Tomorrow night we celebrate our 19th consecutive month of TheTHESIS, and we could’t be more excited about the lineup. I let loose of the curating reigns one time in honor of Ms. Renee Lopez, WOHM’s lead photog, whose birthday happens to be on the same date. She did a great job filling in the slots, and I’m pretty sure this will be a show for the ages.

The line-up for The THESIS, co-sponsored by We Out Here Magazine and XRAY.FM, has some of the most intriguing rappers Portland has to offer, and that’s just the beginning. Bro Pluto will be setting up their latest fashion exhibit, there will be extra festivities for Ms. Lopez, and since Verbz is going to miss the party while he’s on tour with Tope (poor guy), the little big homie Trox is going to be stepping in for DJ duties. Trust me, you’ll want to “do your RSVPs“…

But all the extras aside, this concert promises to be amazing. Mic Capes, Maze Koroma, STRAY, and Samuel The First make up the electric bill, and as if that weren’t enough, a yet to be named special guest will be taking the stage.

If you don’t already know about Mic Capes, you should probably wake the F— up. The Best New Band finalist has been on a tear as of late, grabbing attention with his breakout video for 15 Cents, and teasing the city with the promise of his full length record, Concrete Dreams. Mic’s been to work over the last few months, gassing an enormous crowd at the Crystal Ballroom, packing Mississippi Studios on multiple occasions, and helping sellout TheTHESIS in December alongside Dodgr. Loaded with simple charisma and a powerful voice, Capes spits his truths in the form of a message that is taken in with ease by both those who relate to his struggles and those looking in, making him one of the more interesting rappers to command a major audience in Portland. Expect the St. Johns native to bring a new level of polish (and maybe some new music?) to his performance.

Maze Koroma is also no stranger to The THESIS. The EYRST-signee has been heating up in his own right, dropping the critically acclaimed Osiris back in February, hitting SXSW in March, throwing a few choice features to his peers and jumping on some cool shows. The exciting young rapper took the stage last month alongside Martell Webster during a raucus set with his EYRST brethren and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Martell, Dodgr, Blossom, or any of the other EYRST crew show up to turn up.

Speaking of crews, we’ve never actually just booked a crew before, but we went ahead and did the Wu-Tang thing with the STRAYs. G6ix, Chief, Chris Lee and Donte Thomas make up the squad known for high-energy, radio-ready hip-hip. Splitting time between Eugene, Portland, and now Los Angeles, the young rap crew has been diversifying their sound, and has transformed from a bunch of kids rapping to a real force in the regional music scene.

I’ll admit, I wasn’t sure about Samuel The First at  first, but after seeing him at Cool Nutz’ Smokey Da Bear concert, I had to pay respect. The tall, lanky rapper stood out in the rap crowd in a major way, but he didn’t seem to notice, and when he took the stage, he showed himself worthy. On the verge of graduating from college, Samuel’s taking a little time from his busy schedule to showcase his talent at Portland’s premiere hip-hop showcase.

On top of these dope performers, we have a top secret, super special guest who’s not on the bill but will bring the house down. Check out @TheThesisPDX for updates. All this for a measly $5. I’ll implore you once again to arrive early, this show sells out really fast, and once we hit capacity… well that’s that!

We Out Here Magazine is proud to continue bringing you this special concert series after a year and a half; it’s really the fans and friends that make this the best rap party in Portland. So come out, bring a friend, tip your bartender, shake a tailfeather and all that tomorrow at Kelly’s Olympian. But you’ll have to be 21 to get in. We’ll see you there, and don’t forget to wish Renee a happy birthday and let her take our picture!