Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, December 18, 2013, Page 14, Image 14

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    Page 14
®’* ißortlanh ©baerüer
December 18, 2013
‘Northbound’
c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 3
It’s not a glorification o f som e o f the pit-
falls o f urban life for A frican A m ericans,
W aco says, but a spotlight on w hat can be an
acutely-skew ed experience living as a black
m an in w hat has been statistically show n to
be the w hitest big city core in A m erica.
“ You got the hipsters, they out there gettin ’
m oney, and all everybody else is w orried
about is gangbanging and intim idating people,
w alking around with a m ean m ug on their face.
E verybody else ju st w ants to have fun, th e re ’s
beautiful girls out here m an, w hat y a ’all d o ­
ing,” he says.
T he self-d escrib ed “D irty N o rth K id ”
w ears a gas m ask to prom ote his brand. H e
purchased the gas m ask from Israel as a
sym bol to represent Filtering negativity into
positivity, som ething he hopes listeners w ill
get from his tape.
“W hat I ’m doing is flipping the stereo ­
types,” he says. “Like so-w hat I ’m a D irty
N orth K id but look w hat I ’m doing. I ’m gonna
photo by D onovan
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bserver
capitalize o ff o f that, but at the sam e tim e it’s
-----------------------
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- - P ortland v O D^
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my brand now , so w hat are you g o nna do w ith Glenn Waco, whose real name is Dracey l/l/are, is a 21 -year-old rapper who dra ws
it? So keep calling m e that ”
on ^1$
his imDOverished
impoverished north Portland roots fo
for r inspiration
insniratinn in his
hie m
music.
i ¡cin His
uie> sopho­
more project entitled 'Northbound’ sees him dropping a host o f nods to the city,
with a knack for innate storytelling.
W aco’s 17-track project is not all focused on
the city. O n the song “H um ble” he lets listeners
know about the time his little sister was hit by
a car and hospitalized on life support. It ’ s a laid
back track produced by V ancouver-stationed
LunchTime Legends with Portland’s own Blakk
Soul belting across the chorus m aking for a
touching highlight o f vulnerability.
T o close out the album , W aco trades m u l­
tiple verses w ith R asheed Jam al and M ic
C apes, the tw o other m em bers o f his hip hop
collective called ‘T he R esistan ce.’
E ach m em ber brings som ething to the track
titled ‘D ojo,’ w ith their distinctive lyrical spars
m ixing doses o f lig h th earted n ess in betw een
bars that w ill send listen ers’ thum bs to the
replay button. T h o u g h not directly tied into
the them e o f the city, the track m an ag es to
standout as a fitting en d to the story o f
“N o rth b o u n d .”
T he album is online fo r free at datp iff.co m
a n d a ls o a v a il a b le f o r p u r c h a s e a t
glenn w aco 101 .b an d cam p .co m / for $ 10. Y ou
can follow G lenn W aco on T w itter @ G lenn
W a c o an d “ lik e ” h im o n F a c e b o o k at
faceb o o o k .co m /g len n -w aco .
King Rawzky, also known as
Antonio PettyJohnBlue.
Rapper King Rawzky
Makes Splash
B o m w ith alco h o l and dru g s in his sy s­
tem , A ntonio P ettyJonnB lue says the w orld
d eem ed h im a lost cau se b efo re h e could
w alk. N ow , th e 31 -y ear-o ld n o rth east P o rt­
lan d n ative is p u sh in g a sig n atu re style
h e ’s d eem ed “rh y th m and p leasu re” under
the stage n am e K ing R aw zky.
W ith early influences like M ichael Jack-
son, P rin ce, M arv in G ay e, an d S tevie
W o n d er h e h opes that h e can ch an n el the
talen t o f these leg en d s to b eco m e a super-
star vocalist an d p erfo rm er him self.
F ueled b y the in stab ility o f b ein g a fo s­
te r ch ild c o u p led w ith the h ard sh ip s o f
liv in g in w hat w as once one o f P o rtla n d ’s
g hettos, K ing R aw zk y says it h e is a b etter
artist b ecau se o f th ese pains.
“M y m o th e r’s side o f the fam ily is w here
I d ev elo p ed m y ab ility to m o v e and ser­
en ad e c ro w d s,” h e says. “M y fa th e r’s
m usical gift as a p ro fessio n al p erfo rm er
and teach er o f m u sic is w here I g o t m y soul,
rhythm , and fu n k .”
A s the c h ie f ex ecu tiv e o fficer o f his ow n
label, R aw zk y R ecords, K ing R aw zk y says
h e lo o k s to serve as a ro le m o d el to the
y o u th on a jo u rn e y h e h opes also b ring h im
stardom .
C lassifieds / B ids Chiropractic Auto Injury Clinic, PC
Jo b
O p p o r tu n itie s
Program Officer -
Affordable Housing Initiative
Meyer Memorial Trust is seeking a
Program Officer to lead the imple­
We are seeking qualified candi­ mentation of our Affordable Hous­
dates to be part of our dynamic ing Initiative. We are looking for a
strategic systems-thinker who is
public service organization.
skilled at working collaboratively
COMMUNITY HEALTH SPECIALIST
to tackle complex issues and who
$23.81 - $29.01 per Hour
gets excited about exploring inno­
PERMIT TECHNICIAN
vative solutions to stubborn chal­
lenges. MMT staff must be able to
$21.35 - $26.01 per Hour
work as part of a diverse and col­
Clark County Human Resources
laborative team in a m ission-
1300 Franklin St-5th FI
-driven and high performance en­
Vancouver WA
vironment. Meyer Memorial Trust
Apply On-line @
is an Equal Opportunity Employer
www.clark.wa.gov
committed to diversity. Competi­
Relay: (800) 833-6388
tive salary and benefits package.
EO E
See position description and ap­
p lic a tio n
in s tru c tio n s
at
E xperienced B eauticians W anted
www.mm t.org/work-with-us and
learn more about MMT’s work at
w w w .m m t.org. No phone oalls,
T he B est Place to W ork in
please. Review of applications
Portland, O r
begins January 6, 2014, and the
501 0 N E 9th Ave. U nit A
application period closes January
(503) 284-2989
14, 2014.
Zchon R. Jones, DC
333 NE Russell St., #200, Portland, OR. 97212
(503) 284-7838
Truly making a difference in the lives of
Auto Accident victims and Injured Workers for nearly 20 years.
If you or someone you know has been in an accident,
call us so we can help you with your needs. (503) 284-7838
We are located on the
com er ofM LK and Russell
Street, on the second floor
above the coffee shop.
P a king Aren
NE
Russell
»200
PbUmanFadeScion
Russell St
3