North By Northwest

North by Northwest (or N/NW) is relatively new in the Bellingham scene having just appeared over the summer of 2006. N/NW offers six emcees rocking melodic verbalism over sparse production aurally guided by an east coast mentality, invoking thoughts of a sing-songy Wu-tang. Basic drums and poignant loops combine to form minimal production enabling the emcees to shine. They appear to have no formal album, so be on the look out for a debut release.


myspace.com/northbynw - What's up Magazine

One word comes to mind when I listen to this six-track collection: promising. You can tell NXNW, consisting of emcees Abstract, D.I., Lokeye, Raw Jawz, Mic Lee and Johnny Concrete, are dedicated to bringing hip hop back to its essence, or at least the early 90s.

They like to employ some crooning, sing-song segments and choruses in their tracks, which add up to some mixed results. “Thorns” is their best attempt at the hit-or-miss singing, a song that finds the emcees riding subdued strings and some thumping electronic drums to rap about some obstacles in life.

Folky-sounding looped up guitars, pianos and vocal samples and dusty drums all make love and provide a light background for the emcees to tear apart all the obligatory hip hop concepts. They’ve got the throw your hands in the air jam, “Get Your Hands Up,” a bona-fide neck-snapper. They’ve got the lamenting a lost love joint, “Trouble,” which utilizes a truly beautiful, breathy vocal sample singing “trouble sleeping… dreaming of you.” They’ve pretty much got it all, compacted into only six tracks.

With a little polishing on their lyrics and delivery, the proper recording techniques and a little time, these guys could very well be on their way to some good things. - What's Up Magazine

“What about that Bellingham hip hop scene/I didn’t know there was such a thing.” This line from Wilson Project’s Nomad XIII rang true to my ears at Suckafest 2!, hosted by WhAAM at their new venue at the Old Foundry.

When I showed up, about 20 minutes after the advertised door opening, I was greeted by an empty venue, save for some WhAAM staff and a couple artists that were performing. I got a handstamp and headed back to my place to let things warm up a bit.

By the time I got back, Stabbin’ Hobo had already been on and GNS was just finishing up his set to a crowd of maybe 20 lining the walls of the venue. I had to shake my head in disappointment. I thought little hope was to be had for the show.

Fortunately, I was wrong, for the most part. By the time The Educataz and Rec Room had graced the stage with their quirky brands of humor and music, I turned around to see enough people had trickled in to nicely fill out the venue’s standing area.

The real highlight of the night came with North by Northwest’s performance. Their minimalist beats allowed maximum room for their much needed vocal clarity, as their five emcees on stage could have made for some serious cacophony. But all was well; they had a high energy set and really played to the crowd.

Last, but certainly not least, the Wilson Project took the stage to an uproarious crowd. The vocals were sometimes overwhelmed by the music, but it was an excellent performance regardless, with Nomad XIII’s peculiar antics on stage being the icing on the cake.

I’m looking forward to Suckafest 3. - What's Up Magazine