Thank you to Matt Conway for this gem in my inbox. Here is a new mixtape from Sabzi (of Blue Scholars & Common Market). Here is what Sabzi himself had to say about it:
“People ask me why I care about making a mix of Hawaiian tunes. I tell them that it’s because Iʼm from Seattle. I donʼt think I can apply the word ‘foreign’ to any cultural elements that have influenced me in becoming the person I am today. Through years of, um, ‘nourishment’ from grinds, to listening to Jawaiian tunes as a teenager, to starting a group with a military kid from Honolulu, to learning the meaning of ‘false crack’ the hard way (ha!)… the spirit of Hawaii has long maintained a notable presence in my life. And while Iʼm not Hawaiian, nor do I claim to be a local boy, I acknowledge and am thankful for the role that the Islands have played in the development of my cultural identity.
For me, a big part of the OOF! EP project was to experiment with a new way of identifying who we are and where we come from. It was an exercise in global cultural expression . Perhaps this is the age we can start believing that “where we are from” is anywhere that has influenced us in becoming who we are. And perhaps our brothers and sisters are those who want to share this belief with us. When you embrace this idea, you start to think that home can be everywhere and your people could be everyone. New People comin thru, son!
Respect to In4mation for the nifty ‘OOF!’ logo they designed and lent us, respect to Ohana for engineering the delicious shrimp tempura + diced spicy scallop + krab + masago sushi that they’ve dubbed the ‘69 Roll,’ and respect to you for reading this and listening to these tunes.
Mahalo.”
Download: Sabzi, 69ROLLS&OOF! (Mixtape)
I think the first time I heard about Blue Scholars was in Spin Magazine or a similar publication. I recall the memory because I was reading a review of their album Bayani. The review that I read was highly favorable, and naturally I wanted to see what the hype was all about. Prior to buying the album, I had never really listened to any artists from Seattle. I mean I knew West Coast Hip-Hop was dope, just not this dope. Bayani is one of my favorite albums I’ve picked up over the last couple years. I’ve been listening to this album a great deal since I found out about it, and to be put quite simply, it never gets old. 
One of my favorite West Coast duos, Blue Scholars, will be releasing a new EP on August 25th. These guys have been reppin’ hard for Seattle for the last 5 or so years. I unfortunately found out about these guys way too late when I read an article in Spin magazine last year. I immediately picked up their album Bayani and fell in love with that shit. Geo and Sabzi are one hell of a combo together and all of their music is top notch. Sabzi makes some of the dopest beats that have come out of the left coast in a while, and Geo’s political and conscious rhymes make me feel moved everytime I give their music a spin.
MIND INVERSION 