When people talk about Washington’s music scene, Spokane or Eastern Washington isn’t always the first city that comes to mind. Seattle tends to take up most of that conversation, but there is plenty happening a few hours east. The 509 has its own ecosystem of rappers, producers and artists who have been steadily building their sound, audiences and communities.
And honestly, there is a lot of variety here. From darker, aggressive cuts to more reflective records, these releases show a Spokane scene that isn’t really interested in sounding like one thing. Some of these artists are repping the 509 directly, while others are simply making music that happens to come from Spokane. Either way, there is a lot here worth paying attention to.
PIVE — “Down This Road”
PIVE’s “Down This Road” is a pretty fitting place to start.Released August 28, the just-over-three-minute track is centered around the idea of moving forward while still recognizing everything that got you there. It’s reflective without becoming overly sentimental, touching on ambition, gratitude and the people who have been part of the journey.
What I like most about the track is that PIVE doesn’t frame success as something completely individual. There is an acknowledgment of the people behind the scenes and the relationships that make the whole thing possible. “Down This Road” feels less like a victory lap and more like taking a second to actually look around before figuring out where you’re headed next.
BLXCKPUNKS, ONI INC., IAMTOPP & Jang The Goon — “ANTI”
“ANTI” is a completely different story. The 2:08 track from BLXCKPUNKS, ONI INC., IAMTOPP and Jang The Goon wastes absolutely no time getting into it. The production is dark and aggressive, with the kind of energy that feels much more at home in a sweaty venue than quietly playing through your laptop speakers. And with a title like “ANTI,” subtlety was probably never really the goal. They recently performed a few songs on the platform known as On The Radar which we recommend checking out here.
BLXCKPUNKS, the Spokane duo made up of IAMTOPP and Jang The Goon, have built a sound around that abrasive, anti-establishment attitude, and this collaboration fits right in. The track feels confrontational in a way that is actually fun. It isn’t trying to make everyone happy, and honestly, it shouldn’t. At just over two minutes, “ANTI” gets in, causes a little chaos and gets out.
$pocain€ — “Shallow Side”
There is something about the title “Shallow Side” that makes you want to know what’s underneath. $pocain€’s latest release arrived August 28 and clocks in at 2:26, keeping things short while exploring the contrast between surface-level appearances and what is actually going on underneath. The track fits into a catalog that already has years of work behind it, making this feel less like an introduction and more like another addition to an ongoing story.
And that is something I appreciate about artists who have been around for a while. Not every release needs to announce a complete reinvention. Sometimes you’re just adding another piece to the puzzle. “Shallow Side” feels like that, another look into what $pocain€ is doing while continuing to carve out his own space within Spokane’s scene.
BabyFaceWood — “Flashin’ Lights”
“Flashin’ Lights” is one of those titles that basically gives you the setting before the song even starts.Released July 31, BabyFaceWood’s single brings to mind nightlife, city lights and the general chaos that comes with being out way later than you originally planned. The track has an easy, late-night quality to it, making it feel more like something you would throw on during a drive around town than a song that needs to announce itself immediately.
There is something nice about the simplicity of it. “Flashin’ Lights” knows what kind of atmosphere it wants and sticks with it.Sometimes you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes you just need a good song for driving around at midnight.
Cholo2fly & FGGrumpy — “3’s Up”
Cholo2fly and FGGrumpy link up on “3’s Up,” a 2:27 collaboration released August 28. The track works because it feels like a collaboration rather than two artists simply taking turns existing on the same beat. There is a natural back-and-forth between the two, with each bringing their own cadence into the record while keeping the momentum moving.
The title itself feels like a nod to loyalty, affiliation and putting your people on. There is a certain familiarity to that theme in rap, but that doesn’t necessarily make it tired. A lot of the time, the best regional music is about exactly that–who you’re with, where you’re from and who you are representing. “3’s Up” keeps that energy pretty straightforward.
Jaidrius — “5o9”
Jaidrius does not exactly make us guess where he’s from. “5o9” is a direct nod to Spokane’s area code, and the 1:48 track feels like a concentrated hometown statement. There is something especially satisfying about artists using regional references without feeling the need to explain them to everyone outside the city. If you know, you know. And if you don’t, well, now you know.
“5o9” is short, but that works in its favor. Jaidrius doesn’t stretch the concept into something bigger than it needs to be. The track is about representing home, and the title alone already tells you where that home is. For a city that sometimes gets overlooked in larger conversations about rap, putting the 509 directly into the music feels pretty intentional.
Karma Knows — “Ride or Dye”
Karma Knows’ “Ride or Dye” is a little more playful with its title.Released August 28, the track takes the familiar phrase “ride or die” and puts its own spin on it. Underneath the wordplay is the same idea the original phrase has always carried: loyalty.
Who is actually there when things aren’t going well? Who sticks around before there is anything to gain? And who are you willing to go to bat for? “Ride or Dye” gives Karma Knows room to explore those ideas without taking itself too seriously. The title is catchy, but the subject is something artists have been writing about forever; friendship, loyalty and knowing who your people are. The twist on the phrase is what gives the song a little personality of its own.
Cordell Drake & Tko Toowavy — “TURNIN UP”
We’re ending this one the only way we really can: “TURNIN UP.”Cordell Drake and Tko Toowavy’s collaboration was released August 22 as the sixth track on West Coast Antidote. Unlike some of the other songs on this list, “TURNIN UP” isn’t really asking you to sit down and overthink it.The title is pretty self-explanatory.
The track brings the energy up in the middle of the project, giving Drake and Tko Toowavy a chance to lean into that louder, more celebratory side of the West Coast sound. It’s the kind of record that makes sense in a car, at a party or anywhere people have collectively decided that the night is not ending yet.And sometimes that’s exactly what you want from a song.
The 509 Is Steadily Grinding
What stands out about these releases isn’t necessarily one specific sound. It’s the fact that there isn’t one. There is no single blueprint for what Spokane rap is supposed to sound like and I think that’s a good thing.
The 509 might not have the same automatic association with hip-hop that some other cities do, but these artists are making it pretty clear that there is a scene worth watching.
Maybe Spokane doesn’t need to sound like Seattle.
Maybe it doesn’t need to sound like Los Angeles or New York either.
