Joell Ortiz, a longtime indie-rap darling, is quickly garnering a reputation as one of the best emcees in hip-hop. Tacoma's best rap group (as deemed recently by the Weekly Volcano), City Hall (Todd Sykes and EvergreenOne), is buzzing in the Northwest and beyond after the recent release of their first album Milk on Wax. Joell Ortiz writes tough songs that embody his native Brooklyn (YouTube "Brooklyn Bullshit").  City Hall's themes resonate with the youth at large in the City of Destiny: unemployment, shootings, unemployment and lots of beer drinking (listen to the whole album at evergreenonetoddsykes.bandcamp.com).

What else do Joell Ortiz and City Hall have in common? They are both performing at Hell's Kitchen Sunday, Oct. 10.

This is not a test, Tacoma. One of hip-hop's best kept secrets is coming to our city. Ortiz, one of the most prominent rappers to perform in Tacoma in the past decade, is a throwback to legendary rappers like Big Pun and Biggie, a rap dynamo with a commanding cadence and lyricism to match. In 2009 he rose to international fame as a member of the rap supergroup Slaughterhouse, joining fellow Eastern mainstays Joe Budden, Crooked I and Royce da 5'9". Out West touring for his new "Yaowa Mixtape," Ortiz will be in the Puget Sound region for one night only, and as good fortune would have it, we don't have to drive 45 minutes to get there.

It's hard not to like City Hall. If you've seen them before then you already know that nobody has more fun at a City Hall show than City Hall. EvergreenOne is the group's star. The mustache-rocking, boutique-shopping product of North Tacoma is electric on stage as well as on record. His bouncy, excitable flow allows him to articulate his gritty Tacoma roots, hooligan playfulness and sometimes taunting sarcasm. Sykes, on the other hand, is smooth and subtle. Not the natural entertainer, but every bit the rapper of his counterpart, Sykes (who also is the group's producer) is a skilled storyteller and a treat for the rap fan who still pays attention to rhyme schemes and patterns. 

"We try and make music that we are proud of and satisfied with," explains Sykes. "We don't try and fit a current style or sound that comes out, we do what feels natural to us while we are creating. We have a classic golden era sound with a new twist, that's what makes our music fresh. We just stick with the formula of raw beats and real life rhymes."

Rounding out the bill will be Island Trybe and Whikid Matticuless. Blending elements of West Coast rap, R&B and reggae, Island Trybe are seasoned performers building a truly unique sound. Whikid is a fresh face in the Tacoma hip-hop community, a solo artist who has worked closely in the past with up-and-coming group Darxiide.

A hip-hop event of this caliber in Tacoma, matching a top level national talent with some of Tacoma's finest, is a rarity. Don't sleep.

Joell Ortiz

with City Hall, Island Trybe, Whikid Matticuless
Sunday, Oct. 10, 9 p.m., $10 at ticketweb.com
Hell's Kitchen, 928 Pacific Ave., Tacoma
253.759.6003