Champagne Champagne & S.O.T.A.

Seattle’s own punk-rap-shoegazers, backroom brown hornets, vibrate higher in their magnetic blackness. Two MC’s: Pearl Dragon, lifer-a smoke-breathing hood Jim Morrison- and Sir Thomas Gray, the hyperactivated game-gifted trouble man. One producer/multi-instrumentalist Mark Gajadhar, (drummer/founding member of defunct Seattle post-hardcore institution The Blood Brothers, current backbone to Past Lives and Weekend) – master of dark arts, road-trip Macgyver, and sound systems savage. Together they “outrap and outparty everyone” (via Seattle Weekly), drink greenrooms dry, and smash packed clubs and sweaty basements alike with their afrofuturist afterparty music- rejecting easy classifications, broke groupies, and bammer weed. Just picture The Cure, Cody ChesnuTT and Cannibal Ox at a Pabst-soaked jam in a haunted mansion. Now picture The ‘Pagne burning it the fuck down. Yeah, you got it.

User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL.

Seattle rap group State Of The Artist is comprised of three MC’s from the West, North, and South ends of the city—and have started a significant buzz as the 2010 summer season comes to a close. The group’s strong array of production and memorable approach to lyricism has helped define the new age direction Hip-Hop is taking this year—and it will continue to set them apart from others as they continue to progress.

Always thinking forward when it comes to their music, as well as fashion and presentation the trio of Parker, Hyphen8d and TH are emerging as another mainstay in their hometown. They have begun to get outside looks as well, receiving mentions in Teen Vogue and URB Magazine. Recently, SOTA partnered with Ford Motors for a four-month promotional sponsorship that resulted in widespread brand recognition, a short film that screened before Ironman 2, and collaborative design with the ROXY brand.

In the past 2 years, SOTA has performed in a handful of major cities and shared stages with Gym Class Heroes, Goodie Mob, Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Fashawn, Mickey Factz, and a majority of Seattle’s hottest acts as well. After 5 mixtapes, the Hank Moody EP, and time in LA and New York, the group recently released their debut album ‘SeattleCaliFragilisticExtraHellaDopeness,’ and are planning a fall tour.

Less than one month after its release, the LP has since charted at #1 NW album in stores such as Easy Street Records, and reached #1 NW and #1 Hip-Hop album on KEXP 90.3, the worlds largest independent radio station.

User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL.