True Blue: Laborious Scholarship

Published February 26, 2008

By Peter Casasa-Blouin

Middlebury is hosting a private show on March 1 featuring the hip-hop tandem The Blue Scholars. The Blue Scholars, who hail from Seattle, Washington, have been around since 2004 with the drop of their debut, self titled album. This is not an abstract group; Seattle is a traditionally pivotal city in American music and Emcee Geologic’s rhymes over DJ/producer Sabzi’s production continue that legacy. In one of their tracks Geo remarks there is “no rest for the weary” which leads me to believe that they would be willing to impart their knowledge on us if we exert the same type of energy that got two Wu dates.

They are appealing particularly because of their enthusiasm and their backgrounds. But apart from that, their distinct sound struck a cord in me that vibrated even after I had forgotten their name. Recently, I was reintroduced and instantly hooked. I heard that a facebook or myspace.com/bluescholars club was attempting to lure the Blue Scholars toward our dreary corner of America. Now let me lure you to the Blue Scholars.

As students we are constantly both critical and thoughtful. It gets boring and often we find ourselves escaping the stress of scholastics through music. The Blue Scholars blend the critical insight of their intellectual background with the tangible strife of their proletariat background. This has a profound effect on their message. They are able to articulate the disenfranchisement of the working class with the tools of a scholar and the foundation of a laborer.

This enables their message to transcend scopes of rap that may alienate white audiences and focus on a unity that can be achieved by “self revolution.” In their debut album they note, “under constant revision- is the poem that I be.” This line is important in tying their own personal struggle with inequality with the universal struggle they encourage us to engage in.

They offer their progressive and encompassing intellectual movement behind skillfully orchestrated beats. They employ a classic jazz style that made Digable Planets so eloquent and complex while incorporating an ethnic personality that pays homage to their Philipino ancestry. Plus, the way that Geo and Sabiz have gained reputations as artists individually makes their collaboration more powerful.

Blue Scholars are educators in artists’ garb. They respect and crave all forms of knowledge—even that received on “The Ave.” With UVM’s self proclaimed breadth of intellectual experiences, shouldn’t this be among them? If we show a genuine interest we may be able to get one of the West Coast’s most politically driven, socially conscious, compatible duos to come and play for us.

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