Common Market
In the 2000s, Seattle's mushrooming underground hip-hop scene revolved around Alexei Saba Mohajerjasbi, better known as DJ Sabzi, an Iranian-American producer and Northwest native. After turning heads in the 206 as part of the hip-hop duo Blue Scholars, Sabzi hooked up with RA Scion through their mutual interest in the Baha'i faith. Their early collaborations were promising enough to create a full-fledged duo, and Common Market's debut release is an uplifting collection of spirited, socially conscious, politically aware hip-hop. Sabzi's nuanced and melodic productions are uncluttered but richly detailed, relying heavily on soul samples--the beats spiced with a range of keyboard shadings. (He's a trained pianist.) RA Scion's activist rhymes are insistent and authoritative more than angry or defiant--teaching not preaching. The album jumps out of the gate with bright, cheerful horns blaring on "Re-fresh" while tracks like "Love One," "Connect For," and "Every Last One" overflow with positive messages about compassion, education, spirituality, community, and justice. Most impressive are harder cuts like the deeply funky "My Pathology" and the jazzy, skittering "Keep Track," but even they don't bang and bump as much as they gurgle and glide.--Marc Greilsamer