OWEN TAYLOR: EPHRYME AT THE ROYAL TONIGHT >>>

There are certain truths we hold dear in this world. GZA’s Liquid Swords is well to be heeded as one of them. A monumental epic in scope and style, it opened the doors of possibility and inspired many to walk through, a snapshot of perfection that captured and defined an era, giving birth to new ideas that expanded the collective unconscious of hip-hop.

“This is the album that convinced me GZA would save the world,” confides Ephryme stopping short of the door at Caffe Vita as an unmistakable film snippet of Shogun Assassin begins to play over trippy atmospheric synth sounds.

We immediately start rhyming along with Ghostface Killah as he begins “4th Chamber,” hands to the sky.

“This is what inspired me to start, the rhymes about the ancients and mystics,” continues Ephryme, a former Olympian now residing in Brooklyn, N.Y., returning to celebrate the release of his new 7-inch Shomer Salaam on local label K Records.

Tonight, Ephryme arrives to embody the spirits of the past, much like his music does, throwing a release party at the Royal. With a myriad of locals and surprise guests, this shindig is destined to be a classic.

[The Royal Lounge, Ephryme Release Party with AKA, Smoke, Evergreen One, Deadbeat, Thursday, May 21, 9 p.m., $5, 311 Capitol Way N., Olympia, 360.705.0760]