King Dre Brings the Energy in Spokane, Washington

By Spencer Lobdell

It was a cold Saturday night in Washington as a crowd of local hip-hop fans packed into the Cracker Building, a small venue near downtown Spokane. Local promoter Young Neves was throwing a show that featured some of the best emerging artists in Eastern Washington and the line up was full of exciting names such as Wanderers, Jiggy Jared, and Roley Ratchet. While everyone that performed is currently making waves in the local hip-hop scene in Washington, no artist is hotter than the charismatic King Dre. Dre recently dropped the knocking single “Off the Boat (Freestyle)” and is still riding momentum from his summertime hit “This Ain’t A Swisher” with 02 Huncho. With two tapes in the near future and a patented sound, KD seems primed to blow and everyone in the Cracker Building that night knew it.

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While all performers that night were greeted by applause, you could tell who everyone really bought a ticket for by the eruption that followed the first three piano notes to Dre’s opening song “Scuba”. As his homies filed on stage to dance and generate energy, Dre spit the menacing hook to one of the more popular songs off his 2019 mixtape Phase 2. As the room swung back and forth with each knock of the bass, Dre paused and admired the crowd he was largely responsible for. “I don’t make music for other people,” Dre told me after the show concluded. “It definitely helps when they like it though,” he said with a smile.

With lots of new music on the way, it’s impossible to not be excited to see what 2020 holds for King Dre. “Man oh man boy, I got like 50 songs in the vault that y’all need to hear!” The first of the three scheduled releases came earlier today, December 30th, in the form of the four song EP ACTIVATED which you can stream on Dre’s Soundcloud here. The Turn Me Up tape can be expected during the first few weeks of the new decade and is filled with strictly bangers to throw on at the next function. After that, Dre plans to release a more lyrical, introspective tape called Deep End which will feature rising rapper CFN Trezzy who also made an appearance at the Cracker Building during Dre’s set.

King Dre is THE artist to watch out for on the east side of Washington. Motivated by his brother who use to rap before being killed in Northern California, Dre is determined to make a name for himself in 2020. After watching KD grow all of 2019, it’s clear he’s a remarkably fast learner. Combine that with all the time he’s recently spent in the studio and performing and you have a recipe for an artist with a high chance of having a very successful 2020.

Check out some photos from the show below (Photos by Spencer Lobdell):

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The PoohBenji Interview: The Hometeam, Spokane Rap, & His Upcoming Debut Project

“There are people that I’m cool with and like to be around, then there are my brothers who I love. Those are the guys that makeup HomeTeam”

By Spencer Lobdell

While August in Spokane is normally known as “Smoke Season,” the sky was clear on August 16th and the 90-degree sun beat down on me as I drove north to conduct an interview I had been anticipating for months. When I arrived at the house that PoohBenji and I had agreed to meet at, I eagerly parked my car and walked to the backyard where Pooh sat, getting his haircut and laughing with all his homies about the prior weekend which was hazy yet undeniably memorable for this specific group of friends. While I sat and waited for Benji’s haircut to finish, I found myself enthralled by the demeanor of the upcoming rapper. Pooh was friendly and easy to talk to, yet extremely confident. He didn’t participate as much as his friends did in the conversation, but when he did speak it was captivating and everything he said drew me in. PoohBenji had the demeanor of a star and before the interview even began, I validated his SoundCloud hit “Legend” where he sings “Bitch it’s a legend in the making”.

Chauncy Ford (PoohBenji) was born in Spokane, Washington but moved around frequently in his youth living in Florida, Louisiana, and Oregon before returning to Spokane in 2015. Moving frequently is never easy for a kid and young PoohBenji found comfort in his mom, his sister, and playing basketball during his nomadic childhood. Upon his return to Spokane, Chauncy attended North Central High School where he continued to play basketball. Benji currently goes to college at Spokane Falls CC and spends the rest of his time working and making music.

PoohBenji began putting music out on SoundCloud around two years ago. The young rapper caught a buzz when he released the infectious party banger “Fuck A Chorus” and began performing at local venues around Spokane. Things really started to take off for the Washington rapper when he moved to a new SoundCloud account (HomeTeam9) and put out songs like “Do The Most” and “Legend” which show off his unique style, a fusion of autotuned melodic rap and precise lyricism comparable to the rap game’s heaviest hitters. This summer Pooh made his Spotify debut with his addicting cut “Change On Me” showing fans that the Washington rapper was here to stay.

Ever since the artist's earliest SoundCloud releases, the common question floating around the Spokane hip-hop scene hasn’t been if PoohBenji will make it, but rather when will PoohBenji make it. While I’ve loved Benji’s music for years, my interactions with Chauncy Ford the person solidified my belief in his inevitable rise. My conversation with PoohBenji, lightly edited for content and clarity, follows below:

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Spencer Lobdell, StereoVision (SL): Your early SoundCloud music was released under Benji x HomeTeam while your recent music has been released under HomeTeam9. Who makes up the HomeTeam and what’s their role in your music?

PoohBenji (PB): My cousin JC made it up. We were just up at the house one day when we realized we needed a brand that we could publish all our ideas under. It’s not a rap group though, HomeTeam is really just all my close homies that I’m gonna take with me when I get up. 

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SL: Does the HomeTeam have a definite roster or is it always changing?

PB: There’s a definite roster. There are people that I’m cool with and like to be around, then there are my brothers who I love. Those are the guys that makeup HomeTeam.

SL: Did you always know you wanted to make music or was there a defining moment when it clicked for you that you were gonna rap for a living?

PB: It started for me and my homies Thomas and Troy went over and made our first song in Caden Townsend’s studio. A couple of days after we were over there, I went by myself and recorded a song called “Make It Happen” which started doing numbers on Soundcloud. That was my big song and when I saw the reaction it got I knew I was going to be a rapper.

SL: You and fellow Spokane rapper King Dre frequently go to producer PeeJay for your production needs. When did you link up with him initially and what do you like about the way he works?

PB: I don’t even remember bro, me and PeeJay have made so many songs. It was right after I started making music with Caden though so it must have been right around two years ago. I love everything about the way PeeJay works. He moves fast, gives me really good pieces of advice, and honestly is the guy that helped me find my sound and exposed me to all the different ways I can manipulate my vocals.

SL: Recently on your social media you’ve been teasing a lot of unreleased music and this week you posted what looks like some album art. Should fans be expecting a new project soon?

PB: The art is for my debut project Alpha which is scheduled to come out on September 3rd. It’s going to be shorter, six or seven songs, and is really gonna show a wide variety of sounds people haven’t heard from me before. Every song is different and I already know people are going to be vibing to it.

SL: Who’s on your playlist right now?

PB: I try and listen to everyone who’s hot and just learn what I can from them so basically anyone that’s dropped in the past month I have downloaded right now. My favorites would probably be Drake and NBA Youngboy though. They’re probably the artists I draw the most inspiration from too.

SL: The Spokane hip-hop scene has been on the rise for the last year. How would it feel to be the first rapper to make it out of Spokane and do you feel any kind of responsibility to be that guy for the city?

PB: I mean it would be cool, but I don’t really look at it like that. It doesn’t really matter who’s first because as soon as one of us pops, the whole city’s on.

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SL: What other Spokane rappers besides you and Dre do StereoVision readers need to know about? 

PB: Rondough & Jiah, they aren’t apart of RMG anymore but they have been putting out some crazy stuff lately. And then my boy Trey (Cfn Trezzy) who’s really going up right now. He’s got a couple of songs out right now but the stuff he’s been showing me lately has been insane. Every day he’s getting better and better, he’s going to be a real problem soon.

SL: Lastly, is there anything else you want readers to know about PoohBenji?

PB: Man, I just want to tell everybody to stop sleeping on Spokane Washington. There’s a lot of talent here, and not just rappers. We got insane hoopers, super dope visual artists, and a lot of other really gifted people that the world needs to know about.

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