The Audacity of Dope

DJ Hyphen is a DJ from Seattle, Washington, although he first started mixing while attending college outside of Los Angeles. Within a few days of arriving on campus, he quickly sought out the campus radio station and signed up to host his own show. Started in 2000, Beats, Rhymes, and Life aired every Saturday afternoon on KSPC Claremont (CA) from 3-5 PM, right before The Downlow, one of California’s longest running hip-hop radio broadcasts. During his show, Hyphen provided his listeners with some of the dopest hip-hop from all around the world that wasn’t getting the recognition it deserved. As his show grew in popularity, “BRL” soon had a dedicated following of listeners, both in Southern California and around the globe via online streaming. In 2001, he began to co-host The Downlow with the show’s founder, Kevin Sakoda, creating a very popular block of programming where listeners could tune in and hear the best in underground hip-hop every week.

At the same time, Hyphen began to DJ events around campus, specializing in college and house parties. This experience helped land him internships at various commercial stations, including his hometown hip-hop/R&B station, Seattle’s KUBE 93.3 FM. He spent his summers working for KUBE and DJ’ing around Seattle, and ran the hip-hop department at KSPC when he returned to campus for the school years. While at school, he also DJ’d for an up and coming group in Los Angeles called Inverse (comprised of two MC’s, Tunji and Toby). After bursting on to the scene with their first release, So Far, Inverse has parted ways and the hip-hop world is anticipating their solo projects.

After graduating in May 2004, Hyphen left Los Angeles and KSPC to return home and work for KUBE. In order to continue his love for underground hip-hop, he started making mixtapes on top of his other DJ’ing pursuits. Available in record stores around Seattle and also online, the Beats, Rhymes, and Life mixtape series strives to mimic the goals of his old radio show. Consequently, all the tapes are mixed from front to back and without any annoying shouting or talking over the tracks. As with his radio show, the focus is solely on the music. These tapes provide listeners with 80 minutes of new, dope music they probably haven’t heard yet. There’s always a few exclusives, freestyles, and remixes thrown in as well, with some scratching and blending on top to package the music in the best possible way.

A year after returning to KUBE, Hyphen was named the host of a new show on the station in May of 2005. Airing every Sunday from 10:15 PM to 12:00 AM, Sunday Night Sound Session provides listeners with dope hip-hop, R&B, and reggae music that isn’t getting airplay elsewhere on KUBE or other large stations. In effect, Hyphen and his co-host J. Moore approach the show in the same way Hyphen designed Beats, Rhymes, and Life. Whether it’s a new 12” single, an album cut, a remix, or even a freestyle, if it’s hot, listeners will hear it first on Sound Session. Plus, many of the biggest names in music stop by the studio for exclusive interviews each episode. Normally, shows of this variety are broadcast on lower wattage stations, but with KUBE’s expansive signal coverage (100,000 watts), listeners all over Western Washington can tune in to Sound Session each week and enjoy the newest and hottest in underground hip-hop, alternative R&B, and below-the-radar reggae. The show also has a dedicated online listenership through live streaming and archived episodes available on KUBE93.com.

Contact: DJHyphen@gmail.com