I knew next to nada about underground hip-hop phenomenon Jay Electronica before his performance Saturday at Bumbershoot. I showed up, shot some video from the photo pit and thought I might get crushed after he invited fans to hop over the barricade and jump on stage with him.

But the most cringe-worthy part of the performance involved the J.E. describing a supposed $20,000 bet he made with Nas and some other rapper (forget which one) regarding whether women enjoy being choked during sex. I won’t go into too much detail or repeat the punch line here, but needless to say it wasn’t exactly comedic gold.
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Winding down an awesome day two at Bumbershoot 2010, and here’s a sampling of Georgia Anne Muldrow & Declaime, the act I was most looking forward to seeing at the festival all weekend. This how their set got underway at Fisher Green, but stay tuned and I’ll have some interview footage to share from earlier in the afternoon.

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One of the most fun things about Bumbershoot every year is getting to know knew bands you otherwise would never have bothered to check out. And among my discoveries at this year’s festival is The Constellations, a hip-hop/funk crew from Atlanta, GA that rocked the Fisher Green stage on Saturday afternoon. Here a clip from early in their performance.

I just spotted details for a fundraiser for the family of Island Trybe’s Les Alo, who passed away on Wedndayday. The show will kick off at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 7, at Krickett’s Family Restaurant, with performances by Trybe Fam, Aomas Ent and D’Rocc.

Sure, the Capitol Hill Block Party takes place in one of Seattle’s hippest neighborhoods. But Tacoma has definitely been well represented the first couple of nights. Yesterday, I posted a clip of T-town drummer Hozi Matheson-Margullis performing with Helms Alee. (She’s also the singer-guitarist of Lozen, as featured in Grit City Bootlegs No. 16, in case you didn’t know.) And here’s a clip from day two featuring local rapper Rockwell Powers, representin’ Grit City during Seattle rapper Spaceman’s portion of the Hip-Hop Showcase. (Warning: PG-13 language is involved.)

When you’re …

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Met Lacey comedian Nate Jackson yesterday at the Harmon Hub. While we were waiting, along with the rest of the planet, to see where LeBron James would land, he pulled up the finished Roderic video I wrote about a few weeks ago on his iPhone.

Check out Nate’s acting skills as the salty manager dude. Then see what some of this looked like before editing here.

It was surprisingly hard to come by, but finally I’ve got a band schedule for the inaugural Tacoma Hempfest, which will take place Saturday at Wright Park.

Big Wheel Stunt Show, 8 p.m.
Sweet Kiss Momma, 7 p.m.
Legend of Bigfoot, 6 p.m.
Q. Dot, 5 p.m.
Vile Red Falcons, 4 p.m.
Mr. D.O.G, 3 p.m.
Voxxy Vallejo, 2 p.m.
Fun Police, 1 p.m.
Deborah Page, noon
State of Murdoch 11 a.m.

Big Wheel Stunt Show guitarist Evan Nagle was also telling me something about an …

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Sure, KUBE 93′s Summer Jam had big shots Drake, the Game and Rick Ross down at the White River Amphitheatre. But Grit City Fest showcased some of the best in local hip-hop, with a show at the Harmon HUB headlined by Tacoma’s Evergreen One & Todd Sykes.

The duo tells me their debut album is weeks away from being finished, and you can catch ‘em next opening for Tone Loc at Jazzbones. Meanwhile, here’s some of what you may have missed last night.

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Gangsta rap vets Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube are teaming up for the How the West Was One Tour, which will drop in on Seattle’s Paramount Theatre on July 14, Seattle Theatre Group announced. Tickets will be $45 and go on sale at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 19.

Cube was also scheduled to appear at White River Amphitheatre on Aug. 15 with Limp Bizkit, but that show has been canceled. (Say, didn’t Limp Bizkit’s last album go wood? Maybe that had something to do with it.)

And just for fun, …

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Brother Ali, just one of the many acts to be excited about this weekend at Sasquatch!