The Audacity of Dope

Everything about this record is [Charles Barkley] fantastic [/Chuck].  My personal highlights:

1. You can’t tell me Robin Thicke isn’t the hip-hop/R&B James Bond.  This dude staaaaaays with ridiculously hot girls (and pushes the interracial relationship boundary).  I approve.
2. “You got the hottest body/I got the hottest hottie/Lemme put some cream in your coffee” – hilarious.  I’m adding that to the vocabulary.  Ok maybe not.
3. Snoop’s verse is so epically bad, it’s incredible.  It’s not as bad/good as Kurupt’s classic “Xxxplosive” verse, but this is one of those all time “so wack, it’s dope” verses.  I love that when you think it’s over….nope!  He’s bizzack.

This is actually the kind of bright, positive vibe that I expected from the “Find Your Love” video.  Whoops.

As I was jotting down this week’s playlist, I looked at the date and thought, “hmm…May…isn’t that supposed to signify something special?”  I suppose this is how married folks feel when anniversary time comes around (speaking of which, happy anniversary to the ‘rents! And Happy Mother’s Day as well! Love you guys).  You realize you’re supposed to do something, but you can’t remember exactly what.

After checking my ring finger, I realized, no…I’m not married…but damn, this past week marks 5 full years of Sound Session on the air at KUBE 93.  Our very first episode was on May 8th, 2005 and 257 shows later, here we are at May 9th, 2010.  Since we tend to keep track of milestones by episode rather than date, J. Moore and I didn’t even realize it until just now.  While we’re certainly proud of hosting an independent hip-hop show on commercial radio without compromising one iota for 5 years, as we’ve always maintained, everything we do actually has little to do with us.  Instead, it has everything to do with the artists, the listeners, the higher ups who believe in our abilities, and most importantly, the culture that we live and breathe every day.

Even when we play non-hip-hop records, we are hip-hop in our mindset, ideals, and actions.  The folks that can relate also know that you do what you do without any need for praise or recognition.  You do it because you don’t know any other way.  That’s Sound Session and that’s why 5 years have gone by in a blink of an eye.  Here’s to many more…

Show #258 (5-9-10)

1. Jay Rock – “Love My Momma”
2. Donwill ft. Ca$he & The Park – “Love Junkie Wallpaper (Remix)”
3. Kidz In The Hall – “Grizzly Man”
4. Eminem – “Despicable”
5. Shad – “Yaa I Get It”
6. J-Live – “The Way That I Rhyme”
7. Moe Green – “Hometown”
8. Aloe Blacc – “Take Me Back”
9. The Physics – “My Place” (Local Music)
10. Bruno Mars ft. Cee-Lo & B.o.B – “The Other Side”
11. N.E.R.D. ft. Nelly Furtado – “Hot-N-Fun”
12. Lupe Fiasco ft. Alicia Keys – “Love Letter To The Beat”
13. Theophilus London – “I Want You”
14. Jay Electronica ft. Diddy – “Ghost Of Christopher Wallace”
15. Diamond District – “Streets Won’t Let Me Chill (Apollo Brown Remix)”
16. Roc Marciano – “Thug’s Prayer”
17. J. Cole – “Who Dat”
18. Bop Alloy (Substantial & Marcus D) – “Save The Day” (Local Music)
19. Ghostface Killah ft. Mary J. Blige – “All That I Got Is You” (Throwback of the Week)
20. B.o.B ft. Ricco Barrino – “5th Dimension”
21. Jack The Ripper ft. Geologic, Sol, & Scribes – “Don’t Look Back” (Local Music)
22. Nas & Damian Marley ft. Dennis Brown – “The Promised Land”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?njjydlde0yh
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/75946676a98fa748/)
(2nd back up – http://usershare.net/fbd1pudjnx7c)

If there are any problems with the links or 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.

Web 2.0 is all about social media and appropriation, right?  So as long as I credit Chris Ryan at MTV, I can steal use his write up, right?  Works for me:

We’re not only devotees to Mayer Hawthorne’s impeccable neo-retro soul stylings but also his panache when it comes to making music videos, especially the melancholy beauty of his recent clip “I Wish It Would Rain.” So we’re pretty excited (in a melancholy way) to bring you his new video for “One Track Mind,” taken from his delightful A Strange Arrangement album.

“One Track Mind” mixes the innocence and wit of early ’60s rom-coms with the concept of the ’80s classic (using the term “classic” loosely) “Mannequin.” Over a note-perfect Motown arrangement, Hawthorne and his almost-perfect woman (save the whole being-plastic-thing) have a tea party in a garden, go on a boat ride, share an ice cream … pretty much the perfect day. Like most love stories, this one has a bump in the road. But you’ll have to watch to see how it plays out.

Watch Mayer Hawthorne’s “One Track Mind” video below. A Strange Arrangement is out now.

When I heard Drake shot the “Find Your Love” video in Jamaica, my first thought was that it was going to be a colorful, island inspired clip, perhaps similar to Aaliyah’s “Rock The Boat.”  Then I heard Mavado was going to be in it too and I realized that an 808’s and HeartDrake song probably would be a bit darker.  Well…looks like my initial thought was pretty much as far off base as possible hahaha

If you were lucky enough to hear Sound Session last night, you heard us debut a brand new record from the Physics called “My Place.”  That song is part of a special 3 song package that they released to the net today, which you can download right here.  “My Place” might be my favorite song out right now…from ANYWHERE…not just from Seattle.  Grab that ASAP.

Ok, one more quick post before I hit the station.  Peep the visuals for Freddie Gibbs’ new video, “The Ghetto.”  Every single person I’ve played this record for, absolutely loves it.  And yes, it was made in 2010, not 1995.

Gotta run to the station for this week’s Sound Session, but I realized that I never posted up the homey Sean’s new video for “Wonderful Life” with Playboy Tre and Scar.  Shout to Tre as well, who was in town on Friday for the B.o.B/Lupe tour.  Good times…

Some hilarious footage of the video shoot for Wiz & Grynch’s upcoming video.  Shout to all the homies involved.  Someone get me a moving .gif of Wiz’ dancing from 3:14 to 3:20, stat.

While the song is real dope (crazy beat from Marco especially), I must say…my dude Todd Angkasuwan killed it with this video.  Marco’s slap is classic.  Every time someone complains about artists like Drake and whatnot, I like to remind them that there’s plenty of that traditional  boom-bap craziness to beat you over the head with.  Duck Down has been holding it down on that front for 15 years.  Respect.

Talib, Hi-Tek, and Estelle make an old school inspired video for their new single off Revolutions Per Minute, which drops on the 18th.  I just got word that the homies U-N-I will be joining Reflection Eternal on the RPM Tour.  See my Seattle folk at the Showbox Market on the 29th…