DJ Verbz & the low-key history of Oregon hip hop

That force behind the beat of The Thesis reveals the PDX scene’s texture, then his all-time Top 5

Two inducements to consume this particular piece of paid content:

1. A surprise guest cat runs behind actual guest Grant Stolle—better known as DJ Verbz—maybe three quarters of the way through the video recording session, and it’s pretty charming.

   

2. I asked the founder of Portland’s longest running hip hop showcase for his all-time top-five Portland hip hop artists. Verbz’ answer is a list at the very end, and it’s pretty solid.

Newcomers should note that a print version of our conversation comes out later in the week. The cat part won’t be available, but you get what you pay for.

Verbz and I go back to “Northwest Mixtape,” a discussion that I put on 20 or so times for Oregon Humanities’ Conversation Project, nine or so years ago. I’d just come back from speaking at the Smithonian’s American Cool show and was eager to keep getting my talk on when I heard about the conversation facilitation gig. The idea of discussing the history in the Pacific Northwest appealed to me because Macklemore had just happened, and I knew what I was hearing from my newly-adopted region was more than that.

This was in 2015, and Dame Dolla hadn’t in his unlikely way put Portland on the rap map. Mix-a-Lot and the symphony dancers aside, my only real Conversation Project asset “get” was Vancouver’s The Rascalz. I kept the “Northern Touch” remix video close like a talisman.

So I sought out iconic Portland rapper Cool Nutz and Verbz, whose podcast I enjoyed. Cool Nutz was excellent to me, but Verbz’ understanding of the region and enthusiasm for sharing his breadth of knowledge was invaluable.

The Vancouver-born curator and scene creator put me on to Sandpeople, whom I rock til this day. Then at the Portland Playhouse, Verbz spun for Glenn Waco in my first Conversation Project event.

In our latest back-and-forth, Verbz schooled me on the very first Portland vinyl rap release, from DJ Vitamix (And it’s on Profile!) More importantly, my guy fleshes out the singular history of The Thesis, downtown mainstay and projection of Portland hip hop.

Again, you can wait for the print version, but this here’s pretty satisfying.