Seattle Now & Then: Emerald Street Boys, Seattle hip-hop group, Westin skybridge, 1984

(click and click again to enlarge photos)

THEN: Posing on the Westin Hotel skybridge in 1984 are the Emerald Street Boys, formed in 1981: (from left) Eddie “Sugar Bear” Wells, James “Captain Crunch” Croone and Robert “Sweet J” Jamerson. The span was built in 1982 at second-floor level above Virginia Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues to connect the circular 1969 hotel with its new parking garage. (Kristine Larsen, courtesy Daudi Abe)
NOW: With masks briefly removed, standing in for the late Eddie Wells at left is Daudi Abe, author of “Emerald Street: A History of Hip Hop in Seattle” (University of Washington Press), while the two surviving Emerald Street Boys, James Croone (center) and Rcurtis Jamerson, re-create their 1984 poses on the Westin skybridge. For a video interview of the three, see below. (Jean Sherrard)

(Published in the Seattle Times online on Dec. 3, 2020
and in PacificNW Magazine of the print Times on Dec. 6, 2020)

Seattle helped hip hop cross into the cultural mainstream
By Clay Eals

Create a futuristic space in this Space Needle city, and you might launch more movement than you imagined.

Proof is the 1982 Westin Hotel skybridge, whose rounded roof ribbing seems to pull pedestrians into the world of tomorrow. So how fitting that Seattle’s celebrated early rap group, the aptly named Emerald Street Boys, chose the elevated walkway as the site for an early promo photo.

No one recalls why the shot was staged on the 66-foot, steel-beam span, but the image anchored the trio’s local roots and symbolized the professional beginnings of Seattle hip hop.

Tracing the saga of this 40-year cultural phenomenon — encompassing rap music, MCing, DJing, graffiti art and break-dancing — is a new book, “Emerald Street: A History of Hip Hop in Seattle” (University of Washington Press), by longtime Seattle Central College humanities professor Daudi Abe.

With voluminous detail in 262 pages, including a 40-page timeline and 21 pages of footnotes, Abe chronicles the previously undocumented rise of Seattle hip hop, from its national titans Sir Mix-A-Lot (from whom Abe secured a foreword) and Macklemore to less-known practitioners and trends. With a journalist’s eye, he weaves the growth of Seattle hip hop with broader events and tracks its evolution toward diversity.

Author Daudi Abe, in t-shirt with our “Then” image of the Emerald Street Boys from 1984.

“It could be argued,” he writes, “that Seattle is one of the more inclusive environments in all of hip hop, as over time African Americans, Africans, Asian/Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, whites, Latinos, women, the disabled, homeless and others have all been represented. … There is no question that misogynistic attitudes and inappropriate behavior — a characteristic of hip hop and society in general — were also present in Seattle.”

Though Abe says Seattle hip hop originally was seen as a fleeting fad, like disco, he affirms its enduring stature amid other forms of expression. His book supplies myriad examples, from a landmark Seattle Symphony show to an annual mayor’s award.

Of this progression, Abe stands in awe: “I’ve been teaching the history of hip hop for 20 years, and sometimes I find it difficult to get across how exciting it was. Nobody knew what was going to happen. There was no formula, no road map. Everything was so new. … Now it’s so natural. It’s so part of the mainstream.”

The Garfield High School graduate says that in his pre-teens, hip hop emerged as a “weapon against social and political oppression” that taught him about earning respect. With an unintentional nod to the Westin setting, he adds, “It also helps bridge our cultural gaps.”

WEB EXTRAS

To see Jean Sherrard‘s 360-degree video of the “Now” prospect and compare it with the “Then” photo, and to hear this column read aloud by Clay Eals, check out our Seattle Now & Then 360 version of the column!

Below are an additional photo and, in chronological order, 19 historical clippings from The Seattle Times online archive (available via Seattle Public Library) and other online newspaper sources that were helpful in the preparation of this column.

Also, here is a link to the Facebook page of “That Guy” Rcurtis Jamerson, singer /songwriter / music producer / lyricist / drummer / host / vocal coach / trainer / booking agent / actor / emcee.

As a bonus, here is the link to a 9-1/2-minute video interview of Daudi Abe, James Croone and Rcurtis Jamerson. If you click the photo below, you will open a pdf with a partial transcript of the interview. Enjoy!
Click on the photo to see a partial transcript of the video interview of author Daudi Abe and the two surviving members of the Emerald Street Boys, Rcurtis Jamerson and James Croone.
Here is an alternate NOW: With masks briefly removed, standing in for the late Eddie Wells at left is author Daudi Abe, while the two surviving Emerald Street Boys, James Croone (center) and Rcurtis Jamerson, re-create their 1984 poses on the Westin skybridge. For a video interview of the three, see above. (Jean Sherrard)
April 27, 1981, Seattle Times, page 53, Westin Hotel skybridge
June 28, 1981, Seattle Times, page 130, Westin Hotel skybridge.
April 9, 1982, Seattle Times, page 71.
April 9, 1982 Seattle Times, page 61.
April 23, 1982, Seattle Times, page 66.
Nov. 2, 1982, Seattle Times, page 33.
June 27, 1982, Seattle Times, page 51, Westin Hotel skybridge.
Nov. 3, 1982, Seattle Times, page 27.
Nov. 12, 1982, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, page 49.
Feb. 18, 1983, Seattle Times, page 54.
April 29, 1983, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, page 53.
April 29, 1983, Seattle Times, page 70.
May 27, 1983, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, page 24.
June 27, 1983, Seattle Times, page 70.
June 3, 1983, Seattle Times, page 65.
June 6, 1983, Seattle Times, page 43.
Sept. 25, 1983, Seattle Times, page 143.
Feb. 19, 1984, Seattle Times, page 114.
Feb. 19, 1984, Seattle Times, page 115.
April 29, 2010, Seattle Times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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