'd immediately go to his Facebook page and familiarize yourself with his music. Tall Cann also has some good homegrown videos on YouTube. He recently dropped "My Vans," an obvious ode to current street fashion.

If ya don't know Tall Cann it's cause ya not cool enough. Tall Cann has a true Tacoma-flow. It's hard yet full of humor. It's original but still has a Bay Area influence. Underground talents like Tall Cann aren't going to pop up on yo computer screen with flashy, shiny videos. Ya'll are going to have to get out of your comfort zone and go experience an underground show.

The hip-hop scene has levels; some of the diamonds are buried a little deeper. If ya don't dig ya will never be able to dig someone like Tall Cann. Ya dig?