the thesis wynne

"The Thesis" lyrics

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Wynne gets an assist from Damian Lillard in the new video for “The Thesis”

The rising portland artist teams with vursatyl, illmaculate, kayelaj, and dame d.o.l.l.a. for her latest single..

Contrary to a viral tweet saying otherwise , Wynne is not Eminem's daughter. She is, however, carving out her own lane in the Portland rap scene, and she's bringing her crew with her. Today, she's offering her newest single, "The Thesis," named after PDX's monthly local hip hop showcase (spearheaded by Mac Smiff).

The song's video finds Wynne linking with Vursatyl, Illmaculate, KayelaJ, and Dame D.O.L.L.A in Portland's city’s center, Pioneer Square. “I’m excited for people to see the different talents that Portland has to offer. I felt very honored to be able to create this alongside some of my hometown hero’s and equally as inspired watching it come to fruition.”

Read Next: Wynne’s “Don’t Touch” is about forging your own path

Watch the Riley Brown-directed clip below, and stay tuned for more on the way from Wynne.

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The Thesis (feat. Vursatyl, Illmac, KayelaJ & Dame D.O.L.L.A.) - Single

September 6, 2019 1 Song, 3 minutes ℗ 2019 Wynne

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• The Thesis (feat. Vursatyl, Illmac, KayelaJ & Dame D.O.L.L.A.)

Credits Writer(s): Marlon Irving, Sina Holwerda, Damian Lillard, Renee Scroggins, Thearthur Washington, Samuel Waldo Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com Link

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Portland Rapper Wynne Explains Why Hip-Hop Needs White People To Be Allies More Than Ever

In this weird, current era of hip-hop dictated by streams and social media, going viral can be a blessing. It can mean getting a leg up on the competition, getting your name out there while so many others languish in obscurity. It can be the difference between getting picked up and endorsed by major outlets and grinding out a few thousand YouTube views at a time, hoping to build an organic fanbase in a world where attention cycles are getting shorter by the day and more and more content fills the ether hoping to catch that dwindling supply of attention.

But going viral can also be a curse. It comes with expectations, assumptions, increased scrutiny, and even mistaken identity. That was the case for Portland rapper Wynne, who at 20 years old has gone viral not just once but twice. Both times, her freestyles so impressed viewers that numerous blogs picked up coverage of them and mistook her for Hailie Mathers , the daughter of Detroit rap legend Eminem — despite the fact that Hailie is four years older and looks nothing like Wynne, minus their characteristic blonde hair and blue eyes.

Wynne, who says she really doesn’t “want to be the viral white girl,” is flattered by the attention, but in something of an anachronistic relationship with modern zeitgeist, would prefer to build a grassroots following the old-fashioned way. She has leveraged the close-knit culture of her hometown’s hip-hop scene to cultivate a strong local following, and a chance meeting with Dreamville’s JID led to “Ego Check,” a lyrically gymnastic display of the duo’s verbal prowess that proved that Wynne could hang with some of the best.

On her independently-produced 2019 debut album, …If I May , Wynne’s skills take the forefront as songs like “Roll Call” address the elephant in the room when it comes to issues of white privilege in a Black culture such as hip-hop. Other highlights include “The Thesis” a Portland-centric posse cut that gets a boost in star power from Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard as his rapping alter ego Dame D.O.L.L.A. , and “Ken Mastrogiovani,” an improvisational track named for the drummer who freestyles an unconventional beat that Wynne has no trouble dancing over with scintillating wordplay and impeccable cadence.

The album’s warm reception among fans, as well as Wynne’s previous connection with Dreamville through JID, led to her becoming the opening act on Earthgang’s Welcome To Mirrorland tour along with new Spillage Village member Jurdan Bryant and Mick Jenkins . Their stop at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood is where we connected for an in-depth interview that speaks eloquently to the current moment, despite taking place before 2020’s pandemic quarantine and civil uprising. Call it prescience, call it good fortune, or attribute it to the frustrating cycle of national indifference to the very real social cancer of systemic racism, but when Wynne talks about the need for white allies to tackle injustice alongside the oppressed, her words ring as true now as they did when tours were still a thing.

I don’t necessarily see a lot of young artists your age, who have your particular independent hustle and vibe and that ingenuity and that tenacity to just stick to it. Where does that come from?

I don’t know. I have great parents who work really hard and they instilled a lot of incredible qualities in me and my siblings about hard work and perseverance. And it was the kind of family that if you join a sport and you don’t like it, it sucks because you’re now on this team for two years.

That was their thing. So I took a lot of that. And really, I just, I was lucky enough to figure out what I wanted to do when I was 12. And I was like, damn, I’m going to lock myself in my room and I’m going to make this happen. I don’t think it’s very common that you know so early. And I think that helped me get a leg up because I spent all of college, all of high school, just studying and listening and looking and just trying to understand.

That’s crazy you say 12 because that is young. And also, not to down your hometown or anything, but like…

That’s a great question. So I’m from a suburb called Lake Oswego and it’s the whitest suburb you can imagine. And my older brother actually introduced hip-hop to me when I was nine. We just shared an iTunes account so I had all of his music. And I was asking him for recommendations and he played a lot of the Aftermath stuff at the time. This is like 2006, 2007. And so I just was listening to everything. He was on a lot of Lupe, Kanye, Jay-Z, 50, Eminem, and taught myself by learning to rap along with them. And then when I was 12 and I was in middle school was when I started writing music and I was like, shit, I think I could do this. I think I could be good at this.

And I feel like hip-hop has kind of an outcast art form and I very much was an outcast in my community. I’m not super social. I’m not about bougieness or glamor or anything. And my suburb is very much that way. So I was just to myself and found solace in my favorite MCs and really just fell in love with the way people could put words together and was fascinated by it. It was like a puzzle.

And it’s actually funny that you mention being an outcast and also mentioned Eminem because those are the two people who I think you draw the most comparisons to: Eminem and Iggy Azalea, who both talk about not fitting in and finding solace in rap. Why do you think people are so invested in connecting you specifically to people just because you look a certain way? Do you think that holds you back in any kind of way?

No. I think it’s, honestly, I think it’s fair. How many times do white people see one Black person and they’re like, “They must all be this way?” I spent a long time when I was younger wrestling with the idea of “am I going to be accepted?” and really just came to learn that if you’re authentic and you’re yourself, people will accept you. If you try to be fake, then they won’t accept you. And I think people like what’s familiar to them. So they see a white girl rapping and they think Eminem. Obviously I’ve taken influence from Eminem so it’s just an easy comparison. It didn’t help that I went viral as his daughter a year ago. That’s been a process.

It happened twice. I was offended on your behalf. Did these guys do any basic research where they just started throwing stuff out there?

No, it was a trip.

Going back to you pointing out that a lot of people will make a judgment based on a bias and prejudice, I noticed that very early on in your album you get that right out of the way. You just establish right out of the way, “I have a voice and a platform. This is what I intend to do with it.” Why was it so important for you to throw that line in there?

I basically went to college for studying social justice issues. So I spent a lot of time in political science and ethnic studies and women and gender studies courses, just trying to understand my place in the world and what that means. Especially as a person who participates in hip-hop, you just need to know your shit. That’s a huge reason why it exists: so people have a voice. And I think it’s super important for… I guess what I’ll say is the oppressed will not stop being oppressed until the oppressor realizes they’re oppressing.

The more white people talk about it, the more, hopefully other white people can recognize it. Especially because so much of my fan base is going to be white people. And I can’t fix all of them. I can’t have one-on-one conversations about this is what this means, but I can at least spark a thought. It’s going to take a lot of those sparks, but as many as I can put, I think that’s important. I have a lot of people come up to me like, “Hey, you’re opening a door for other white women to be rappers and that’s really dope.” And I’m like, okay, but…

That’s not the goal.

I’ve never set out to open a door for white women to be rappers. If white people are going to participate in hip-hop, they just need to know their shit. And so I just want to help set that standard that if there are going to be people after me, cool, but this is how I did it. So if I eventually get to a place, 10 years, where I can reach legendary status, hopefully there’s a blueprint of “know your shit.”

That’s actually funny because on the show that we do, People’s Party , El-P came on and said , “You can’t have love for the culture without having a love for the people.”

That’s huge.

A thing that I thought that you did on the album was very smart was the interlude where you immediately throw a lampshade on everything anybody can say about you.

Exactly. And the reality of it is I really don’t fit many of those stereotypes, but people think I do.

I was sitting there co-writing jokes. There’s a lot of sides to who I am that are very helpful because I can go viral. I’m clickbait. When I walk out there between Jurdan Bryant, Mick Jenkins, and EarthGang, people pay attention to me because it looks weird. It looks out of place, but it’s also, we need to get some shit out of the way first. If we’re going to get to this point and you’re going to respect me, let’s just throw this… You have to be able to make fun of yourself. I’ve known Cipha Sounds for a while. He was one of the first people to find me in 2016. And he does a lot of comedy stuff now and tours with Dave Chappelle and Michael Che. And I just knew that I wanted him to roast me. So I called him up and he was like, “Hell yeah, I’ll come roast your ass.”

It’s funny because I basically write articles all the time where I speak to these issues with white fans in hip-hop . It leads to some really angry comments and awkward moments in real life, but it feels necessary.

And it’s like let’s talk about it because when people say they’re colorblind… you can’t be colorblind because then you’re ignoring all of the differences between people that cause certain people to be oppressed and certain people to be uplifted. So it’s like let’s talk about these things and about how different I am, because I’m super different and that’s a huge deal. I didn’t fucking grow up like this. I don’t face these kinds of oppression, but I’m still participating in the music that is a reflection of those things. So let’s talk about what that means.

If you had to give somebody the Hollywood logline of what the album is about, what do you tell them? What’s the elevator pitch of your album?

It’s basically me giving myself permission to be a little bit dumb.

Because like I said, I really spent my… up until I was 20 locked in my room, learning how to rap. And then I was 20 and I was like, “Shit, I should be a college student.” So I did that and I turned up and I made all these fun memories and I came to LA and I went to some stupid parties. I went to some really sick ones. You have to go through shit to tell the stories. And so this was me letting myself come a little bit out of my shell and then tell those stories.

What are some of the drawbacks of doing it independently and what are some of the advantages?

Is actually, it’s really interesting because I’m not signed to a label, but I wouldn’t consider myself independent. I have a distribution deal. So I’ve had a little bit of funding for the project, but mostly just I have an incredible team who was able to connect me with a lot of incredible people. So it’s like I’m working with my idols. I’m working with Sounwave and Hit-Boy and Christo, all these incredible people, but I’m still a nobody. So I’m stoked. But it comes out and it takes time for people to discover it so the downfall is, we don’t have a shitload of money to just throw into marketing and publicity. And it’s hard because you spend so much time making this incredible body of work. To you, it’s the most important thing you’ve ever done. And that’s anything in the music business these days. It’s something’s hot for a week.

And so a huge goal of this project, between me and my engineer, Itay, who is also my tour manager, was to make a project that felt timeless. Something that maybe could have come out in 1997. And it maybe could have come out in 2019. Because instrumentation doesn’t get old. A fad does. Specific programmed 808s do. But when you have… it does something to your brain when you hear an acoustic guitar. It does something to your brain when you hear a drum loop that was recorded live. And that kind of thing, it makes it easier to put out a project independently because someone can discover it, in six months it’ll still be relevant. Someone can discover it in two years, it’ll still feel relevant. And it’s fun to grow day by day. It was overwhelming when we were going viral. I didn’t like that.

What you’re talking about as far as songs having to sit for a little while and build, when you think about Lizzo had “Truth Hurts” out for two years and nobody cared about Lizzo. Doja Cat had Amala , which is an incredible album but nobody cared. “Mooo!” comes out and suddenly everybody’s like, “Who’s this Doja Cat girl?” What’s the process or what was the conversation that was had around how we use this or do we decide not to use this?

I was very intentional about “I do not want to monetize this moment.” I always knew I was going to do this, but I didn’t know how it was going to happen, and I should have known it was going to be by going viral. And it did great things for me. It connected me with my team. It gave me incredible opportunities. It gave me a platform to be able to reach out to people. It was great. We sat with all the labels, but when we walked in, we said, “We’re not here to sign, but we just want to talk.” From there, they put you in a room with people and you can start negotiating, but it was just like, “I don’t want to be the viral white girl.”

I actually sat with a label who called themselves out because they brought me in because I went viral and I played my song, “An Open Letter to Donald Trump.” And the president of the label at the time starts tearing up. My publisher starts tearing up and I’m tearing up and they say to me, “We’re doing you an injustice because we brought you in here because you went viral and we sign however many acts a year for a couple hundred thousand dollars and then we get a hit out of them and that’s kind of it. And you’re not that.”

And that was huge for me because I’ve always known my worth. And I’ve always known there’s power in uniqueness. And I really didn’t want to capitalize on being the viral white girl that can freestyle on Twitter.

If I May… is out now. Get it here .

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Wynne|The Thesis

• Released on 9/6/19 by Wynne
• Main artists: Wynne
• Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap

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Theory Hazit, Producer - Wynne, MainArtist - Vursatyl, FeaturedArtist - Denis Kosiak, Engineer - Illmac, FeaturedArtist - Gregory Poe, Composer - Dame D.O.L.L.A., FeaturedArtist - KayelaJ, FeaturedArtist - Sina Wynne Holwerda, Composer - Makayela Johnson, Composer - Itay Lerner, Engineer - Damian Lamonte Ollie Lillard Sr., Composer - Marlon Marcele Irving, Composer

(C) 2019 Wynne (P) 2019 Wynne

About the album

• 1 disc(s) - 1 track(s)
• Total length: 00:03:41
• Composer: Various Composers
• Label: Wynne

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Getz/Gilberto

Back To Black

Amy Winehouse

Moanin'

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers

John Coltrane

Some Like It Hot

Don't Touch

DO MY OWN STUNTS

Dirt (Poem)

Travis Scott

Megan Thee Stallion

Paint The Town Red

Not Like Us

Kendrick Lamar

Wynne - The Thesis

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Think Out Loud

Portland’s longest-running hip-hop showcase turns 9.

Broadcast: Monday, Dec. 4

Every Thursday night for nine years THE THESIS has brought artists and audiences who love hip-hop together to celebrate at Kelly’s Olympian in downtown Portland. The event is Portland’s longest-running hip-hop showcase. We talk to Mac Smiff and Grant Stolle, two of the founders of THE THESIS, about creating a safe space to uplift local hip-hop artists.

Note: The following transcript was created by a computer and edited by a volunteer.

Dave Miller : This is Think Out Loud on OPB. I’m Dave Miller. For nine years now, THE THESIS showcase has celebrated and championed artists in Portland’s hip-hop scene. Their monthly shows at Kelly’s Olympian are intended to spotlight veterans in the community and introduce up-and-comers. I’m joined now by the two founders of THE THESIS. Mac Smiff is a hip-hop journalist and the editor of We Out Here Magazine. Grant Stolle is also known as the DJ Verbz. Welcome to Think Out Loud.

Mac Smiff: Thanks.

Grant Stolle: Oh, thanks, man.

Miller : Mac first, what were your goals when you helped start THE THESIS nine years ago?

Smiff : I think the goal for me was, corny as it sounds, I was really trying to advance literacy. I was trying to connect with a local college to put, I guess, more eyes on the magazine. So I was really trying to build a physical representation of the magazine which promotes literacy and reading and writing and whatnot and pushing that through hip-hop.

Miller : So a little bit of a Trojan horse. Get young people in particular to care more about words through music?

Smiff : Yeah. It’s kind of a hip-hop thing where it’s like an old hip-hop staple, you know, using hip-hop is a way to educate and connect with young people.

Miller : Grant, what about you? What were your goals when you started?

Stolle : I think it’s evolved over time. When we first started, I think early on it was just about  finding a space for hip-hop in Portland, a scene that’s usually overlooked. And a community that was pressed occasionally by authorities and pushed into spaces and kicked out of venues.

So I think one of the things that I really wanted to do is make sure that we had a platform in Portland for artists that I felt just weren’t being given that that space, and that evolved into breaking down barriers within that community and also opening up the space to people who had traditionally been left out of those spaces. So that was the next goal, after initially just creating some kind of platform.

Miller : Mac, did it work from the beginning?

Smiff : The show? Absolutely. It’s kind of funny. We started off as kind of, let’s try it one time and then it was just so successful that it just became a series and then it just lasted. I didn’t think it would last more than a year, honestly, at first, but it just kept on going and it kept on growing.

Miller : Grant, did you have a long-term view in mind when you started?

Stolle : I don’t know how long-term the goal was, but I think we all saw an opportunity and something that was necessary within the community. And so, I think once we saw the original enthusiasm for things and also the original artists that we had on started developing and gaining traction within the city and being put on lists of best new artists and that kind of stuff. And that really sparked us to maintain that because I don’t think there was another platform doing quite what we were doing, and then other platforms kind of evolved from there. And artists who have done our show have now created their own platforms as well.

Miller : Let’s hear part of a song that was written, I guess, almost in tribute to this showcase. It’s called “The Thesis.” It’s by the local artist Wynne, but with a kind of who’s-who of the Portland hip-hop scene. Grant, how did this come to be?

Stolle : You know, Wynne is an artist we’ve been paying attention to for a long time. She is obviously a very talented person and she communicates and connects really well. And so one of the things that she did before her first project came out is reached out to both Mac and I, and had us come into her studio space and on her list of songs that were coming up for the album, it said, “The Thesis.” And we didn’t quite know what that meant, but then we talked to her about it and really, what it ended up evolving into was taking pieces from all over the community and putting them together, from the newest artist to the most established, to Damian Lillard, who was a big piece of evolving the hip-hop scene here in Portland, too.

So that was a collaboration that happened pretty organically. And then we came together and shot a music video for it in Pioneer Square, and it was a great moment for the people who have been involved in what we’ve been doing and, and the artists on our platform.

Miller : Let’s have a listen to the start of this. We’re going to hear Vursatyl first, a long-time MC who talks about that, with some great lines in this, followed by Wynne. Let’s have a listen:

[Music playing]

[Vursatyl]: Been ill aka Venus Fly Traps

Seven brains in one body so I dream in IMAX

Anyone, anywhere, any time, go!

Your ego is eco friendly, you don’t want smoke

Inscribed in graffiti on your CD gate fold

My capital punishment will have your lower case closed

Like a dying man’s will

Clocks got hands with no feet cause

Only Vurs can make time stand still

G.O.A.T. defeat the elite peers

I Benjamin Button bars dog, and leap years

Top of the Eiffel Tower catching lighting in bottles

To see me you’ll need MRI’s and night vision goggles

Or a closed caption to crack your spy glass

Phony, you’re full of it and your raps need a gastric bypass

God the novice, I’m marvelous even on my hiatus

[Wynne]: The dean of the school wants to meet with me

Cause I’m teaching my teachers things

And my old bullies want to sleep with me, honestly

I should run for mayor

Little brothers think they’re bigger than me

I’m going full Boogie Cousins baptizing ‘em it ain’t f- fair

(Free for all!) They tried to take the charge, they stick em up like the bank

(Keep the ball!) I already made all of my lemonade

When Piza falls, you’ll finally get it straight

And I can tell my therapist we can head in our separate ways

I put my lipgloss to the face

Singing baby better hide the license plates

Baby face could get away with murder, my bitches

Give em Stitches like 626, who’s this?

Snow bunny gone abominable, ominous flow, time for the snow…

Miller : That is Wynne. And we heard Vursatyl first there. The track is called “The Thesis.” It is named after the now nine year old hip-hop showcase that was started by my guest Grant Stolle, otherwise known as Verbz, and Mac Smiff, hip-hop journalist and editor of We Out Here Magazine. Mac, did everybody in the audience know that Damian Lillard was going to show up to actually be a part of this?

Smiff : Of the video? Yeah. I think they helped bring everybody out, to be honest.

MIller : So it wasn’t a surprise.

Smiff : No, it wasn’t a surprise at all. I think most people had already heard the track by the time that they got there. It was well-distributed throughout the community before it came out. So we all had a good idea of what was going on already.

Miller : Grant, I heard you say in an interview with Bruce Poinsette who was on this show not too long ago, that for some people these shows that you all put on are “like church.” What do you mean?

Stolle : Well, for me personally, I’m not involved in any kind of church community or religious community. And so once a month, this is my space to see the community and my friends and get most of the hugs I get in a month, and see the creatives from the photographers and videographers to our graphic designer, to all the different musicians. And our headliner will be in the crowd next month for the next artist because that’s just the community that we’ve engendered here.

And so, it feels a lot like a church in that gathering way - that you’re using music and people are preaching and speaking their truth and their gospel up on stage. So to me, that’s the closest thing I have to church. I’d say that that was my point there.

Miller : Mac, what do these shows mean to you personally?

Smiff : I mean, it’s the same, I used to always joke that no one pays more for THE THESIS than I do, but it’s like a mandatory thing that has to happen for me every month. It’s like a dinner at grandma’s type of thing, you know, we have to be there and people always show up and people are always there for it. And every month I talk to someone that just really needed that night, just really needed that day of community. I never knew that all of these people existed here in this city in the first place and to be able to create a place consistently for folks to come and feel alive and feel free and feel safe, I think is just super important within our culture.

Miller : Mac, can you introduce us to Dani Danger before we hear one of her tracks?

Smiff : Dani Danger is a super amazing artist from out here. She’s originally from Jamaica and just has an amazing voice. We’ve had her for a number of shows and she has never disappointed in the slightest, just really an amazingly powerful voice as well as just a great person in general.

Miller: Let’s have a listen. This is “Addicted to Love.”

[Dani Danger]: Gettin’ real deep in it

Stand so tall, hands so strong

Yeah, ya six feet in it

Ya touch drives me up the wall

It’s the rise and the fall

So emotional

I don’t know how you break me down

I’m drowning

Maybe it’s the drugs

Or all the above but we call this thing love

I know I’m faded

Cause deep down

I cant get enough

Addicted to Love

Addicted to Love (oh)...

Miller : That’s Dani Danger’s “Addicted to Love.” Grant, what do you look for in the artists you feature?

Stolle : I look for all kinds of different things because we want to make sure our lineup is unique every month. And so, sometimes it’ll be a reggaeton focus, sometimes it’ll be straight hip-hop, sometimes we’ll go R&B. So, genre wise, I’m very fluid in that way. You know, we’ll have pop music on, we’ve had some rockers on our stage.

I think what we’re looking for in terms of artists is combining the artistry with the hustle and determination to be an artist, and it’s really easy to find one or the other. There’s a lot of people who really hustle hard but don’t have a lot of artistry in their work. There’s a lot of artists who don’t know how to capitalize on their artistry and don’t combine that with the hustle side of things that is part of hip-hop…

Miller : And getting their music into people’s ears, somehow.

Stolle : Right, and also keeping it consistent and recording and keeping that going when they hit creative walls and that kind of stuff. So we’re looking for artists that really seem determined to do it and then also passionate community members, people who are coming out to the Showcase are more likely to be on our show again. And other people who are setting up opportunities for others, I think are other artists that we look at as well. And then it’s just that spark that we see in some artists where it’s, oh, this is such a unique talent, we have to figure out how to get them on our stage, and be behind them, because after doing this, you know, 90-some times we have a view of what it takes to not only perform your music but engage with the audience as well, and build your audience and build on that.

Also, we’re looking for people who are creating something, too. So if they have new releases and that kind of stuff, that’s something we’re looking for, because they’re putting that time and energy into their art. And we want to make sure when they get on our stage, we’re one of the showcases that you can come and be paid for your art in Portland and you don’t have to sell tickets to get on a stage, and there’s no lineup list that you have to get through. It’s just- we curate something that we think is unique and cool for each month and you can’t buy your way onto THE THESIS. So we don’t water down our product that way.

Miller : Mac, I’ve heard you say that you also don’t want to just have only guys on a stage some evenings, say. As you’ve diversified the performance lineups, has that led to different audiences?

Smiff : Yeah, and I would actually clarify that. I would actually say that I never want to have all guys on the stage. That’s probably the worst thing ever.

Stolle It’s our rule. That’s a permanent rule. Well, it was something that we realized early on that needed to change within the community and so we wanted to make sure that every single one of our showcases features women and also queer artists, LGBTQ artists, that have often not felt comfortable in those spaces. We want to make sure that they’re safe to be on our stage and represented within lineups, not just a Pride month lineup, but within our showcase throughout the year.

Smiff : And to that end, I think it’s definitely expanded our audience, for sure. I think in the beginning, going back a few years, there were folks that were concerned, you know, oh, no what are they doing? They’re making this super open, or whatever else. But I think that those people who think like that, typically speaking, are not the best customers in the first place, the best patrons in the first place, and you find that as soon as you open the doors to all people - and not just to open the doors, but to make it it safe, feeling safe for all people. I think that you start to really see how big your audience really is. I think that for a while just as a couple of guys at the only shows, we were actually missing out on a huge section of our audience. And by opening up our eyes and opening up our arms to do more, we’ve really been able to bring that in.

Miller : Let’s listen to another song. It’s called “Yikes,” by Mal London. We’ll hear a little bit and then we can talk about it.

[Music playing}

[ Mal London]: I got way too m- issues

To be acting like I miss you

Home and alone when I miss you

I don’t even got no excuse

I laid my head with a messouse

Laid out all my issues

Feelings I get when I’m with you

I don’t know what I should do, uh huh

I got way too m- issues, uh huh

Malcolm the middle, man this how I’m living

I don’t even see more to defend it

Lay the scene, laid the scene

Who’s the, I don’t see nothing

I seen before, a- shaking

On the floor, panoramic

With my eyes, fam

Know I need to be leave before

Before, fore four

Hov was on the same thing

Lifestyle, tryna maintain

Loads up on the champagne

Sippin knowing what I gotta change

Picture perfect can I maintain…

Miller : Grant, what should we know about Mal London?

Stolle : You know, I was out of town for this last show. I’ve missed two shows in our 94 shows. And so Mac, actually, do you want to tell him about Mal’s performance?

Smiff : I mean, Mal’s a great performer. He’s just a cool guy in general, fun kid to really just be around. He’s got a great audience, a great support system, hangs around with JxJury and a couple of those cool guys that do a lot of stuff for downtown and he’s just fun. He’s really got the ear of his generation and I think that people really respect him and what he does as far as his craft goes.

Miller : It’s Interesting hearing you talk about a kid and his generation. At this point, where do you put yourselves in terms of the generations?

Smiff : I mean, Verbz is still young. I’m an old dog.

Stolle : This is lies, we’re both old. Let’s be real. I think we’ve both been in the Portland music community long enough to see generations come and go. So I think we have seen groups come up together and develop together. We’ve seen individual groups and what we consider generations of people coming through. And so, yeah, Mal has come up with the next group that we’ve come up with, but there’s always someone right behind them.

Miller :  Lambo Lawson is another artist that you gave us a track to listen to. We’re going to hear, “Put It On God.” Who’s Lambo Lawson?

Stolle : Lambo Lawson is one of my favorite artists in the city. I feel like Mac will probably agree with that. He’s just very cool. He’s very down. He’s confident in his style. He came from the East Coast and moved out here a few years ago and immediately ingratiated himself within the community and really tried to connect with different people and different crowds, and he’s really talented and makes good music.

When we did our Showcase on the Portland Spirit a couple of months ago, we had him perform. He chose to perform, “Put It On God.” And I think that was probably the highlight of the evening. The crowd went the craziest for that one. I was blown away by the response to it. I just like Lambo a lot. I think also, we’ve had him on so many times on our show and he’s always someone that we could call on to jump into a lineup, and he’s a great headliner, but he’ll jump into any space, so I love Lambo.

Miller : This is “Put It On God,” by Lambo Lawson

[Lambo Lawson]: …Put it on God (Yeah)

Put it on God (Yeah)

Put it on God

How many keys

I got a lot

Bringin em in

Shippin em out

I’m in the streets

I’m on the block

Got it on me

Put it on God…

Miller : This is Lambo Lawson. Mac, Grant mentioned that he came from the East Coast. I think people like Aminé or The Last Artful, Dodgr, people who come from Portland to make it big and then they went to LA -  Is that still the dream of a lot of hip-hop folks here? To go to Southern California or New York or Atlanta or Chicago? You know, bigger cities with bigger scenes, as opposed to staying here?

Smiff : You know, it’s interesting. It’s gotten to the point, I think that definitely exists. There’s always gonna be those kids that grow up in Portland and they want to make it big and go to LA or New York or Miami and become a rap star, and I think that’s cool. But what you actually see a lot, as I see with Lambo, or what we saw before with Myke Bogan or The Last Artful, Dodgr, is that a lot of artists are coming to Portland to try and stake a claim. A lot of artists are coming here to try and see if they can buzz out of here and then take that and bump up to the next space. So I think that there’s a bit of both.

I think there’s folks that are looking to come here and be someone. If we go just down south, Gavlyn, an artist from Cali who is actually in Corvallis now, living out here, looking at Portland to make rap music. So I think that that’s still a thing of blowing up and getting out of your city, but also I think that the people are blowing up in bigger cities and coming to Portland to live.

Miller : Mac and Grant, thanks very much and congratulations.

Stolle : Yeah. Appreciate it.

Smiff: Thank you.

Miller: Grant Stolle is the DJ known as Verbz. He’s one of the co-founders of THE THESIS, the monthly hip-hop showcase. It’s normally at Kelly’s Olympian in downtown Portland. Mac Smiff founded it with him. He is a hip-hop journalist and editor of We Out Here Magazine.

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