According to the United States Census: The Columbia City neighborhood in Rainer Beach, South Seattle is the most diverse area in the U.S.A.; with the most languages spoken here than in any other zip-code in the entire U.S. On Rainer Ave lies an oasis of anti-racist, decolonized education. Rainier Valley Leadership Academy (R.V.L.A.) is a middle-school/high-school where true eduction and herstory thrives. Decolinizing spaces and minds is an actual, factual reality in these walls. Art and leadership flourish in this institute and one of the Hip-Hop highlights that reside there is a 14 year-old 8th grader named King Zaae.
King Zaae encompasses all that a new Hip-Hop artist could be. Zaae has rapping and singing in his arsenal. If you were to categorize his style of music it would be Emo-Hop, a genre of Hip-Hop where the M.C. is vulnerable and open about their feelings. The problem is many of the M.C.’s, although freaking new styles of rapping and singing, tend to still fall victim to the basic stereotypes and tropes of masculine-driven Hip-Hop and mainstream culture. So you have an artist speaking about how they are sad but it is because they mistreated a woman. This is not pushing People forward. It is just an insight into the mind of the lost.