THE THESIS has given a platform to over 200 artists while supporting Black music since Dec. 2014 — now approaching its 10 year anniversary.
PORTLAND, Ore. — A popular monthly showcase featuring Portland’s premier artists, focusing on hip-hop and connected genres, is celebrating its 10-year anniversary in December.
Back in June, many folks celebrated Black Music Month, a month dedicated to celebrating Black artists and creatives whose work has been a tidal wave of change. Portland is home to many Black creatives — more specifically, a local monthly music showcase called “THE THESIS.”
THE THESIS has grown in popularity with celebrities, such as former Trail Blazer basketball star and artist Damian Lillard; iLoveMakonnen, known for his evergreen hit “Tuesday” featuring Drake; and popular artists from across the country, along with various NBA players — just to name a few making appearances in support of the showcases.
‘THE THESIS is our statement of intention’
In Dec. 2014, two peers within Portland’s creative music scene — Mac Smiff and Grant Stolle, better known as DJ VERBZ — partnered together in an effort to combat a few issues lingering within Portland’s hip-hip scene.
“THE THESIS is our statement of intention. We believe in, you know, like, progressive values and just being open and then also just look at hip-hop culture,” said Smiff. “So, if we can push that in any way, this show allows us to also be on top of the culture, support it and push culture while elevating community.”
The name of the showcase, THE THESIS, stemmed from the showcases starting off with a college show that flourished and set the stage for more to come.
Smiff and Stolle wanted to provide a platform with a fair selection process to allow creatives who were overlooked or may not fit the traditional idea of a hip-hop artist, while also looking to break the mold. There’ve been cases where popular opening artists on show lineups have to meet a threshold in ticket sales in order to perform, and at times weren’t paid.
THE THESIS also looked to change concertgoers’ experience by limiting the number of openers ahead of the headlining act, which Smiff and Stolle found to be an inefficient use of time for not only the artist but concert attenders.
“A rapper that has, you know like, a bit of buzz, and then you get like 12 more rappers to sell to him,” said Smiff. “And we hated that, personally. I hated going those shows. I definitely wouldn’t do a concert like that. I was just like, it’s ridiculous. You go to a show, it’s like five hours long — just to get to the headliner.”
‘There were also dress codes’
In addition, the issue of increased police and security presence at hip-hop shows across the Portland area limited the growth of Black music spaces and perpetuated negative stereotypes or ideals that didn’t represent the essence of those music spaces — oftentimes resulting in even smaller showcases being shut down, and according to Smiff and Stolle, at one time enforcing dress codes at showcases.
“I watched a policeman mace a crowd of people because it looked like there was a fight about to break out,” said Stolle. “We experienced weird things with police in Portland, also heard from venues that they were asked to limit capacity and that type of thing. There were also dress codes.”
“Dress code era … can’t wear baseball caps, can’t wear purple shoes, can’t wear purple laces, can’t wear yellow, can’t wear blue, can’t wear red, can’t wear green,” Smiff recounted. “No sports things. ‘You want people to just come to rap show with like, vests and slacks on?’ ‘Yeah, that’d be great.’ And we’re like, ‘No, that’s not gonna work.'”
Both Smiff and Stolle believe that Black audiences were specifically being targeted: “(The dress code) was specifically targeting Black audiences. (Portland police) didn’t care if you went to other venues like that because they would be there,” said Stolle.
‘That’s indicative of how this situation was back then’
THE THESIS founders also recounted an incident in 2017 where a Black Portland man was denied entry in Dirty Nightlife, a former Portland nightclub, due to his clothing. According to court documents, the club said it had a policy of not allowing in people wearing excessively matching colors affiliated with gangs: red, blue, orange or green.
The case ultimately resulted in an over $5 million settlement, after the patron accused a well-known Portland nightclub mogul at the time, associated with nightlife venues and bars in Portland’s Old Town and Pearl District, of systemic racism by directing staff to limit the number of Black customers in some of his bars.
“I think it was that (Dirty Nightlife) where he was wearing that red shirt. He got banned for coming in that. His friend was inside; he was white, wearing the exact same shirt. Took a picture of it. He won a lawsuit over it,” said Smiff.
In addition to the setup of artists for a show and over-policing, issues with even corelating showcases with hip-hip further stirred the pot.
“We were still doing shows where the flyer didn’t necessarily tell you what the thought of music was — just the flyer,” said Smiff. “It could be anything. It could be bluegrass. It could be punk. You would never know until you show. That’s indicative of how this situation was back then: You couldn’t even say, ‘I’m doing a hip-hop show.'”
Smiff and Stolle said that even small venues hosting hip-hop shows faced issues with navigating capacity. They worked with the Portland venue Kelly’s Olympian to combat that, which later translated into an over 9-year relationship. The venue then became the flagship location for THE THESIS with no fees attached. Kelly’s Olympian provided the space and THE THESIS provided the foot traffic, with customers once a month on Thursdays.
That relationship held until earlier this year, when THE THESIS parted ways with the venue, citing a misalignment of values.
‘Let’s show the breadth of what’s out here’
THE THESIS showcases finding success later led to similar showcases influenced by them popping up around the city.
“Multiple shows came and did their exact same thing. You know, would even use our graphic designer. I think we expected the copycats, and that’s good,” said Stolle.
This pushed Smiff and Stolle to be more innovative in creating a niche in order to stay ahead of the curve by paying artists, cultivating relationships, building community and providing safe spaces, while being intentional about creating opportunities for talent to be seen and heard.
“There’s so many ways to ignore that talent. There’s so many ways to work around that. But it was important for us to be like, ‘Hey, let’s show the breadth of what’s out here. Let’s not have the same artists on shows month after month,'” said Smiff.
Smiff and Stolle said they’re intentional about championing talent that may not fit the traditional realms of a hip-hop artists, and those whoe weren’t as good at putting themselves out on social media.
“We also decided to champion artists who were art-artists instead of kids that were really great at hustling,” added Stolle. “I feel like there are a lot of rappers who are great at hustling their name out but are not really interesting performers.”
Smiff and Stolle remain committed to further growing THE THESIS and maintaining a safe and inclusive space with curated themed showcases inclusive of all artists. More specifically, they want to ensure it’s a welcoming space, especially for Black women and the LGBTQIA+ community in a male-dominated industry that at times can be misogynistic and homophonic.
“Our process is to ensure that we have Black women and gay people (and) trans people coming to our shows — and not just because it’s a trans artist or woman artist (performing), but coming to us because they feel safe and welcomed,” Smiff stated.
Even outside of artists, despite Stolle DJing many THE THESIS showcases, Stolle and Smiff make it a point to have rising DJs in their showcases, like recent official Portland Timber’s DJ and Grammy U 2024-2025 Ambassador DJ Aspen.
“I’ve had a chance to not DJ this 90-something, 98 times, and so, I want to be able to bring in new DJs as well, like DJ Aspen who’s from Atlanta,” said Stolle. “So getting to make sure that Aspen comes and does the show. I love having that happen and how much Aspen loves and respects it — excited to be able to come and watch Aspen do what means a lot to her.”
As for how any local talent can get on THE THESIS lineup, Stolle and Smiff said talent is scouted to be a part of a showcase with the opportunity to not only receive compensation for their performance but also receive professional photos and videos from the showcase, alongside publicity with a press kit.
“We put him on the flyer. He gets here, performs; he’s got visuals behind him with his name on it,” explained Stolle, highlighting the case of local artist Lambo Lawson, who previously was featured on a showcase lineup. “Now, he’s got photos and videos of him performing, and an interview afterwards — like, he didn’t pay anything to do it, got paid.”
‘It’s about advancing the culture’
Stolle and Smiff believe that THE THESIS is valuable not just for the culture but for community building while championing and creating opportunities, especially in a city like Portland.
“That’s important just for the culture. Like, what can we do to make it just advance little bit, you know? We’re not going to sit here and be like, ‘Yeah, we changed from hip-hop’ — although I think we did,” Smiff passionately expressed. “It’s about advancing the culture. What could be different here? What are we seeing in other places that we don’t see here? Then, how do we turn that into a community building thing?”
As for funding, THE THESIS showcases are only $20, which goes a long way toward not only putting showcases together but compensating artists, but keeping THE THESIS afloat while being run by a small team of three people — including popular Portland graphic designer Alexander Wright . The showcase has continued to rise in popularity, with many creatives from across the country dropping by and showing support.
Stolle and Smiff mentioned that NBA superstar Damian Lillard has dropped by before, which led to the creation of the hashtag #Nevermissthethesis.
“Damian Lillard came out after a loss and got up on stage and rapped for our crowd out,” Stolle nostalgically recounted. “We didn’t special guest. No announcement of it. That’s why we decided to start hashtagging everything. Never miss THE THESIS — you never really know who’s going to jump up on our stage.”
Shows are hosted at the Lollipop Shoppe every first Thursday for a fee at the door. For anyone looking to #Nevermissthethesis, there will be an upcoming show on Dec. 5 at 8:30 p.m.
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