Portland's Animal Farm Joins with Hip Hop Legend Rob Swift

Portland's Animal Farm announced this week that they are joining forces with Rob Swift of the X-Ecutioners.

A hip hop showcase on Dec. 10 will give fans a preview of what will be featured on the upcoming Animal Farm album "Culture Shock." Doors open at 9 p.m. at Up Front Bar and Grill, 833 SW Naito Pkwy., in Portland. The $10, 21 and up show will also feature DJ Wicked, DJ Wels, and Excellent Gentlemen.

"We have some amazing performances by legends on this album [Culture Shock] that we will be announcing in the New Year," said Gen. Erik of Animal Farm.

Rob Swift will also be performing a solo set, preceded by two of the Northwest's greatest Turntablists, DJ Wicked and DJ Wels. Portland's Excellent will also be performing danceable, vocal soul r&b music — think '70s block parties and the foundations of golden-age hip-hop records.

Swift has worked with everyone from Linkin Park to the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Mike Patton to Herbie Hancock. Rob Swift was recruited in 1991 by a Harlem-based DJ crew called the X-Men — later known as the X-Ecutioners — to join their ranks. Within a year he won the coveted DMC East Coast title and became known, worldwide, as a masterful DJ and a force to be reckoned with.  Five years later, the group's first major-label debut Built From Scratch generated the huge hit "It's Goin' Down" featuring Linkin Park.