The Audacity of Dope

Ever since I took up crossfit, I’ve had a new found respect for gymnastics.  Growing up, I always played every team sport out there and, quite frankly, made fun of those dudes jumping around in tights during the Olympics.  While I still think the men’s floor exercise is a biiiit strange (bad ass triple flip combo…followed by an effeminate prance and leap?  umm, ok), I’ve been in awe of the bar and rings routines at the Games.

Yesterday, Chen Yibing won gold on the rings, beating out his teammate Yang Wei by a slim margin.  Both their routines were incredible, but Chen’s was on another level.  He just looked effortless out there.  I highly suggest you watch it here (apologies if you’re outside of the States…NBC hates y’all).

My crossfit inspired goal is to be able to hold an iron cross for 5 seconds someday.  Dru, let’s get it.

“I ain’t a X-Box, so why you n****s tryna play with me”
–Young Jeezy, “Crazy World”

If you missed Usain’s incredible 100m sprint, here’s the video. Even though it’s taken from the BBC feed, it probably won’t be online for long because NBC is being run by a bunch of morons. Enjoy the swag while you can.

When describing my taste in hip-hop, I’ve always explained that my favorite kind of artists are those that make that “everyman” kind of music. Not only is it generally truthful and authentic, but I can relate to it much more than the trite, generic, exaggerated styles that usually receive so much exposure. That’s not to say that music can’t be good and I won’t bump it, but I’ve always preferred to listen to good ish that I connect to and can make me think.

Most of the time, this split launches the useless “commercial vs. underground” debate, but I think the best artists are those that can exist in both sub-genres. People like Outkast, Nas, and Kanye have become legends in this lane, and there are a ton of upcoming artists staking their claim as well. A lot of them seem to be coming out of Los Angeles right now, with Blu, Inverse, U-N-I, and Pacific Division leading the way. Another MC that fits into that category is one I’ve been listening to for years, Bishop Lamont.

Since signing with Dr. Dre’s Aftermath label in 2005, Bishop’s seen his popularity skyrocket, and deservingly so. He’s released a series of excellent mixtapes (Pope Mobile, Caltroit w/Black Milk, The Confessional, etc.), and now he’s prepping his debut album, The Reformation, due out in November. At the same time, he’s been working with Dre on his mythical Detox project, serving in the same capacity as Snoop did for The Chronic.

He recently took time out of that busy schedule to call in to Sound Session and discuss all things Aftermath. He talked about all the details surrounding The Reformation, what it’s like working with Dre, what’s hiding in the legendary Aftermath vaults, and much more. Bishop even told some behind the scenes Detox stories. You can check out the entire interview here:

Bishop Lamont on Sound Session – http://www.mediafire.com/?jwofmqs2c4k
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/17246074f1977a07/ )

With Bishop leading things off and new projects from Eminem, 50 Cent, and Dre on the way, look for Aftermath to make a huge impact over the next year. It all starts with The Reformation in November. Get ready.

Another busy weekend and another great edition of Sound Session in the books. We played some dope songs from Nas, Strong Arm Steady, Dwele, and more, plus debuted the Jay-Z and Game tracks that had the net buzzing this week. Local producer DJ Semaj came through to world premiere his new track with L.E.G.A.C.Y. (of the Justus League) and 5th Ave too. Also, check out that Johnson&Jonson (Blu & Mainframe) joint, as their oft-bootlegged collaborative effort is FINALLY being officially released. It’s a great album from front to back, and now we get to hear it in the way they intended. Cop that on September 23rd!

We also had Dr. Dre’s right hand man, Bishop Lamont, call in, plus, we gave out tickets to go see Janelle Monae, T.I., and Keyshia Cole. If you missed out, we’ll be giving away more Bumbershoot tickets on the next show, so be sure to tune in. Aight?

Show #168 (8-17-08)

1. Jay-Z – “Jockin’ Jay-Z”
2. Strong Arm Steady – “Can’t Let Go”
3. Camp Lo – “Lumdi”
4. Heltah Skeltah – “Everything Is Heltah Skeltah”
5. Nas ft. Eban Thomas & the Last Poets – “You Can’t Stop Us Now”
6. **INTERVIEW WITH DJ SEMAJ**
7. DJ Semaj ft. L.E.G.A.C.Y. & 5th Ave – “Love vs. Hate” (Local Artist)
8. Shaya – “Thinking Gap”
9. DJ K.O. ft. Talib Kweli, Torae, John Robinson, & Tiffany Paige – “Someday”
10. Game ft. Common – “Angel”
11. **INTERVIEW WITH BISHOP LAMONT, PT. 1**
12. Bishop Lamont – “Grow Up”
13. **INTERVIEW WITH BISHOP LAMONT, PT. 2**
14. Johnson&Jonson (Blu & Mainframe) – “WoW!”
15. Elzhi – “Colors”
16. Animal Farm – “Move It” (Local Artist)
17. Large Professor – “Hardcore Hip-Hop”
18. Neema ft. Mistah F.A.B. – “Light That Fire” (Local Artist)
19. The Knux – “Bang, Bang”
20. S1 ft. Skyzoo, Supastition, & Dow Jones – “Upper Echelon”
21. Dwele – “Feels So Good”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?swzmf8mzau7
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/17222666e7db4cf0/ )

Link to download the full interview with Bishop Lamont – http://www.mediafire.com/?jwofmqs2c4k
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/17246074f1977a07/ )

If you’d like to be added to our weekly email list to receive the playlist and download links after every show, just shoot me an email, DJHyphen@gmail.com.

Strong Arm Steady are the ish and this is one of my favorite songs out right now, but playing it on last night’s Sound Session reminded me of this line:

“Can’t let it go like it got Elmer’s on it”
–Mitchy Slick, “Can’t Let Go”

Personally, I woulda let that one go.

Last night’s radio show and extensive interview with Bishop Lamont coming later today…hold tight.

I got word that the Republican National Committee’s official website doesn’t even make one reference to their own presidential nominee on the front page, so I checked it out and grabbed a screenshot.  This is hilarious.  The Republicans know McCain is an awful candidate and brings absolutely nothing to the table, so they’ve just decided to try to attack Barack.  What happened to all that talk about McLame and the RNC running a straightforward, respectable campaign?  If that’s the case, you might want to showcase some of your own positions and ideas on the site, rather than use it to try to tear down someone else…especially when you fail at that too.

LOL @ this.  Get better RNC.

LOL @ voting for McCain.  Seriously.  First Baracky after the jump if you missed it.

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Hahaha, Jay Smooth is back with another dope vlog.  Personally, I never really got on the ‘no homo’ bandwagon, partially cause it’s dumb, but mainly cause it just sounds weird to say.  However, “pause” was, and always will be, hilarious to me so I reserve the right to use that at any time.  Even Gus Johnson dropped it on TV to help out Spike:

Classic.  I really try to fight the homophobia in hip-hop though, so I wonder if my useage of ‘pause’ somehow contradicts that.  Hmm…perhaps I’ll have to rethink it…

I’m in the middle of a real busy weekend, but I had to take a second to post about Usain Bolt’s electrifying (yes pun) performance in the men’s 100m sprint yesterday.  It wasn’t even that he broke his own world record (from 9.72 down to 9.69), but it was how effortlessly he ran all throughout the competition.  He won every qualifying heat so easily that he actually let up with 30 meters left each time.  When the final came, everyone anticipated that he’d finally have to run the full race at top speed.

[Charlie Murphy] wrong…WRONG. [/Charlie Murphy]

From the start of the race, it was clear that Bolt was surpremely confident.  He bounced around and struck poses before getting in the blocks.  While everyone else wore hi-tech singlets, hoping to shave every possible split second off their time, Usain rocked some shorts and a normal little tank top.  Oh, and his left shoe was untied:

(are you kidding me?)

After a decent start and first 40 meters, Bolt turned it on and absolutely blew out his competition.  So much so that he let up again, this time throwing his arms out and beating his chest in celebration, a good 20 meters before the finish line:

As the 7 other fastest people on the planet strained towards the line, Bolt glided past it and continued on into his victory lap.  In between talking with his family and grabbing a Jamaican flag to show off to the world, he danced and broke out the classic ‘airplane’ move:

Again, it wasn’t just that he ran 100 meters faster than any human in history.  It’s that he did it so easily and so relaxed, almost as if it was a mere formality.  Apparently, it was.  Truly, a display for the ages and one worthy of instant inauguration to the Swag Hall of Fame.

Looking at the pictures doesn’t do it justice, but thanks to NBC’s draconian restrictions on archived video from the Games, you’ll have to watch it on their site here.  If you’re outside the US, NBC hates you and you’ll have to find it on your local Olympics carrier instead.  Their coverage has been pretty good (aside from Bob Costas repeatedly mispronouncing Beijing), but the lack of archived video is killing me.  In any case, find a way to watch the race and look out for Bolt running his real specialty in the 200m.  This dude is unreal.

Also, some guy named Michael Phelps won his 8th gold medal over the weekend.  Yeah…that was kind of cool too.  The Olympics are incredible!