Seattle rapper The Good Sin is hardly new to making music although plenty of hip-hop fans along the West Coast are just starting to learn who he is. He’s spent the past few years developing a melodic and jazzy MCing style that’s helped him work alongside a virtual who’s who of Seattle hip-hop. He’s already collaborated on projects with celebrated producers Jake One and Vitamin D plus spent a chunk of his summer playing shows up and down the West Coast opening up for the Blue Scholars. Even his stage name itself leaves an impression. Asked where his name comes from, he says “I just wanted to make people think so I came up with The Good Sin. If you break down the word, we all have good in us, and we sin as well. It's a play on words for people to look inside of themselves.” Hip-hop comes natural to him as music was a big part of his up-bringing. “My parents would play Anita Baker, Living Colour, Earth Wind and Fire, the Isley brothers, and my mom would play us classical as well.” Growing up in Seattle’s historic Central District, which gave rise to Jimi Hendrix, Quincy Jones, Wheedle’s Groove, Shabazz Palaces, Ernestine Anderson and even Sir Mix-A-Lot, The Good Sin was always exposed as a youth to high quality local music. He takes pride in his neighborhood and is ready to be a part of it’s rich music traditions. The projects that he’s released to date have continuously captured the attention of music lovers, albeit for various reasons. His initial offering, Ready or Not (The Mixtape) showcased the baritone voiced MC spitting original lyrics over 23 already established industry beats. It caught people’s attention but it wasn’t until The Good Sin partnered with producer 10.4 Rog and released the jazzed out album Late that critics recognized he’d grown into his own skin. He admits that even those who believed in his music ability recognized that merely rapping over other people’s material didn’t prove enough. In February of 2011, alongside producer 10.4 Rog, he released his first all original project. Throughout the nine track project, Late, listeners were introduced to the emotive songwriting and heart-driven chord structures that make The Good Sin the unique rapper that he is. It’s more than just a Big Daddy Kane-esque flow and a smooth-faced grin that make him a standout. It’s his willingness to rap about love, loss and laughter and directly address what every human experiences. “The goal of Late was to talk about being on one's own schedule. It's about being present and accepting who you are. If you go by someone else’s standards, you'll always be late or viewed as not where you’re supposed to be.” With that in mind, he’s now working on his first full length solo album, The Story of Love and Hate. Fans will have to wait to see what guest artists appear on the project but The Good Sin laughs when asked what the album will entail lyrically. “It's exactly what it sounds like. It's about relationships, personal love, personal hate and needing to find a balance between the two.” Considering the duality that exists within us all, The Good Sin is an artist that is dedicated to expressing that contrast through his music.