By Kelly Sullivan and Lexi Foldenauer
Horizon Reporters
The Blue Scholars, the well known Seattle hip-hop group, is coming to Whatcom Community College on Saturday, May 8. Whatcom will be one of the many Washington schools the duo has performed at over the years as they continue to make a personal impact on younger audiences.
The group consists of George Quibuyen, or MC Geologic, also known as Geo or Prometheus Brown, and Alexei Saba Mohajerjasbi, or the DJ/ producer Sabzi.
The Blue Scholars are known for their lyrical awareness and vocalization of current political and social issues, which Sabzi backs up with tight hip-hop beats. In their second full length album “Bayani,” issues of racism and the war in Iraq are discussed by lyricist Geologic, whose brother was serving in Iraq at the time the album was being composed.
With their fourth EP, “OOF!,” released in 2009, the Scholars are beginning to move away from the form of musical protest prevalent in their last album. They expressed the desire to evolve their music according to their own taste and reflecting changing times.
The group was founded in 2002 by the two native Seattleites, who knew each other through their mutual involvement in a University of Washington performance group called SHOW. They began collaborations after a mutual friend suggested the two mix their different talents.
West coast hip-hip has been a major influence on the group’s musical dynamic. Before the two got together, Geo spent time as a notable spoken word poet, and Sabzi grew up with strong jazz oriented training on the piano.
The Blue Scholars have opened for Kanye West, and played with other big names such as Matisyahu and GZA from the Wu-Tang Clan. To date, Blue Scholars have sold over 60,000 records and have performed over 400 live shows, according to to duckdown.com, their current record label.
WATCH FOR OUR INTERVIEW WITH BLUE SCHOLARS IN THE MAY 11 NEWSPAPER, POSTED ONLINE MAY 12.
Check out the Website! http://bluescholars.com/blog/
