LAST MONTH Portland hip-hop’s most relevant players packed the Yanagida shop on Mississippi to finally hear Mic Capes’Concrete Dreams. During the listening party, Capes was “serious as an eagle” as he shared his long-awaited follow-up to 2012’s Rise & Grind.
The new 20-track project opens with some wise words from LA emcee Alia Zin on “Alia’s Prologue: AM Thoughts”: “I question those who don’t oppose and just obey/Who like a dog sit, stand, and lay, even shit when they say/But you would too if all you knew was concrete and your dreams became obsolete.”
On Concrete Dreams, Capes dreams of financial stability and discusses the mistreatment of black women, police brutality, and gang violence. “Five Finger Discount” features local rapper Rasheed Jamal—one-third of the Resistance collective he started with Capes and Glenn Waco years ago. I already knew that this and “Jumper Cables” with the “St. Johns Scholar” Vinnie Dewayne really banged live, but surprisingly the recorded versions got me hyped. I also appreciated Capes’ cleaner re-recording of his single “Jansport.”