Steph is a rapper. I met her via the Seattle rap scene through a producer I was making music with back in 2007. But back in 2007, Steph wasn't a rapper, she just happened to work at the same place as this producer and she had the ability to rap. A few years later, her boyfriend at the time coaxed her into recording a verse on one of his songs. Steph came to Undercaste Studios in Shoreline and blew everyone away. It was stated by the lead engineer that she was "shitting all over [her] boyfriend" on the song. While shitting all over someone might not sound pleasant, in the rap world, it means you have lyrically and stylistically dominated another artist. It has nothing to do with pooping.
Ironically, during this same time period, I was also introduced to John via the Seattle rap scene. John is a rapper and producer under the alias Shast. My friend Ben (Week 1) introduced me to his album and beats. I was working on my debut solo album Mustache Immaculate at the time, and I was in desperate need of fresh production. So I reached out to John and asked if he wanted to contribute anything to the project. He sent me a beat disc and I fell in love with this one beat.
And our first collaboration ended up being this song:
Steph and John, naturally, met each other via the Seattle rap scene sometime later. At this point, the focus of Shast was beats and he had fully immersed himself on the production end of music. John and Steph began developing a friendship and became quite close. They started to create songs together. Their chemistry was undeniable and of course they ended up dating.
John, Steph and I actually made a song together for fun. It is Steph and I rapping over a Shast beat:
Steph has always been the "little homie" to me. That's another vaguely rap-based slang term like the shitting on people thing. A little homie is the younger person in the crew everyone looks out for and tries to take under their wing. They show talent, promise and ambition. Pretty much everyone around Steph wanted to encourage her artistic growth. And we were all inspired by her enthusiasm. She is very animated and has outstanding character in her voice.
So I was lucky enough to put Steph on her first official show, which is one of my better memories in the Seattle music scene. Erica and I were setting off on a tour together, and since we hadn't been on a honeymoon yet, we called it The Honeymoon Tour. There were spot dates up and down the Westcoast, and the shows would pay for our gas and we would get to drive around together and visit friends. It was a very fun experience. The jumpoff date was of course in Seattle, and since it was my first headlining show as a solo act, I booked it at High Dive, which has a 120 person room capacity. That was Steph's debut show and it was a super special night for all of us. We sold out the venue and I pulled Erica up on stage at the end of my set to dance to the song that was played for the first dance of our Wedding, "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong.
Later that year, Steph would be on the bill for yet another incredibly personal show for me: my birthday party at Blue Moon Tavern. My friend Jonny from NYC flew into Seattle to play on that bill as well, and we had an amazing weekend. There are very few rap shows I get misty-eyed thinking about, but both the start date to The Honeymoon Tour and my birthday show at Blue Moon were awesome memories that will stand out in my mind forever. And Steph was a part of both of them.
So Steph was set to come over with John, and the dinner choice was... drum roll... TACOS. Despite doing tacos back to back nights and for the 4th time overall, Erica and I were stoked for the date. Steph is super spunky and energetic. She has a huge dimply smile and it is rarely not on her face. She and John had just recently faced some personal tragedy, and I was worried it might be horrible timing to host a dinner party for them. But in classic Steph fashion, she showed up cheery and put out positive vibes all night long.
I went down to a local merchant called Mendoza's to pick up the ingredients for some chicken tacos. I got some handmade tortillas, a large chicken breast, seasoning, an onion, three tomatoes, two serrano peppers, a side ensalada, tortilla chips, fresh pico de gallo and some Mexican cane sugar Cokes for under $35. It was certainly enough food to feed four, but I over-seasoned the chicken and the serrano peppers added too much heat, so Erica was not digging the tacos this time around so much.
The difference maker on this date was certainly the drink choice: Long Island Iced Tea. In the past, I have consumed one or two of these. I knew they were incredibly strong drinks that contained multiple types of liquor. However, I always assumed it was liqueurs or some weaker stuff. I looked up the recipe and was blown away by the first four components: rum, tequila, vodka and gin. Okay. So this drink is basically committing to taking four shots before we start hanging out. Now THAT is an ice-breaker! (The rest is some triple sec, sour mix, Coke and ice BTW.)
So we launched into conversation immediately. And it never stopped! And shockingly, it contained a very minimal amount of rap talk. We caught each other up on what all our mutual friends were doing, who are all rappers, but other than that, we did a lot of life talk. How work is going, how John's son Gavin is doing, how we are dealing with the typical ups-and-downs of life, etc. Then a call came in from, of course, a mutual rapper friend, Neema. He was down at the Crocodile(*) in Belltown having a release show for his new album. So we all hopped on the 358 bus and headed toward the venue.
The bus ride proved to be more real than expected. Due to the LIIT's. When we arrived at the door of the Croc, the bouncer took one look at us and said "Nope." So Steph and I hoofed it down to Shorty's and got a similar response there. And it was back on the bus home time.
At home, Erica escorted herself to sleep and Steph did the same on the couch. John and I stayed up discussing "conspiracy fact" as he called it (which was awesome). I was on-board for the all the government planned 9-11 talk, but when we got to a bit about men drinking precious metals for life-extension and their skin turning blue, I decided to tap out as well.
Erica and I enjoy the company of John and Steph quite a bit. We both agreed it was an awesome date and we always look forward to spending time with them. I love Steph like she's my younger sister and for the rest of my life I will always do whatever is in my power to make sure things are going well for her.
Speaking of relatives, next week is bringing the first set of parents to the dinner date table. The ancient artifacts I call my Mom and Dad will be swinging by for what I'm sure will be the most out-of-control date yet. Jim and Kathy Tune, prepare for mayhem!
(*)The Crocodile will be host to my band's next show. It is on Friday, June 15th and you can pre-order tickets here:
http://thecrocodile.com/events/4831860/the-night-caps-release-party
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