Photo courtesy of Jango

The first time I heard the name “Jango” was five or six years ago. I was at a recording session at Ruby Room Recordings in Seattle, and I got to chatting with the duo leaving the studio. I mentioned I was originally from Spokane, and they asked if I knew an artist named Jango. When I said no, they quickly pulled out their phones to find clips to show me. Turns out that duo was local hip-hop stalwarts Kung Foo Grip, and they were extremely high on the up-and-coming rapper from Spokane who they’d just finished collaborating with. After the session, I followed up on the clips they’d shown me and became an instant fan.

Hip-hop has been undergoing a sonic revolution since the mid 2000s, with producers blending genres like the sample masters of hip hop’s earliest years. Jango’s April 2021 single, “Merchandise,” featuring Sam Lachow and produced by Benn Suede, encapsulates that change, taking the bass, hi-hats, and snares of classic hip-hop production and mixing it with contemporary electronic elements that make for a fresh yet familiar sound.

Jango’s voice, raspy and melodic, harkens back to Eazy-E. His rhythms are hypnotic and confident in every syllable. He jumps around beats with bravado, changing his inflections to match his lyrical content: He’ll spit lines like “sick like mildew, spread like fake news” before effortlessly sitting back on the beat in the hook as he spits, “The revolution will be televised.” This line is a nod both to the current civil rights movement and a callback to the slogans of the 1960s. In the midst of that serious conversation, Jango is confidently amused as he raps, “Ima rule the [50]9 / put my name on all the venues / the white man confused how a n***a got the influence.”

The video, which adds to his growing catalog of provocative visuals, begins with Jango handcuffed inside a display case in the middle of a dark room. As a janitor slowly mops around him, Jango sings through the song’s bouncy hook. Lights flash on, and shots of memorabilia from other Washington State born greatness — a Gonzaga basketball jersey, a Jimi Hendrix painting, a Ken Griffey Jr. baseball, a copy of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’s The Heist — are shown in other displays surrounding Jango. A group of well dressed socialites drink, laugh, and grin around the “merchandise,” seemingly unaware of or merely bemused by the live human in the display case next to them. It’s another poignant, yet confidently lighthearted, statement on the Black experience.

If you’re from Spokane (like I am) you’ve probably seen the phrase “Spokane Doesn’t Suck” floating around on social media. Jango is among a growing group of artists who have stayed in Spokane, choosing to cultivate communities around their music and brands in the often overlooked city. Here’s to seeing more artists from Spokane as venues open.