Jonathan Moore

Jonathan Moore (April 21, 1969 – March 8, 2017), also known by his stage name, Wordsayer, was a rapper, DJ and producer born in Seattle, Washington. Known as Seattle's "hip-hop ambassador" and "cultural mayor", Moore was influential in the Northwest hip-hop scene and founded the group Source of Labor in 1989.

Early life Moore grew up in the Columbia City neighborhood of Seattle and attended Roosevelt High School. After he graduated in 1987, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia to attend Morehouse College.

Career Moore, Tookas and Kamikaze began performing at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center in the Central District as Source of Labor (SOL) in 1989.

SOL (with Derrick Brown (a.k.a. Vitamin D) replacing Kamikaze in 1997), began the music label, Jasiri Media Group, although Jasiri began as a collective in 1993. SOL and Jasiri were the center of Seattle's second wave of hip hop in the early 90s, the first wave being Nastymix Recording artist Sir-Mix-a-Lot.

Moore is credited with bringing hip-hop into the mainstream in Seattle and bringing notoriety to the city's hip hop scene. The Teen Dance Ordinance of the early 1990s required a venue have one million dollar liability insurance and hire two off duty police officers in order to put on a show, making it nearly impossible for under aged kids to see music live. Moore was part of the movement to overturn that law in part by hosting Sure Shot Sundays at a local café/laundromat where Macklemore first performed at age 15.

Moore met Chaka Mkali while visiting his alma mater and connected him to the scrappy and burgeoning Seattle hip-hop scene which led to national attention and touring groups for the city.

Source of Labor disbanded in 2004 to focus on individual projects. Moore continued managing other emerging artists to provide them what he missed when he was new to the scene.

Moore worked until the end of his life. He was working on the video for rapper Brother Ali's "Own Light (What Hearts Are For)" in which Moore's sister, Jen, dances in celebration of his life (filmed the day after he died). The video is dedicated in his memory. His younger son, Miles, he had with his ex partner, Caitlin Brower. Jonathan Moore died on March 8, 2017, of kidney failure at age 47.

Discography Albums