In all things deemed "typical Portland," a slew of our news outlets, including KGW and Willamette Week, have covered local rap artist Moshow over the past couple days. Setting aside Moshow's ability to flow at the drop of a hat, his particularly adorable schtick is the predominant facet of his viral appeal. Winning the most clever approach to music ever, Moshow is Portland's feminist cat rapper. Just let that sink in for a minute.

Yes, a feminist cat rapper. Those three words could not be more Portland once they're put all together. He climbed the viral ladder quickly on his Instagram, posting clips of himself spitting that fire with his main ladies, three Sphynx kitties named Sushi, MegaMam and Tali, along with cat memes and pictures of other cat lovers. He says he identifies with the hairless beauties. "They kind of remind me of myself. I'm kind of a human Sphynx," he told KGW, also stating how much he loves "crazy cat ladies."

Moshow supports cat lovers of all varieties, but shouts out men specifically with his "Men Love Cats Monday" theme on his Instagram. "I want guys to man up and show your love for cats," he says. 

Since our gloomy town reigns when it comes to cat owning residents, I imagine most of you will enjoy his YouTube channel.

-Cervante Pope

Right y'all, so The Deli covers emerging artists that are on the way up to stardom, and usually that means folks with a few hundred hits max online for each of a half dozen to a dozen tracks. Sometimes though, a new local musician comes in hot as a comet and goes straight from having zero available music to having tracks with thousands and even tens of thousands of listens overnight.

It's not everyone who can pull off this kinda grime to prime time goddamn music magic; it's somethin' that takes talent, timing and a fucking good managing team to get done.

Mobley is an Austin pop artist that looks like he probably has all three of those components, and happily for this day and age, it seems pretty clear from his musical output thus far that of the three his raw natural talent shines brightest by far.

Mobley's new track "Swoon," presented for you here, hits you with the knowledge that this kid is real fucking talented fast, as it comes in with its hard runnin' pop beat and driving bass and soulful vocals. It's a song that's good off the bat, doing its fun modern take on a relationship song well with a bit of cynicism, a materialistic edge but some romance, and then around 0:45 it really gets going when a melodic island drum sound that really rounds it out and gives it that perfect arty fantasy feeling that makes for some of the best possible pop music.

Make no mistake, Mobley isn't just going to blow up, he already has for all intents and purposes. Expect to hear his shit played somewhere in the next while, because this complex multi-genre-accessing pop that has the hipster/indie/artsy edge but is also completely inside the wider world's pop/hip-hop culture is some good shit. It's pretty hard to imagine it missing with the public, honestly. It's just on top of its game on many levels, so get in on it now while this kid just has three songs and a ridiculous 100k listens. Newest track below, and find more from Mobley over at his SoundCloud.

The underlying and often overlooked hip-hop scene in Portland is constantly expanding and developing, with our local hip-hop stars dishing out consistently on point beats and tracks. For the past few years Patrick Lamarr, monikered as Horizun, has been making a name for himself by covering hits by other artists (like Usher and Drake) and by dropping his own jams that mix silky croons with smooth r&b and bass heavy beats.

Horizun's "Sunset Drive" demonstrates Lamarr's sensual vocal ability with a music video to boot. The track, which was produced by WIZE and mastered by Jeff Bond, makes the best use of 808 trap beats and perfected melodies that translate into a visual "o" face in the Perry Jay directed video. Take a look at the galatic lust of "Sunset Drive" below. 

For more of Horizun's steamy sensations, check out his Soundcloud page.

-Cervante Pope

It is finally here! Tricycle Records has released the 5th installment of their local music compilation entitled, Friends of Tricycle Records 5! We really like how TR extended their submission invitation to local artists who are not on their official roster, featuring great artists like Lemme Adams, Brasil, The New Up and Analog Dream.

Enjoy this free compilation. It is a celebration of local music and such a great contribution during a time where record labels are all about profit.

Track Listing

The Union Trade, In The Empire of Giants
NRVS LVRS, City Lights
n. Lannon, Another Love
Bobbi Rohs, That’s Bae
Halou, Lean Into The Gravity
The New Up, Future Is Now
Rich Girls, Total Control (Motels cover)
Lemme Adams, Hella
Everyone Is Dirty, Out Of The Blue (Roxy Music cover)
Kitten Grenade, Eighteen
El Terrible, We Know Your Name
Annie Girl and The Flight, Swans
Unconditional Arms, Fever Basin
Analog Dream, Lion’s Share
Garlands, Hallucination Healer
Brasil, Molly
Jordannah Elizabeth, A Prayer for Black America

Compiled by Julie Schuchard
Compilation Mastered by Christopher Reese Daddio at Donut Time Audio
Artwork by Adrian Landon Brooks
See more at: http://www.tricyclerecords.com/friends5/

STS, DJ BearOne, Truck North, and Jordan Brown intertwine on the latest collaborative effort, Radio Activity. Connecting with Notes to Self, “Hip-Hop Raised Me” intricately sews in samples amid silky smooth quick-witted lyricism to create a fresh multifaceted nod to hip-hop’s deep-rooted lineage. It’s a road map stopping at the landmarks that paved the way to the present.