Blue Scholars Will Teach You a Lesson in 21st Century Musicianship

Competitive artists know that you can’t just play music anymore – you need to tweet 24/7 and/or push your self-promoting products like crazy. (Since when did being a musician also entail selling perfumes and energy drinks?) Such is the case, though, in today’s ever-evolving media landscape: bands must stay cutting-edge to remain relevant to their audience. But if innovative interactivity were a test, the boys of Blue Scholars would surely ace it: not only will they turn today’s hottest news topic into a new track, but they’ll spread it to their various social media outlets before you can say “viral.”

Blue Scholars is composed of George “Geo” Quibuyen, a Filipino MC, and Alexei Saba “Sabzi” Mohajerjasbi, an Iranian-American DJ/producer. (Sabzi also DJs for another Seattle-based hip-hop act, Common Market.) Their diverse ethnic backgrounds enrich their street-smart sound, apparent in the island-inspired “Cruz” and drum-heavy “New People”. The two joined forces while attending the University of Washington in 2002 and released their self-titled debut in 2004, which was voted “Best Album of 2004” by Seattle Weekly and re-released nationally in 2005.

Since then, the guys have been on a whirlwind rise to regional and national acclaim, releasing one LP and four EPs in the last five years. They opened for Kanye West at Bumbershoot in 2006, and performed at Sasquatch! Music Festival in 2005, 2006 and 2008. Blue Scholars has grown to such a success, they’ve been able to help launch MassLine Media, an independent record label shared with MC Gabriel Teodros and Common Market’s RA Scion.

Unlike other college-aged musicians, Geo doesn’t just rap about smokin’ weed and gettin’ drunk all day; rather, he takes a stand on political and social issues such as Arizona’s controversial immigration bill (the funky, fiery track “Joe Arpaio” declares: “trust when I say no shows in Arizona / ‘til SB 1070 is a goner”) and life on gritty downtown streets (in “The Ave”, Geo is “distracted by the decadent madness of all the undergraduate addicts / club rats, heads, space cadets and pragmatists / one of the few places that they coexist on the planet”). “Back Home” brings a chillingly candid commentary on the Iraq war (“So the next time you see recruiters in your school or your crib / tell ‘em thank you for the offer, but you’d rather you live”) along with a fittingly somber beats that turn the chorus into a rallying chant for the masses.

Constantly mixing beats and writing lyrics, Blue Scholars is never short on new material. The guys share unreleased songs like any 21st-century artist does: through their many internet/social media outlets. Last Friday, Sabzi uploaded a blog post containing a fresh track – Big Bank Hank, a free download – and gave fans the opportunity to decide the accompanying t-shirt design, even creating the Twitter hashtag #BlueScholarsTshirt to fuel web dialogue. Sabzi says the shirts will be made available at the band’s Eugene shows tonight and tomorrow at the WOW Hall, as well as Portland’s Wonder Ballroom concert on Saturday. If you’re not in the Pacific Northwest this weekend, you can get your Blue Scholars fix on all the usual social-media suspects: MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo and YouTube.