ARTISTS: Jake One (born Jacob Dutton) is the rare — nay, unheard of — hip-hop producer who will make a beat for 50 Cent, then turn around and work with an experimental artist like MF DOOM. Overground to underground, no biggie. Recently, he placed standout tracks on Snoop Dogg and E-40's new albums, all while staying closely tied to Seattle, where he's a humble legend. Jake has Seattle Preparatory School students playing keyboards for him, and just the other day he used the Physics studio to track the next album for rising R&B star Mayer Hawthorne.

Thig Natural (born Gathigi Gishuru), of The Physics, is a generation younger than Jake. His trio makes Seattle-centric lifestyle rap, often with a hyperlocal twist. The group reflects some of Seattle's prevalent immigrant populations — East African, Filipino — and crosses between hip-hop micro-scenes, equally at home in South End neighborhoods and downtown art galleries.

COFFEE SHOP: Espresso Vivace Alley 24, 227 Yale Avenue North, South Lake Union

BEVERAGES: Earl Grey tea (Thig Natural) and filtered water (Jake One)

South Lake Union is a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood with shiny new retail outlets galore. Meeting Jake One and his friend, The Physics rapper Thig Natural in this corporate space felt odd, but soon made sense: it was a convenient spot for these two guys, who like so many of Seattle's under-forty set, grew up loving hip-hop and now integrate its pleasures into their hectic lives. Dutton, who became a dad just about a month ago, was bleary-eyed in stay-at-home sweats; Thig looked neat in an office-appropriate shirt and khakis. In this, the first interview in our week-long series Grind and Shine, both were effusive about Seattle hip-hop history and their own determination to make a musical mark.