Indie-rap insiders

Some of the Emerald City’s most lauded hip-hop gems light up two different downtown Spokane venues tonight.

One camp is thinking man’s hip-hop; the other is lighthearted party rap. Both are top-rated in Seattle’s indie-rap arena.

Number-one contenders for the city’s hip-hop crown, The Saturday Knights – who have created a buzz around party-friendly, genre-bending anthems – make their Spokane debut tonight at The Casbah.

At the same time, reigning Seattle tag-team rap champs The Blue Scholars and Common Market return to The Blvd.

Live, it’s Saturday Knights: The Saturday Knights doesn’t perform mere hip-hop; it’s more like hypnosis.

“What people don’t know is there is no music actually playing during the show. They might believe they’re hearing music, but there is technically no music coming out of the speakers past the first four minutes of the show,” lead rapper Tilson claimed during a telephone interview.

The Seattle group has the hipster media under a spell with a genre clash that is often described as the best mesh of hip-hop and rock this side of Aerosmith and Run-DMC.

The Saturday Knights crashed the Northwest indie scene last year when it was announced that the group was joining the roster at Seattle independent re-issue specialist Light in the Attic Records, the label responsible for signing the The Black Angels and The Blakes.

After winning over audiences at major festivals such as Sasquatch and SXSW, The Saturday Knights were collecting props nationwide and at home in Seattle.

The group’s full-length debut, “Mingle,” features a collage of guests including The Dap Kings, Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil, Nirvana producer Jack Endino and Chris Ballew from Presidents of the United States of America.

Finally winning over local and national media love after years of being snuffed, The Saturday Knights – consisting of frontman Tilson, sidekick Barfly, producer DJ Spencer Manio and guitarist/keyboardist Brian Weber (though Weber doesn’t always join the crew on tour) – came together after years of hitting the ceiling as soloists; Tilson claims DJ Spence was headed toward a career in professional tap dancing.

“If you’re walking down a hallway and everyone says it’s crap and at the end of the hallway they’re saying it’s great, would you trade that so at the end of the hallway they’re saying it’s the worst thing they every heard? No matter which way you go, you’re going to hear both sides,” Tilson explained.

Scholars’ market: Where The Saturday Knights write fun-loving rockers about a guy accidentally dropping his gun in the club, Common Market and Blue Scholars – different emcees sharing the same producer, Sabzi – rhyme about sobering political, personal and spiritual issues.

With an intellectual edge, both Blue Scholars and Common Market have penetrated the indie-rock elite in Seattle, making multiple appearances at Sasquatch, The Capitol Hill Block Party and Bumbershoot music festivals.

Fresh off a co-headlining tour with People Under The Stairs, Common Market’s mouthpiece, R.A. Scion, was seen in chill mode at The Showbox in Seattle last week watching the Wu-Tang Clan concert.

A few years ago he would have been hustling for an opening slot on the same bill. Instead, he was holding back for the annual three-night run he’ll share with Blue Scholars next week at Neumos in Seattle.

“We paid dues enough in this town to headline our own show and let these other cats get on,” Scion said. “Four years ago it would have been a big deal to open for Inspectah Deck of Ghostface.”

Common Market’s latest album, “Tobacco Road,” chronicles a personal journey through time, from righteousness to self-righteousness and back again.

Scion, who keeps a day job as a maintenance man and janitor for condominium management companies, said while bands like Common Market and Saturday Knights may be nothing alike, they have one crucial thing in common: the independent market.

“In terms of hip-hop, no one associated with any major (label) really has the town’s support,” he said. “Anyone who is making moves, selling out shows or selling albums – anyone who is making it in Seattle is doing it out of pocket.

“There’s only a handful of people who can really eat off of this hip-hop thing, and they’re strictly independent.”