206 Degrees and Rising

Besides a clever title, the 206 Degrees and Rising tour features a busload of Seattle hip-hop talent. See, in case you haven't heard, there's something happening here—something steaming in the underground rhymesayers' lairs in a part of the country heretofore known only for incessant rain, big planes, dirty rock, and rich white people. Organized by Sportin' Life's DeVon Manier and Ian Waller, aka Kublakai (also a performer), the pavement-pounding event will hit at least eight cities throughout the Northwest, bringing the wide and varied styles (and that's the thing about the scene—no one sound dominates, let alone defines, it) of Cancer Rising, D. Black, Neema, JFK of Greyskul, and a rotating cast of local MCs, DJs, and hosts in venues across the slate-gray Pacific Northwest. Tonight's the kickoff. Be there. High Dive, 513 N. 36th St., 632-5656. 9 p.m. $8. KEVIN CAPP
Sun., May 18, 9 p.m., 2008