Conscious Hip-Hop or, “Backpack Rap” — has been trying to find its place in music, if not the world since it’s inception. While the mainstream likes our rappers to stay high, paid and distracted by materialistic woes, the conscious cats have always stuck to a higher message. On Portland native, S’ahli’s new project, Light It Up: The EP, that higher message is delivered and then some.

Clocking in at 6-tracks, the length of the project is perfect, in my opinion. The EP allows you time to not only digest what’s being said but doesn’t force feed you enough to turn you off. On tracks like, “Evolved”, he speaks to the moral difference with styles in Hip-Hop by delivering the brilliant line, “We from prophets, not from projects, but that truth gets labeled conscious.” With other tracks on the project like, “Light It Up” allowing S’ahli to have a bit more fun and get melodic, Light It Up: The EP proves to be a solid outing from the Portland native.

Check out the project below and get familiar with the Northwest.