I know it’s way late, but shit, I’m still recovering from this weekend. Walk with me, y’all!

When I got to Chop Suey Saturday night, there was a stretch Navigator parked outside. A showpiece by Sportn’ Life Records to celebrate 5 years in the game? No, it was actually my man Danny enjoying his 30th birthday with a shit-ton of friends, all here to support this historic show. Awesome.

When I got inside, the crowd was a little light. Sportn’ Life Records banners lined the walls and the stage. Local superproducer Jake One had just got off of the turntables and was enjoying a cold beverage by the bar. Sportn’ Life co-owner Devon Manier worked the crowd like a pro, his game face fully in place. I hoped against hope that this wouldn’t be another case of that old 206 not showing up. My fears would thankfully prove unfounded, and we all had a helluva show—definitely the best local hiphop show I’ve seen all year—in store.

First up was GMK. I was shocked immediately by his presence and vocal clarity, and his first beat was an amazing, very Slum Village-ish arrangement with crazy synths. A little snooping around revealed that the pint-sized GMK also served as J.Pinder's hypeman--and that he makes his own beats. The Golden Mic King's production was fire, his delivery was crisp, and his hooks were catchy as hell. "GMK/I do it properly/I won't be obsolete/Control, Alt, Delete", he rapped. The crowd was immediately receptive, and he was pumped just to be up there--even snapping flicks of the crowd. I just love these moments when everyone at the bar is kinda looking around at each other, like--who the hail is this dude? He rocked it.

Next up was Tacoma representative Jay Barz, who brought his Street Academy collective on stage with him. The sound quality took a dip here as several cats all held mics in the classic rap stage show fashion. By the bar, D-Sane, producer/CEO of Street Level Records screamed "Fuck Jay Barz"! Not actually an insult, in fact, but exactly what's printed on Barz' promotional shirts--a NW tradition, as Cool Nutz did the same thing years back. The highlight of their short set was Jay Barz' call for Tacoma pride, "Ranier Fitted"--a popular local anthem, and he rocked it with verve. The crowd, at first seeming skeptical, was won over by Barz' bellicose swagger; they put their hands up and made noise like they're supposed to do. Despite all the rampant 206-centricity of the night--and our scene in general--it was nice to see that the 'Life was lookin' to our comrades from the 253.

By this time the crowd was filling out very nicely, with the prerequisite "who's who" of local hiphop in the building--in the bar of course. On the other side of the barrier, the floor was filled with enthusiastic, colorfully attired fans of all ages and all races--a welcome change from the lily-white crowds of most hiphop shows around here. Hey man--as Boom Bap Project says, Welcome to Seattle.

Speaking of white people, my man Grynch then took the stage. Grynch, a stone rookie just a couple years ago, has now become one of the 6's most popular MC's, through his mixtape grind and of course, his dope stage show. One MC, One DJ- the infamous DJ Nphared(who also spins for the man of the night, D.Black). Grynch's golden age influences come thru when he takes the stage, commanding the mic with a voice and a skill years older than his frame. He performed "Summertime"--a popular new track celebrating Seattle's famed summers, even though this summer's been crap. The recorded version features Geologic from the Blue Scholars, but tonite Grynch rocked for dolo, as they say.

After Grynch finished up, I made my way backstage for to get ready for the Cancer Rising set. I love these moments because half the cats I've met in the club tonight "on some journalist shit" don't realize that I actually rap. We get up there, and we rock a high-energy set of all new material. Seriously, these kids were jumping in the front! The typical reserved backpackers were not up in this motherfucker, these fools were hyped. In turn, so were we. We finished up, but first, asked the crowd to put their "L's" high in the air--because Sportn' Life was about to represent.

The host for the night, Sportn' Life MC (and electronics enthusiast, judging from all the gizmos on his belt) Spaceman, backed up by SnL's Joe King, presented a film clip dedicated to one of the Life's brightest stars, Fatal Lucciauno; Lucciauno sadly couldn't be there, after getting locked last month on a gun charge. The crowd was well familiar with Fatal's work, as his album The Only Forgotten Son is pretty much an instant local classic. The crowd(now comfortably packing the club) grew restless, and started chanting "D. Black"!

J.Pinder, SnL's next out, then took the stage. Pinder's debut The Backpack Theory, is extremely anticipated, and his upcoming mixtape Backpack Wax, is, if you'll permit me, stupid fire. (That means it's good). Pinder flowed seamlessly over beats from (among others) Seattle's legend Vitamin D, whose presence helming Backpack Theory gave him the best cosign a local MC could get. J's slick, personality-driven brand of hiphop had the crowd fully locked in and believing. Bucking the SnL image of street-driven gangsta rap, Pinder represents the new school of charismatic, wordplay-heavy everyman MC'ing that is exemplified by two MC's he gets compared to a lot, Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco.

Straight up--D. Black hit the stage like a fucking rock star. Blue smoke billowed out, the lights went down, and the hosts exhorted the crowd to put those L's UP! A heavy beat dropped, and the young prince of Sportn' Life emerged, something like a prize fighter. Dudes threw their hands up, girls screamed. From "Get Loose" to "Swing On Em", the 20 year old Damian Black rocked it authoritatively, fully living up to the hype and promise that was heaped on him since he first debuted as "Danger," years ago.

Near the end of his set, D stopped the music and thanked the crowd for their years of support. "I'ma tell you this", Black declared, turning to the wings, "there's no great man without a great woman behind him." With that, he sunk to his knee and proposed to his girlfriend, Jamie. Now that--I have never seen at a hiphop show. The crowd went wild.

See it's that intimate moment, shared with the whole venue, that brought home the entire vibe of the night. The biggest thing I took away, and have seen from personal interaction with Devon, Black and the whole Sportn' Life crew is that they are a family. People say that all the time but this is something else. A bond exists between their whole click I haven't see in any other crew in town--and this is their greatest strength. That night, it made a lot of us feel the same way. Black is himself the son of one of the Emerald City Boys, Seattle's first rap group. The Sportn' Life movement not only has extremely talented people behind them (including some of the town's top producers)- they have a legacy, a lore, a bloodline behind them. And really they're just getting started- 5 years in they may be, but they've never looked better.

And to be perfectly honest, I've never been prouder of my town than I am these days.