"Thought I'd upload this one again today - made it 8 years ago this month, which is also the month of my birthday, so it seems appropriate to pay tribute to my PDX roots. Here's what I wrote back in 2011:
This month I’m violating my vinyl-only rules, but for good reason. I’m still digging in the archives - cassettes and CD-only releases (plus a couple pieces of wax) make up this mixtape of some of my favorite hip-hop to come out of my hometown, the City of Thorns: Portland, Oregon. A lot of people who receive these emails and listen to my tapes believe I’m from New York, since I’ve been here for almost half my life now. But I’m a Trailblazers fan - I grew up in Portland, and keep a strong connection to the Northwest despite my years out east.
Despite what one would think, the hip-hop scene when I was growing up in Portland wasn’t just a bunch of skinny white nerds like me. There were - and are - some very passionate, incredible, original artists, and many of them continue on today, whether in PDX or elsewhere. In high school, as much as I waited for NYC or LA artists to visit the town and perform, I attended countless local shows and was inspired by these artists often more than those who passed through.
This tape is a dedication to the artists and music that I grew up on. I just want to shout out all the artists on this tape who not only made the scene what it was, but also were often just down-to-earth, coolass people that I’ve had a chance to build with over the years. I know I wasn’t able to include all the amazing talent on this tape - names like Maniak Lok, Starchile, MyG, and Mackin Rob don’t make appearances here, but not because I’m purposely leaving anyone out. It was hard to track down some of these tapes! Big shout to Alex Stange and Dan Morris for helpin out with a couple parts of this tape, and my dude Littlewood for taping that Berbati’s show off KBOO. And shouts to the homies Mic Crenshaw, Good Sista Bad Sista, Pete Miser, Toni Hill, Vursatyl and Rev Shinez. And big shout and thanks to Jumbo, who patiently humored my nerdy hip-hop questions while schooling me on record digging and beats during his janitorial night-shifts years ago. Hope everyone enjoys" - DJ Ian Head
