The Audacity of Dope

When you’re one of a million new artists vying for everyone’s attention, it’s tough to get even 30 seconds of time from tastemakers, DJ’s, bloggers, A&R’s, etc.. Truth be told, you shouldn’t even be worried about that, but most artists don’t realize connecting with fans generally trumps any industry connections one can make.

I don’t know much about OnCue, but I know that he caught my attention with this song and video for “Feel Tall.” Dope visuals and a nice record. I’ll keep my eye out for him in the future, starting with his Can’t Wait mixtape dropping next month.

(best stillframe image ever)

While on tour in Asia, Bobby Ray decided to team up with Motion Family, some local Singapore ladies, and the most baller pool/view combo you’ve ever seen for some quick visuals to his mixtape track, “High Life.”

This is how you stunt.

“If you don’t see me, I’m gone/
Might be in the wind on my own/
And if I’m movin’ too fast/
It’s cause these moments won’t last”

I’m pretty ashamed that the video for The Physics’ “These Moments” has been out for weeks and I haven’t tossed it on TAOD yet.  Better late than never though!

If you aren’t up on the Physics, clearly you don’t come here often or listen to SNSS.  These guys make my favorite music from the Northwest and their new album, Love Is A Business, is yet another testament to their abilities.  Get familiar with all their music here and STOP SLEEPING.

Here’s another taste of one of my favorite tracks on LIAB:

“There’s so many things to do / So many people I need to talk to”

Coming off a few days worth of vacation in Canada, that quote kinda sums up how I feel about life right now.  One of my favorite aspects to visiting a city like Vancouver is that the people up there are just far more friendly and outgoing (and interesting) than my fellow Americans.  Sorry folks, it’s true.  Every time I stepped out in Van City, I had fun conversations with people left and right.  Plus, they all instantly treated me like family.  Much appreciated y’all.

There are so many experiences I’m looking forward to having in life and if I can get green lights all along the trip like Aloe, life will be good.

That’s what happens when you fall in love with a girl like Jhene.  Line ’em up, shoot ’em down.

Every day, another person asks me what I’ve been listening to recently and most of the time, I default with “whatever we’re playing on Sound Session.”  It’s an easy answer since it’s true and there’s just too much music being released to keep everything top of mind.  Recently, I’ve switched it up a bit because there are a few artists killing it to such a degree that I’ve found myself listening to their projects over and over.  One such artist is Los Angeles’ Dom Kennedy, who is quietly writing a blueprint for independent success without a major cosign.

If you haven’t checked out his past few releases, you’re missing out on some of the dopest music around, especially for these west coast summer days.  I can’t recommend The Original Dom Kennedy and the two editions of From the Westside With Love enough.  Cop ’em now!

Dom will be performing in Vancouver on Thursday, August 24th, and thanks to our friends at Fortune Sound Club, we’ve got one pair of tickets to give out here on TAOD.  Whether you live in Van City or you’re a fellow Seattle resident able to make the drive up, if you want to check out the show, just answer the question below by emailing me – DJHyphen@gmail.com – and I’ll pick out a winner on Sunday, the 21st:

Question:  According to one of Dom’s singles, in what year did he write his first rhyme?

If you know the answer and can go to the show, hit me up!  Along with Dom’s performance, they’ll be celebrating the 4 year anniversary of The Freshest, one of the illest DJ collectives around.  It’s gonna be a great night…

As I write this, I’m posted up on my deck overlooking the Space Needle and soaking in some Seattle sunshine with the Manchester City vs. Swansea game on ESPN2 in the background (Sergio Aguero putting in WORK).  Ah yes, my week of vacation is off to a nice start…

Enjoy this week’s show with new music by artists like Royce Da 5’9″, Miguel, The Cool Kids, Maffew Ragazino, Big Sean, Frank Ocean, and more.  Special shout to Braille, Cool Nutz, and Avatar Young Blaze for dropping by and blessing us with some new music as well.

Braille’s track, “Feel It,” was a world premiere and actually has an interesting SNSS related back-story.  A few years back, Braille came through and killed a true off the dome freestyle for us (watch the video here).  Evidence saw the freestyle on the blogs and reached out to Braille for a collaboration.  The story came full circle last night when we debuted the Evidence produced track with DJ Revolution on the cuts.  SNSS bringing the world together through good music…

Show #324 (8-14-11)

1. Royce Da 5’9” ft. Eminem – “Writer’s Block (DJ Premier Remix)”
2. Fowl – “Cha Cha Chicken (We On)”
3. Thurz ft. Black Thought – “Riot”
4. Roc Marciano – “Momma Told Me”
5. **INTERVIEW WITH AVATAR YOUNG BLAZE, PT. 1**
6. Avatar Young Blaze – “World Keeps Turning” (Local Music)
7. Omar Aura ft. Fashawn – “1,000 Palm Trees”
8. **INTERVIEW WITH AVATAR YOUNG BLAZE, PT. 2**
9. Miguel – “Quickie”
10. The Cool Kids ft. Tennille – “Boomin’”
11. Asher Roth – “In The Kitchen”
12. Theo Martins – “Mario Kart”
13. Big Sean ft. Lupe Fiasco – “Wait For Me”
14. **INTERVIEW WITH BRAILLE, PT. 1**
15. Braille – “Feel It” (World Premiere) (Local Music)
16. Union ft. Elzhi – “Wings”
17. **INTERVIEW WITH BRAILLE, PT. 2**
18. Frank Ocean – “Swim Good”
19. Jay-Z & Kanye West ft. Frank Ocean & The-Dream – “No Church In The Wild”
20. Maffew Ragazino – “Short Yellow Bus Theory”
21. Hassaan Mackey & Apollo Brown – “Something”
22. **INTERVIEW WITH COOL NUTZ, PT. 1**
23. Cool Nutz – “Hamptons” (Local Music)
24. **INTERVIEW WITH COOL NUTZ, PT. 2**
25. Mos Def ft. Tash & Q-Tip – “Body Rock” (Throwback of the Week)
26. Drake – “Headlines”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?kbdrkci0rc18y84
(back up / streaming link – http://hulkshare.com/5o5qd1wmkpki)
(2nd back up – http://www.zshare.net/audio/9372391718b9a265/)

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.

I’m glad this song and video came out after the Fox News “controversy” regarding Com’s appearance at the White House, just cause I know it would be an easy target. Nas murdered this record, btw.

I’m sure most of you have seen the “Otis” video by now, but I’m guessing there are a few folks like myself that spend the work week focused on the day job and getting to that Watch The Throne level.  I’ve seen the song and video analyzed ad nauseum, but I did enjoy Toure’s breakdown of the swag off between Hov & Yeezy.  Check it out here.

And while I’m a huge Jermaine fan, this is hilarious:

#ColeWorld.

My Swedish brethren Seb Larsson marked his Sunderland debut with a brilliant equalizer in today’s match versus Liverpool.  Not a bad way to kick off the new EPL season! Lucky number 7…