If you don’t immediately associate the Pacific Northwest with rap music, you’re forgiven—certainly there are other corners of the country that sooner come to mind. But culture grows wherever it finds a root, and anyone who has paid attention to music coming out of Portland, Seattle, Olympia, or their environs knows the region has as much to offer hip-hop as anywhere else. Liberal politics, waves of younger immigrant communities, the digital diaspora making homes in places they might’ve otherwise overlooked—whatever the factors, the area has become a reliably interesting place to watch. So let’s go ahead and watch it. Our editors will be rotating tracks regularly, so if you hear something you like, add it to your library.