THE SCRAPE - ISSUE 1

The Dutchess - By Rainezra 

The Dutchess is a phenomenal lyricist that has been highly praised in the local Hiphop community. Born in Portland but raised in Cali, The Dutchess always had a passion for music. "I've always written music—I started actually out free-styling—my brother was like—you got bars, your 9… but you got bars" At 14 she had her first performance with one of her brothers in Seattle where she fell in love with performing. This inspired her to begin songwriting and finding producers to work with.

Following her brother's death, The Dutchess took a break from music, but soon found a deeper connection and motivation for creating in honor of what he did. "This is a passion, you can't stop doing what you genuinely love to do cause you just gonna get brought back to it" 

After re-sparking the flame for creativity through producer scrolling on Craigslist, Dutchess recorded her first single—she wasn't thrilled with the final product. This led to her discovering her desired sound and finding her main producer, The Beat Bros from Coos Bay. 

Locals such as Shrista with Late Lyrics, Verbs & Champagne James, were some of her introductions into the local hip hop scene here in Portland. Dutchess mentions the impact of the dynamic of the city and the people particularly with getting more exposure to the drag scene. "I grew up super Christian home, we couldn't watch nothin but Madea… and then it like, flipped a switch of being accepting and welcoming different communities" 

The Dutchess plans on dropping a few new projects over the year of 2023, so stay in tune and be sure to check it out!