Blue Scholars to give it a go without the snow

Jumping off railings of the Frank Gehry-designed EMP at Seattle Center, he looked like any other tourist.

Little did onlookers know he was Sabzi, DJ and producer in rising hip-hop group the Blue Scholars. He was clowning around on a photo shoot while MC Geologic was watching, calmly sipping coffee.

The Blue Scholars may be the biggest hip-hop group in Seattle, but not everyone in their hometown knows it yet.

"Every time we do a show, half of the people there haven't seen us before," said Sabzi (real name, Alexei Saba Mohajerjasbi).

So for their three nights of shows at Neumo's starting Saturday, the club crowd can bank on nights full of surprises, in addition to their standards like the singles "Back Home," "Loyalty" and "Joe Metro."

It's been a very successful year for the socially conscious hip-hop duo. After selling out night after night at Neumo's in Seattle last year, they went onto play the popular Austin, Texas, music festival South by Southwest (SXSW) and the Sasquatch! Music Festival. They were also hooked up on a nationwide tour with indie hip-hop icons the Hieroglyphics. Then the two played outside during the Democratic National Convention, and in September, they shared the stage with such hip-hop power players as Nas and Mos Def at the largest hip-hop festival in the nation, Rock The Bells.

Up next for the duo: It's back to Austin for SXSW next week, and later this spring, watch for a new digital EP and video.

The Neumo's shows were rescheduled to this weekend after being canceled by December's crippling snow. Not to be outdone by the weather, the duo used the downtime to crank out a video, "Coffee and Snow," which generated more than 35,000 hits online.

Geologic raps in the song, "a blanket of snow canceled the show, and now I'm chilling, can't let go, I got to catch that feeling, hands to the ceiling."

Another Seattle hip-hop duo, Common Market, countered with its own rhyme about the snow, called "Tobacco and Snow Covered Roads." Sabzi is the DJ — or beatmaker — for both groups.

Common Market joins Blue Scholars for the Neumo's show. Openers change each night — Saturday has Truckasauras; Sunday includes Macklemore and the Physics; and Monday has Macklemore and Dyme Def. (Though originally on the bill, Mad Rad will not be performing; the Seattle hip-hop crew was banned from Neumo's after fighting with the club's security staff.)

For these series of shows, both Sabzi and Geologic implore fans to get up on stage and dive into the crowd.

"I'm more than happy to make it simple," said Geologic, 29 (real name, George Quibuyen). "Go to the show, have the energy out there, throw it back and have a good time. I want to see some bodies move."

Adds Sabzi, 27: "Get on stage and dive out. I encourage people to really lose their minds."

Marian Liu: 206-464-3825 or mliu@seattletimes.com