It's been a tumultuous year and a half for Seattle party-rap provocateurs Mad Rad. The hard-living quartet recently came out the other end of a much-publicized career rehab (masterminded by former über-manager Kerri Harrop) that saw them distance themselves from scandalous headlines, and, with impressive velocity, rise from being blacklisted at seven Seattle venues to playing the mainstage at the packed-to-bursting 2010 Capitol Hill Block Party. 

Talking about Mad Rad at this point is a little like talking about Robert Downey Jr. (I'm thinking of Matthew Klam's probing 2008 GQ profile of the durable actor) - any discussion of their current success needs to be contextualized against their past struggles and indiscretions. (It remains to be seen if the release of Mad Rad's sophomore effort, The Youth Die Young, helps turn these Teflon troublemakers into Iron Men).

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Mad Rad

Artifakt Art and Hip-Hop Show
w/Champagne Champagne, City Hall, DJ Hannibal
Saturday, Nov. 27, 8 p.m., 21+, $8
Jazzbones, 2803 Sixth Ave., Tacoma
253.396.9169