Recently, Seattle's beloved hip hop troublemakers Mad Rad were served with a $500 lawsuit from Amante Pizza for having wheat-pasted posters on the building's wall (you know, that big blank wall on Olive way—see the photo below).

"This has been and ongoing problem for us since October or November of last year," says Mad Rad rapper Gregory Smith (aka Terry Radjaw). "Amante wanted to press charges on the club for Mad Rad posters being wheat pasted on the side of their building. Pete [Greenberg, Chop Suey booker] called me, and I told him we were on tour and when I got back in 3 days I would handle it. The pizza place didn't want to wait a few days. I went there and talked to the manager of Amante, who said he would tell the owner of the building that I stopped by trying to take care of the situation."

"Now, months later, a guy goes to our show [this past Saturday at the Mix]. He got there about 8 o'clock, when nobody was there. We got there at 10:30, and P and Buff' got served for $500. I want to fight this, but with all the other bullshit going on, and us trying to be on good graces, this is the last thing we need. So we will just pay it. It's been something I've been trying to deal with since we came back from tour. It's bullshit, but we are going to deal with it and move on."

So, all good. But the real issue here is this: Legal or not, where does Amante get off complaining about obnoxioius, unwanted signage?

In less litigious Mad Rad related business, this week's Stranger contains a profile of another one of Mad Rad rapper/producer P Smoov's projects, his duo with Rik Rude, Fresh Espresso. Check it out:

Those who think they know who P Smoov is by way of Mad Rad must find and check out the beats he did on this compilation. Listen to them once, and your doubts will melt. And through the storm of alarms and dirty funk, Rik Rude does not miss a beat. He draws from a wide variety of rap styles: Jay-Z, CL Smooth, Big Daddy Kane, and even Butterfly of Digible Planets. Fresh Espresso, his new project with P Smoov, is, however, less volcanic and more focused than Cigar Rock Star.
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Not since hearing Blue Scholars' eponymous debut in 2004 have I been so excited about a local work of hiphop art. It has the potential to complete what was started on Rik's Cigar Rock Star and continued on Mad Rad's White Gold.

photo of the infernal Amante sign by Anthony Hecht; Fresh Espresso photo by Rabid Child Images