Miles-deep into the rolling green humps that make up Eastern Washington's Palouse, hip hop and jazz fuse as one behind brick walls, campus boundaries and nearby grain elevators. This couldn't be more different than the underground, smoke-heavy air of an urban jazz club, or paler than any MC battle around. In fact, Locke and the Chris Wilson Five could hardly be filed under any preconceived musical stereotype. Their sound, their style and their stage presence are something truly organic - despite their Boy Scout appearances.

For several years, Locke has been spitting his homespun rhymes and rhythms at club crowds and house parties around his hometown of Spokane, Washington. He released his debut album Relevance in 2002, and began to bring his brand of hip hop around the West Coast. Yet something was left to be desired.

Midway through his education as a music major at Eastern Washington University in rural Cheney, Washington, Locke began collaborating with a few friends. Straight ahead flows slowly transfo