Cool Nutz!

Hip hop talent may come and go here in the Northwest — blowing up big or moving on to other area codes. But after all is said and done, any MC and DJ who has spent time in the NW will gladly drop what they're doing and give a shout out to rapper, manager and promoter Cool Nutz, aka Terrance Scott. The "Charlie Hustle" of Northwest hip hop stretched the region's sound down to the Cali border and nudged it east out to Boise, dotting all the small towns along the way, bringing hip hop to the otherwise untouched.
Cool Nutz, Kane, Siren's Echo, Maniac Lok, Young Gangsta Poets and the Option Hosted by DJ Chill. WOW Hall, 9 pm . Friday, 2/10, $10, all ages. www.jusfamilyrecords.com

A man with a true passion for hip hop, the Portland bred Cool Nutz founded Jus Family Records with producer friend Bosko Kante in 1992. Their first release under the Jus Family name, Dis Niggaz Nutz, laid the groundwork for this now highly respected underground label, leading to an eventual 16 releases and a slew of partnerships with high profile MCs and producers from around the world. Jus Family's reputation for churning out streetwise regional hip hop has lead to collaborations with rap heavyweights like E-40, Kurupt, WC, Too Short and Kanye West. Between creating and releasing music, Scott also manages several NW hip hop artists including the spunky female duo Siren's Echo. Cool Nutz and Bosko, along with Xzibit of Pimp My Ride fame, just came off tour in Copenhagen with Denmark hip hop phenom the L.O.C.

Right on the heels of the release of his new mixtape, DJ Chill Presents: Cool Nutz "The Voice of Northeast Portland" Mixtape Vol. 1, a showcase of retrospective, forthcoming and exclusive material from the Jus Family stable, Scott returns to Eugene with Siren's Echo as well as Jus Family's own Maniac Lok and Hard Times Records' founder Kane.

Scott calls his forthcoming album, I Hate Cool Nutz, a coming of age record, featuring a more progressive and "grown-up" Cool Nutz. "I feel very strong about the new album, and look at it as my greatest work to date," he says. "Everything to this point has been what you would call a warm up." Featuring appearances by E-40, Kurupt, Ras Kass and Sticky Fingaz, along with production work from Bosko, UnderRated and Jeffrey Simmons, the voice of NE Portland strikes again with a late spring release date.