Welcome to the new mini-series where we ask five Seattle folk their thoughts on the new music interview and variety show, Hangin Tuff, presented by Bobbi Rich. This week, Sean De Tore, host of the mixtape Podcast, talks about episode #3 featuring Jarv Dee. Enjoy!

Sean De Tore: I want to be friends with Bobbi Rich and Jarv Dee.

Just one minute into episode #3 of Hangin’ Tuff!, before Jarv Dee can even finish his intro, we have a call for a smoke break.  And it’s not just your run of the mill “Hey-I’m-at-work-and-work-is-really-hard-today-so-I-need-to-step-outside-for-a-smoke,-smoke-break”.  It’s what appears to be a marijuana cigarette smoke break!  The chorus from Jarv Dee’s song “High Expectations” plays, “Anything I do I take a smoke break/Let me take a smoke break”, while the video suddenly slows down to a crawl quick cutting between the hosts and Jarv, making Hangin’ Tuff! look and feel like a clip from the video for “High Expectations”.  Then, before you can even say cottonmouth, we’re back to real time and Bobbi Rich is asking Jarv what it felt like to be voted an artist to watch from Seattle in XXL magazine, if he’s got any beef with other hip hop artists (because that’s what hip hop artists are known for) and which marijuana strain is his favorite.  Jarv then calls for another smoke break.  It’s absolutely perfect.

Later in the episode we have a short segment called “Tender Moments” in which Jarv Dee recounts the time he left his young daughter alone in a room with his subway sandwich only to return to find it pretty much devoured.  Before Jarv could ask for an explanation she simply pointed and replied, “he did it”, referring to another notable Seattle hip hop artist, Nacho Picasso.

There’s also a really funny bit entitled “Call Me On My Shellphone starring Drunk Mermaid” but, seriously, you just have to watch it to get the full experience. This is why I like Bobbi Rich and what she’s doing with Hangin’ Tuff!.  She’s found a way to make musicians feel comfortable enough to drop their guard and just sit back and have a good time.  Maybe it’s the allure of a hot tub boat or maybe it’s just Bobbi Rich being nothing but herself, but whatever it is, it’s working.

Can I get a smoke break?

Watch episode #3 here: