SOUNDS of MY CITY Through the Pandemic, Police Violence and Racial Injustice, Black Music Remains Resilient
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SOUNDS OF MY CITY Through the Pandemic, Police Violence and Racial Injustice, Black Music Remains Resilient FREE! | ISSUE 25 | VRTXMAG.COM A CHRONICLE OF PORTLAND’S MUSICAL VORTEX Pictured from left to right: Orukka, Auti, Marzz, DD SOUNDCHECK Photo by Carlos Andres Cortes @carlosandrescortes_ YOUNG VOICES WERE FORCED TO THE FRONTLINES THIS PAST SUMMER and many youth discovered the power they hold—not just over trends, but over public discourse and politics at large. It’s no coincidence that young artists, already familiar with projecting their thoughts, frequently find themselves at the center of organized movements. Since early this summer, Black liberation activist, rapper and songwriter Marzz stood out as a leader amongst the youth. The same style, clarity and focus that garnered her attention in the streets has also brought her attention as a lyricist, a skill she’s also used to organize and create an underground print zine, 4ThePeople. Find more on Instagram @4tpbtp [email protected] 2 vrtxmag.com 3 Inside THIS ISSUE WINTER 2021 3 28 8 27 10 24 12 soundcheck Portraits of The Youth Movement Portland Music 3 PHOTO BY CARLOS ANDRES CORTES Sounds of the Black 16 Lives Matter Movement #PDXmusic Community BY ANDRÉ MIDDLETON My Layoff Was My 8 Trap Door to Freedom soundcheck BY JENNI MOORE Trap Kitchen 24 PHOTO BY JOSHUA MANUS SOUNDCHECK 10 People Music. MUSICIAN'S GUIDE PHOTO BY JOSHUA MANUS It’s A Pandemic, Not A Panic 27 14 BY BROOKFIELD DUECE New in #PDXmusic SOUNDCHECK 12 Artist to Watch: Parisalexa BY JENNI MOORE Produce 28 PATRICK K. PHOTO BY JOSHUA MANUS New in #PDXmusic KIMMONS, 27 Artist to Watch: REST IN LOVE: KENDRA JAMES, 21 SEPTEMBER 30, 14 Jordan Fletcher 2018 REST IN LOVE: BY DONOVAN M. SMITH MAY 5, 2003 QUANICE D. FRESH VIBE HAYES, 17 JASON REST IN LOVE: WASHINGTON, 45 FEBRUARY 9, 2017 REST IN LOVE: JUNE 29, 2018 Playing electro and dream pop, shoegaze, indie alt., neo soul, nu jazz and more. Black music is a form of protest. A local artist every 15 minutes! Black art—in this city, this state, this nation—commodifies pain. Black existence is a form of expression. M-F FROM 10:00 AM TO 6:00 PM Music is personal. Music is public. Music is healing. Music is a reflection of life. Music is the point dancing its way through our perception. 99.1 FM in Portland or stream on prp.fm Music—like all art—requires inspiration. Too often, for Black artists, that inspiration is our lives. Not pictured: Larnell Bruce (19), Andre C. Gladen (36), Daniel Stacey Reynolds (20), Terrell Kyreem Johnson (24), Follow us on social media Christopher Kalonji (19), Kevin Lamont Judson (24), Aidan Ellison (19), Kevin Edward Peterson Jr. (21), Omer @pdxradioproject Ismail Ali (27), Carlos Hunter (43), James Jahar Perez (28), Aaron M. Campbell (25) and so many more COVER ILLUSTRATION BY ALEXANDER “CASSO DINERO” WRIGHT 4 vrtxmag.com 5 FROM THE EDITOR Michelle Lepe, Mac Smiff and Ms. J (from left to right) show off posters of the late StarChile and The Last Artful, Dodgr at The Thesis Presents: Respect The Shooter, an homage to music photography, TAPE OP EDITOR at Kelly’s Olympian VORTEX MUSIC MAGAZINE LARRY CRANE CAN TOTALLY MIX nor our progression as a people. YOUR SONGS OR LP In itself, this ongoing challenge of trying to GUEST EDITOR Mac Smiff • Very Affordable push an indigenous perspective through the larry-crane.com • Highly • Skilledjackpotrecording.com • 503.239.5389 narrow and crooked lens of the homogenous CONTRIBUTORS • Great Credits media can be endlessly frustrating. Constantly WRITERS reframing our thoughts to be easily Brookfield Duece André Middleton comprehended by those with competing world Jenni Moore perspectives is a chore. Trying to get a point Mac Smiff Donovan M. Smith across while audiences focus on your style and cultural mannerisms is insulting. And quite PHOTOGRAPHERS Tojo Andrianarivo frankly, I’m tired of it. Carlos Andres Cortes Faith Faucet Michelle Lepe • Neve 5088 Console I WANT TO AMPLIFY Joshua Manus • 2-inch analog (16 & 24-track) Moments by Mariah Photography BLACK VOICES WITHOUT • Pro Tools 12 HD & Logic Pro X ILLUSTRATOR • Voted “Best of PDX” ‘15 ‘16 & ‘17 SACRIFICING THE CLARITY Alexander “Casso Dinero” Wright Recording Portland’s Finest Music Since 1997 OF OUR VOICES EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Chris Young From creating music we think the ASSOCIATE EDITOR mainstream wants to hear, to promoting music Katey Trnka the mainstream thinks they want to hear, we ART DIRECTOR often see these machines of music and press Jeff Hayes pumping out disposable works. But what EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS RECORDING STUDIO makes a classic, births new genres, and stands Bruna Cucolo the test of time are the works of those who Bren Swogger boldly project their own paradigms, making WEBMASTER them widely accessible to others on the artists’ Arthur Parker terms. SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIST So for this edition of Vortex, if I am to Ignacio Quintana lead this charge, I want to do something DIGITAL CONTRIBUTORS different. I want to unburden Black authors N.L. Brooks, Aaron Colter, Joshua Hathaway, Andrea Janda, and photographers to cover Black musicians Skylor Powell, Ryan J. Prado, and artists by removing the onion-like layers Adam Sweeney, Sarah Vitort of white male-centric perspective that so often ADVERTISING prevent us from communicating effectively ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES with those who relate to us. I want to publish Olivia Hunt Black stories told by Black artists accompanied MEDIA KIT + OTHER REQUESTS by Black photography that get reviewed by WELCOME TO OUR WORLD [email protected] Black editors and then allow Black people ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT With this issue of Vortex Music Magazine, I to take the profits. I want to dabble in the ALL OTHER COMMENTS + INQUIRIES [email protected] challenges as a Black creative is being heard want to allow our voices to be heard. I want to aesthetics of Afrofuturism and tell our stories through the mainstream media. From the amplify Black voices without sacrificing the of Portland music in the way we see them. Vortex Music Magazine is published quarterly by editors who bend our tones to read as passive, clarity of our voices. I want our voices to speak This may seem unfamiliar to some. Some Vortex Music Magazine, LLC to the publishers who fail to grasp the relevance from our frame of reference, regardless of who might even feel uncomfortable. You may be 1111 SE Grand Ave. #122 Portland, OR 97214 of our stories, our voices are not heard as we is consuming our work. asking why I got rid of all the white people, and All rights reserved. intend them nor when we intend them to be heard. So often Black artists are required to actively the fact is—really the point is—I don’t have VRTXMAG.COM It is a challenge that all Black creatives face. choose who we’re speaking to. Code-switching to explain. PHOTO BY MICHELLE LEPE BY PHOTO In a largely homogenous city such as doesn’t only occur in the office; certainly, a Welcome to our world. Portland, a city known for white music level of colonization is expected of any artist bands and white music fans, the voices of looking to “go mainstream” or “crossover.” Black creatives—musicians and journalists The alternative, typically, is to lean into our in particular—are easily drowned out, or Blackness in self-exploitation, cheapening our modified to fit neatly within the Portland own existence to highlight basic stereotypical narrative. differences that define neither our existence Mac Smiff, Guest Editor 6 Vortex Music Magazine > ISSUE 25 7 #PDXMUSIC COMMUNITY My Layoff Was My Trap Door to Freedom There needs to be significantly better representation in terms of media workplace diversity, and it’s high time for BIPOC professionals For BIPOC writers, the freelance game might just be the way to survive in Portland to lead and own their own publications. It also doesn’t escape this mass media industry without experiencing burnout me that despite my efforts to the contrary, my body of work reads as overly sensitive to the feelings of white people. And as a half-white BY JENNI MOORE person with lots of white friends, living in the whitest city in the US, all of this makes total sense. So after the pandemic caused us all to lose our jobs, I decided to take N MARCH 13, I RECEIVED A escapism became a constant opportunity to do job I always thought I wanted. The layoff was a a break from it all, escape my laptop for a while, and listen to music phone call: I was being temporarily more work. secret trap door that led to my freedom. purely for the enjoyment of it—not because it was my job. I wanted to O laid off from my full-time, salaried Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed working at Because of the network and reputation I get lost in Jazmine Sullivan’s voice and dance to Afrobeat around my role as music editor at the Portland Mercury, the Mercury more than any job I’ve ever had. had built writing for We Out Here Magazine, house without worrying about everything I’m going to say about it. I along with most of my coworkers. I wasn’t I learned a lot, had great coworkers, and likely the Mercury and others, I now receive plenty asked myself, “Why am I charging myself with doing this work full-time exactly surprised, but it was a strange feeling. would have stayed there much longer had this of freelance inquiries and other career- if it stresses me out so much?” After blogging and interning for years for no pandemic not put a pause on everything.