Blue Scholars

University of Washington origins

Blue Scholars are a hip hop duo formed in Seattle in 2002 by rapper Geologic (George Quibuyen, who later also recorded as Prometheus Brown) and DJ and producer Sabzi (Alexei Saba Mohajerjasbi). Geologic is the son of Filipino immigrants and moved around the West Coast and Hawaii as a child before his family settled in Bremerton, Washington. Sabzi, who is Iranian American, is a jazz-trained pianist who came to hip hop from punk and ska. The two met at the University of Washington through S.H.O.W., the Student HipHop Organization of Washington, and combined Geologic's raps with Sabzi's beats.

Independent breakthrough

Their self-titled debut album was released independently in the Pacific Northwest on February 28, 2004, and received national distribution on June 21, 2005. The duo released “The Long March” EP in December 2005 and in 2006 co-founded their own label, Massline Media, which entered a joint venture with Rawkus Records in 2007.

“Bayani” and “Cinemetropolis”

Their second album, “Bayani”, was released through Massline and Rawkus on June 12, 2007, a date chosen to mark Philippine Independence Day. Its title is a Tagalog word for hero, and its songs addressed subjects including the 1999 WTO protests in Seattle and city life; music videos were made for “Back Home” and “Joe Metro”. The “Joe Metro” EP (2007), the “Butter & Gun$” EP (2008) and the “OOF!” EP (2009) followed, and a “Bayani Redux” edition was issued through Duck Down Records in 2009. For their third album, “Cinemetropolis”, the duo turned to Kickstarter, raising $62,391 from 2,243 backers, which the group described as signing to the people rather than to a label. Released on June 14, 2011, it reached No. 40 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart, and its first video was “Slick Watts”, named after the Seattle SuperSonics guard.

Side projects and legacy

Geologic recorded two albums with Los Angeles rapper Bambu, “Prometheus Brown and Bambu Walk Into a Bar” (2011) and “Barkada” (2014). “Slick Watts” has been played at Seattle Sounders FC matches since 2019. On April 3, 2026, Geologic announced that he and Sabzi were no longer working together, saying that he would always honor what Blue Scholars created but that the chapter had closed.