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fa fe n tin e Dinner Dance
S a tu rd a y , F e b r u a r y 13, 2010
no
P(k 5 Lodge
6 N o r tfi Ti I Cam 00 fe St.
PortCaneC, O regon
Good Music*
»
V
9 PM - 1 AM
50/50 Split Raffle *
Fun for All
After Five Attire
Tickets: $ 15.00 - available at:
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Opposites Do Attract
P
It was a cold night where an epie
and highly anticipated grind time
battle was about to take place, “the
Backspace” between world rap
champions Illmaculate and his fre­
quent counterpart The Saurus.
But beneath the hype o f the Oct.
21 event was the emergence o f a
brand new dynamic Northwest Duo
by the name o f “T&E,” a title that
BY DlEZEL
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M u s ic B y D J P apa C h u c k
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*Q Q *G »Q
YOURSELF
YOUR FAMILY
YOUR COMMUNITY
HI N1 flu is still in our community. Some folks suffer more
from this virus than others. Nationally, Blacks are having
serious complications in greater numbers than other groups.
Vaccination is the best way to protect yourself and others
from the flu. Get vaccinated against H1N1.
IT'S EASY. IT'S FAST.
GET YOUR H1N1
FLU SHOT.
Learn w here to g e t your
FREE
FLU SHOT
at www.mchealth.org
or cal, th e vaccine info
line at 503-988-4454
January 27, 2010
Portland rappers Tope and Epp Saheed have formed T&E.
simply uses the first letters of the
already recognized Portland alias’
Tope & Epp Saheed.
T ope is a sm o o th sp o k en
wordsmith, whose style thrives off
rapid word play, while Epp Saheed
demands attention by venturing
various lyrical deliveries with highly
energetic stage presence. This is a
hip hop team that s living proof (no
pun intended) that opposites do
the recording and writing process
difficult, so Tope decided to estab-
fish him self as a solo artist in the
Rose City while Prem was following
his collegiate path.
Epp Saheed is also a Portland
em cee who has recently gone
through a few group departures and
sought out new stability within the
hip hop scene. The two had been
“T n o rth e a s t Portland native,
"
Tope has been a fan ° fhip h°p since
a child, but didn’t decide to person-
ally pursue a career in the musical
genre until his early high school
years. He later established him self
within the local hip hop scene along
side his friend and future crew mem-
ber Prem, forming the unique and
talented group “ Living Proof.”
The song writing and producing
duo would gain popularity through-
out the Northwest after releasing
their 2007 debut album “Roots to
Branches,” but found their second
project at a halt when Prem moved to
Seattle to attend graduate school,
Though Living Proof is still a
solidified group, they found the long
distance and hectic schedules made
mutual admiration o f each other’s
music and we had been talking
about doing a project for maybe 3
years, so when we linked up with
G F o rc e in August we knew the
time was right to finally make an
album together.”
So I’m curious......do you still
make music as Living Proof?
“Living Proof is definitely still
making new music, we're actually 14
songs into our follow up album to
‘ Roots To Branches. ’ Prem has been
in Seattle pursuing a Master's De­
gree in Education, so in the mean­
time I've had a chance to work on a
solo project and now the T&E
project.”
What do you plan to accomplish
as an artist or group?
“1 think the goal with my music is
to be able to live, eat, and travel from
it. As o f right now I'm still working
a 40+ hour job, but hopefully some­
day I'll be able to do music as my
main occupation and tour to bring
my music to new audiences.”
As
you
m ay
kn ow ,
whatshappeningpdx.com ¡staking
a sustainable and environmental
approach towards the urban cul-
ture ofthe Rose City. How do you
feel about eco hip-hop - music that
is beneficial to the environment and
addresses issues within it?
definitely a fan o f music and
musicians that can deliver a positive
message to their audience.
I
—------------------------------------------- ——___ ___ _______________
familiar with each other through past
“I'm definitely a fan o f music and
concerts at the Hawthorne Theater musicians that can deliver a posi-
and discussed a possible collabora- five message to their audience. The
tion for years, but wouldn’t trans- ability to open eyes and minds to
form talk into reality until last when issues that aren't always addressed
they linked up with the multi-tal- in mainstream media.”
ented DJ and producer “G-Force.”
You can preview or download
I got a chance to further elabo- T& E’s new song “Get It Back” for
rate with Tope on his crew ’s devel- ffeeatwegetitintrue.bandcamp.com.
opment, future plans and percep-
W h a t’s H appening PDX.com
tion ofthe rapidly evolving hip hop serves as a social media and net-
scene:
working site fo r P ortland’s urban
First off, why did you guys decide lifestyle with information on fash-
toformT&E?
ion, ' e n te rta in m e n t a n d g reen
“I think Epp and I always had a awareness.