The Audacity of Dope

There are few things better than when an artist comes out of (relatively speaking) nowhere to floor you with some incredible music.  I had heard the name Kali Uchis for the past few months but peeped my first track about 3 weeks ago, and have been anxiously awaiting this project since that moment.  Definitely feeling some Amy vibes on this.  Download her free debut project immediately!

Download here: Kali Uchis – Por Vida

The homey Fokis put together this wrestling inspired project featuring Sadat X, Punchline, Skyzoo, Torae, Maffew Ragazino, and more and it’s a free download for y’all to check out! Download below:

The homey, and still my vote for the best writer in the game, Shad, just dropped a new EP with Skratch Bastid (one of the dopest DJ’s in the world, if you’re sleeping).  Download the quickstrike right here:

The Spring Up is the result of fortunate timing, grapefruit Perrier, a shared high school obsession with Outkast’s Aquemeni, and a couple of sessions at Skratch Bastid’s Toronto studio this April. The 5 track collection marks a moment in time for the pair; embodying the spirit of Spring and also serving as a sort of prelude to Shad’s upcoming full-length, to which Skratch Bastid also contributes. The collection features a production assist from DJ Jazzy Jeff, and a turn on the mic from compatriot Cadence Weapon.

It’s about that time again!  Loyal Sound Session fans will likely remember that J. and I hosted Cornerstone Mixtape #115 back in May of 2009 with DJ B-Mello on the 1’s and 2’s (click here to check that out if you missed it!), and now we’re happy to report that we’ve been selected again to head up the long-running, historic mixtape series.  We are presenting May’s tape, marking 4 years to the month since our last go-round, and also celebrating our recent 8 year anniversary of SNSS!

Just like last time, it’s an absolute honor to be selected for this tape.  The team at Cornerstone has always been some of the most knowledgeable, respectable, and coolest cats in the industry and they’ve curated this monthly mixtape series for over a decade with care, skill, and consistency that very few can match.  As soon as I started working at my college radio station, I became a fan of their monthly releases, which always featured the dopest DJ’s from around the world presenting their take on the freshest music of the moment.

To say that in this small way, we can compare ourselves to folks like Jazzy Jeff, Pete Rock, Revolution, the Fantastic Four, Sway & King Tech, the Baka Boyz, Premier, Red Alert, Kid Capri, Stretch Armstrong, Bobbito, J. Period, etc….honestly, it’s still an incredible feeling.  We’re just happy we’ve been able to do what we’ve done over the last 8 years and we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished.  When cats like Rob Stone, Dru Ha, J, Kid Potential, and the rest of the Cornerstone crew recognize and choose to highlight us with their series (twice!), it’s humbling.  We’re just very grateful.  Thank you, fellas.

For this tape, we decided to recreate what we do with Sound Session each week on KUBE 93.3 FM so it plays almost exactly like our live broadcasts, just without the commercials and with the swear words (even better, right?). We selected some of our favorite records of the moment and tried to highlight those that weren’t getting the credit they deserved.

These include great songs from some bigger names like Black Milk, Tyler, Big K.R.I.T., De La Soul, Blu, and Chance The Rapper, and also guys who are steady on the come up like MeLo-X, Young Roddy, the Smash Brovaz, Phil Beaudreau, Johnny Polygon, and more.  Plus, you know we always rep for the Northwest, and with our scene exploding right now, there were plenty of options to choose from.  In the end, we picked songs from John Crown, Nacho Picasso, Avatar Darko, Jake One, and the Physics.  We even tossed in a few world premieres, one from our homey THURZ and the other a dope record from The Game featuring Jadakiss, Styles P, and AR-16 that the world hasn’t heard before.

Above all, it’s 80 minutes of DOPE music.  This is what we do.  And we’re happy to share it with you.

Download/streaming links below.  Enjoy!

01. Homeboy Sandman – Sunday Night Sound Session (Exclusive)
02. Black Milk – Sunday’s Best / Monday’s Worst (Computer Ugly)
03. John Crown – Ben Franklin (Phinisey Music Group)
04. Kris Kasanova ft. Skeme and Jarv Dee – Shut Em Down (Exclusive)
05. Nacho Picasso & Avatar Darko – Black Velvet (Moor Gang / Fang Gang)
06. Tyler, The Creator – 48 (Odd Future)
07. Raz Simone – Formula To Life (Exclusive)
08. Young Roddy – This One (Jet Life)
09. MeLo-X – God Magic (Galax Recordings)
10. Quelle Chris ft. Tanya Morgan, Cavalier & Fresh Daily – Greene Eyes (Mello Music Group)
11. THURZ – ThirdEye (WORLD PREMIERE) (TNS)
12. Amp Live ft. James Melo – D.H.E.A. (Plug Research)
13. denitia and sene – trip. fall. (input)
14. Tuxedo – So Good (Exclusive)
15. The Physics – Take A Win (Exclusive)
16. Chance The Rapper – Acid Rain (Exclusive)
17. The Game ft. Jadakiss, Styles P, and AR-16 – Last Supper (WORLD PREMIERE) (Interscope)
18. Smash Brovaz – Whatever (Exclusive)
19. Big K.R.I.T. – Serve This Royalty (Cinematic Music Group / Def Jam)
20. L’Orange ft. Blu – Alone (Jakarta Records)
21. De La Soul – Get Away (A.O.I. Records)
22. Johnny Polygon – Normal (Exclusive)
23. Phil Beaudreau – Take It High (High Renaissance)

Link to download/stream the mixtape - http://www14.zippyshare.com/v/84334272/file.html
(back up – http://www.solidfiles.com/d/212294eb92/)
(2nd back up – http://linkmixes.com/7eb8nu0rk5my)
(3rd back up - http://www.sendspace.com/file/4ql1yt)

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 radio show we do, just shoot me an email, DJHyphen@gmail.com.

Yee!  New freshness from my guy Pinder.  TAOD and SNSS fam already know the deal, but if you’re sleeping:

After years of living, months of creating, weeks of preparation and sweeping Internet anticipation, J. Pinder’s “Careless Redux” is finally available for free download. Presented by DJ Skee—of KIIS-LA and Sirius XM fame—the 16 track mixtape is an impressively technical yet emotionally raw journey into the Seattle native’s comings and goings: through the club, through the industry, and through his city. Featuring vocal appearances by Musiq Soulchild, Marsha Ambrosius, Rapper Big Pooh, and Thurz, “Careless Redux” weaves together a wide range of beats from some of the best producers in the game: Vitamin D, DJ Khalil, Kuddie Fresh and Illmind.

Full of rewind-worthy moments, “Careless Redux” has a mood and a mission for every listener. Producers Mel & D and DJ Khalil collaborate with J. Pinder for “King,” an instant head-nodder that begs for a special sort of ride in the whip. On “Float’n,” J. Pinder rises to the occasion of Kuddie Fresh’s heartfelt strings and heartbeat drums, delivering a meditation on hard days and harder work. J. Pinder depicts his world with sharp story telling, polished mic skills and playful punchlines, transforming his world into everyone’s world.

Download here.

Quick strike EP from the homey Shad as he celebrates his birthday.  5 tracks, all sampling classic songs from his childhood.  Along with Lupe, SK is my favorite writer in the game.  Shout to my guys G and T-Lo as well.  Download this immediately!

Alternate download here.

You already know the drill: Dom returns out of nowhere, drops a great project, shuts down the Internet, owns the summer, and continues to have record labels in a tizzy trying to sign him.  Download it now!

Download:  Dom Kennedy – Yellow Album

Mitch: The day has finally come villains. Nearly eight months since his last endeavor, Stevie Crooks, quite possibly California’s most underrated/slept on rhyme spitter blesses us with his Cashmere Killer LP hosted by LRG and DJBooth.

One track in and you’ll quickly come to realize this isn’t going to be your average cookie-cutter 2012 release. Taking inspiration from the golden era of hip-hop, each track features a nostalgic 90’s feel to it. The LP consists of 13 ill cuts with the lone guest appearance from Erin Darcel, as well as one #CamoClique approved bonus track.

[DOWNLOAD] Stevie Crooks – Cashmere Killer LP

We played this Shane Eli record a while back on SNSS and I always thought it was real dope.  Good to see some visuals for it now and I’m happy to toss it up on TAOD.  Hopefully more folks take note, both of Shane’s talent and the knowledge he’s kicking in this song.

Download his project, I Can Do Better, for free right here.

Mitch: New project from L’s.  Tracklist and download link below!  Peep his video for Stussy Pack here if you haven’t already.

[DOWNLOAD] AyeLogics – Live From The $in (Mixtape)