The Audacity of Dope

Ok, I stole that headline from TMZ, but damn if that isn’t perfect.  HAHAHAHAHA @ this.  First of all, the shoe assault is classic…not one, but both!  Secondly, impressive reflexes from George on that first projectile.  Thirdly, where was the Secret Service?  We protect our Prez from gun shots, but we’re powerless against shoes?

Man…I reeeeeeally wish one of the shoes just clocked dude hahahah.  This is funny enough though.  Ladies and gentlemen, the Bush Presidency!

(Pardon the language, but I never did get the chance to use one of my favorite pics of the year)

Alright, there are two things that are slightly bugging me right now, at least enough that I felt the urge to blog ’em.  Welcome to the rant.

Issue #1: The buzz around the net about the new Common album is off the charts.  Unfortunately, I’m seeing damn near nothing but negative reviews.  What album are y’all listening to?  You really wanted him to make a 3rd album in a row that sounded pretty much the same?  Eff y’all, Universal Mind Control is heat.  My dude Dru suggested I do some reviews every now and then, but working 2.5 jobs kinda kills that.  Here’s my track by track faux review:

1. “Universal Mind Control” – you’ve heard this.  Either you like it or you hate it.  If you’re fun, you like it, it’s your jam when you hear it in public, and you can’t let it finish without attempting some horrible popping and locking.  If you don’t like it, your Jansport might be too tight.
2. “Punch Drunk Love” – Dope.  Kanye + Skateboard + Com?  Say no more.  “Am I crazy”?
3. “Make My Day” – Love this record.  So bouncy, so melodic.  [Thugnificent] stop hatin’, get money [/Boondocks].
4. “Sex 4 Sugar” – Fair enough, swing and a miss.
5. “Announcement” – Nice ode to Biggie and P kills his verse.  Nobody at Geffen/Interscope will tell me why they pulled the video down, so I’ll have to ask Com on the 13th.  The animation was dope.
6. “Gladiator” – FLAMES.  Hard ass beat, crazy horn sample, classic Com battle rhymes.  Absolutely insane in concert too.  “Are you not entertained?”
7. “Changes” – Good positive joint inspired by the late stages of Barack’s candidacy.  Would fit right in on Be or Finding Forever.
8. “Inhale” – Smooth.  Crazy synth and percussion.  Ill record.
9. “What A World” – Com kills it with the old school flow and them Chester French boys add some Freddie Mercury-esque swag.  All that’s missing from the beat is Pharrell’s “sexy breath” style adlib in between the hook and verses.  Could easily be a Kenna song…and that’s a good thing.
10. “Everywhere” – Reminds me of the new Foreign Exchange record.  Great way to end it, but I would have let this one ride out for like 8 minutes and let the beat/melodies go crazy.

So look.  9/10 songs are good and one isn’t.  That’s 90%…that’s a A-.  You messageboarders, bloggers, and Debbie Downers in general need to calm down.  If you want to hear Resurrection again, go put in your CD.

*bangs gavel*

Issue #2: The political pundits (worth about as much as hip-hop pundits) are getting all worked up because Barack has been hiring people associated with both the Clinton and Bush administrations, and they’re wondering what happened to “change.”  First off, the people he’s picking are very qualified and are all excellent choices.  Secondly, these people are respected across party lines, which was a huge theme of Barack’s campaign.  When I worked for them, the official mantra was “respect, empower, include.”  You can’t change things for the better when you alienate half the people in the country.  This is the beginning of a new way of politics, perhaps not ‘post-partisan’, but moving towards that.  And it’s certainly a HUGE ‘change’ from Dubya’s (mis)management style.

Thirdly, Barack has been set up for these attacks since day one.  Regardless of what he does, people will try to criticize him because they are, rightly so, fed up with government.  However, let’s not forget how we got here and who was at the helm.  We’re at the lowest point in American history since the Great Depression.  Literally every day for the past 2 weeks I’ve heard of either personal friends losing their jobs or seen large business make massive cuts.  Finally, at the first of the month, CNN sent out the hilariously titled “breaking news” that we were in a recession since last December.  Thanks for the update fellas.

If Barack picked a team of brand new faces, he would be ridiculed for selecting unknown commodities when we’re in such dire straits.  When he picks a balanced and diverse group of accomplished and, gasp, intelligent appointees, people flip because they aren’t “change-y” enough.  Miss me with that, please.  Anyone want to let these people actually get in office for…I dunno…a week…before trying to tear them down?  Barack’s not going to be able to fix things completely in 4 full years and you already want him solving the world’s economic crisis 2 months before he’s sworn in?  Wow.  We really do live in an “instant gratification” culture.  Speaking of which…

*pops dinner in microwave*

Ok, I should wrap up this rant.  Before I do though, I need all you conservatives, particularly the bombastic, comically dimwitted talking heads on the “news” to do one thing.  Shut.  the hell.  up.

Really now, these people shouldn’t even be allowed to speak about issues.  You lost your rights when you voted for George Bush.  TWICE!  This is like getting driving erratically and crashing your car, only to tell the ambulance driver to be more careful as he’s taking you to the hospital.  No.  You can’t say anything right now.  Just sit in the back and let the adults try to fix the problems you created.

If your beliefs and policies have brought America to its knees, I refuse to sit there and let you talk about what ANYONE should be doing.  Do you let Shaq coach your free throw technique?  Do you let Soulja Boy help you with your bars?  Do you let Chris Webber handle your clock management down the stretch in a NCAA Championship game (still bitter)?  NO! So why listen to former Bush sycophants whine about what we should do to fix any of the myriad of problems they helped create.  Like George himself said:

Don’t get fooled.  These people have no ground to stand on.

And now back to your regularly scheduled blog…

From a song perspective, this is miles better than Will’s “Yes We Can” video, but it may not be as inspirational.  That said, this ish is dope!  It’s catchy as hell and does a good job capturing the feelings we all felt on Tuesday night.  It’s crazy to think that everyone – college kids, celebrities, children, foreign governments, people in 3rd world countries, scholars, etc. – were all celebrating like this when we finally did it.

Now it’s up to us to fight and work hard for what we believe in.  Obama is merely the inspiration.  We are the movement.

As I mentioned earlier, Tuesday was an incredible day in history and damn near everyone/thing I was rooting for ended up winning (*crosses fingers for Al Franken’s recount*).  However, in the same day that we took a huge step towards equality by electing Barack Obama as our 44th President, Californians voted yes on Propisition 8 and banned gay marriage.  Again, the idea that one could vote for acceptance and discrimination on the same ballot is sickening, disappointing, and confusing.

People have been protesting in the streets all over California this past week and the court battles have just started.  It’s critical that they keep up that fight and it’s important for us non-Cali residents (*hides Cali driver’s license from WA DMV*) support as best we can.

One simple way is to cop these “Repeal Prop. 8” t-shirts from ChunkyTees right here.  You can either buy one for $10, or more than 3 for $8 each, with all the money going to the cost of pressing and shipping them.  In other words, this isn’t a money making venture.  This is an important statement we can make to the world about equal rights.  Dr. King’s words have never been more true than they are today.

Some footage of Capitol Hill here in Seattle after Barack’s our victory swiped from Blogs Is Watching.  Do you realize that Obama literally had people dancing in the streets throughout the entire world?  I’ve been telling you this is big.  [Usual Suspects] I mean ‘orca’ big [/Keyser Soze].  We’ve never seen anything like this and it’s almost like all our mistakes have been erased.  We have a chance again…

More footage from my dude Druuuu:

Dru, you need to add that Journey dance mix to the gym soundtrack ASAP.

I’ve been real sick lately, but also real inspired.  I hope to blog more in the days to come, but right now work is piling up and headaches are killing me.

But guess what?

We did it.

You know what needs to be done.  Vote today, no excuses.

USA vote for Obama.  WA vote for Gregoire.  Let’s get to work.

Wow. I can’t believe we’re here: less than 24 hours from Election Day.  After all the hard work everyone has put in over the past year (and more for some of y’all), it’s finally time to go to the polls and vote for change.  By voting for Barack Obama tomorrow, we’re telling the world that America is ready to turn the corner on the last 8 years and move into the future with the right policies, strategies, beliefs, and behavior.  It’s time to regain our position at the head of the table and make the world a better place.  We’ll lead by example from here on out.

Throughout the election cycle, hip-hop has played an important and influential role, one that future generations will look back upon and recognize much more than we do right now.  Yes, at times, our culture does more harm than good, but overall, hip-hop continues to be the voice of young people around the world.  It drives popular culture and was synergistically tied into Barack’s entire campaign, providing an ever changing soundtrack throughout the primary and general elections.

On last night’s Sound Session, we ran an entire prObama show and played nothing but songs written for and inspired by Barack.  Big shout to all the artists who used their platform to speak on such important issues and apologies to those who we didn’t get to play on the show due to time constraints.  It may seem corny, but everyone who has made Obama songs over the past 2 years has really played a part in this campaign.  Somewhere, somebody was moved by the art you created…and that’s what it’s all about.

Another huuuuuge shout to Michelle Gregoire, daughter of Washington Governor Christine Gregoire, for coming through and co-hosting the show.  She broke down exactly why Barack and Michelle Obama have endorsed Gov. Gregoire’s bid for reelection, and why we all need to vote for Gregoire when casting our ballots for Obama.  This may be a “change” election nationally, but here in Washington, Gov. Gregoire has done a great job and deserves another 4 years…especially with like-minded people coming into power in Congress, the Senate, and the White House.  With everyone pushing progressive policies, we’ll see a lot of great things happen in the next 8 years, both nationally and at home here in Washington.

Lastly, many thanks to the founder of Hidden Beach Recordings, Steve McKeever, for calling in to talk about the Yes We Can: Voices of a Grassroots Movement album they released in conjunction with the Obama campaign.  Be sure to check out the full interview through one of the links below.

Download this episode of SNSS and spread it around to anyone who’s fired up about this historic time.  If you’re waiting in line tomorrow at the polls, bump this in your mp3 player and remember what you’re doing this all for.  Change is coming and it starts with us.  GO VOTE TOMORROW!

Show #179 (11-2-08)
**Co-Hosted by Michelle Gregoire**

1. Big Boi ft. Mary J. Blige – “Sumthin’ Gotta Give”
2. DJ Green Lantern – “Stand Up (Interlude)”
3. Dres (of Black Sheep) – “The Choice Is Yours (Taster’s Choice Remix)”
4. 6th Sense – “Ignite The People (Like Obama)”
5. Daytona – “Can I Kick It”
6. Jay Smooth – “A Poem For The Young Voter”
7. John Mayer ft. Twista & Joe Budden – “Waiting On The World To Change (DJ Green Lantern Remix)”
8. M.anifest – “Age Of Obama”
9. Kidz In The Hall ft. Talib Kweli & Bun B – “Work To Do (Change Remix)”
10. Cocoa Tea – “Barack Obama”
11. DJ Green Lantern ft. Gabe Real & Jay-Z – “What We Need”
12. Wyclef Jean – “Obama For President”
13. Nas ft. Johnny Polygon – “Black President”
14. Joell Ortiz ft. Dante Hawkins – “Letter To Obama”
15. H-Town All-Stars (Bun B, Chamillionaire, Paul Wall, Cory Mo, & Trae) – “Obama ‘08”
16. **INTERVIEW WITH STEVE MCKEEVER (CEO OF HIDDEN BEACH)**
17. Malik Yusef ft. Kanye West & Adam Levine (of Maroon 5) – “Promised Land”
18. DJ Green Lantern ft. Jay-Z – “Lick A Shot”
19. Ludacris – “Get Buck Freestyle (Politics (Obama Is Here))”
20. DJ Noodles – “Division & Fear (Interlude)”
21. RAtheMC – “Ready Or Not”
22. DJ Green Lantern – “Find Ur Dreams (Interlude)”
23. Alpha – “Obama ’08 (Do The Knowledge)”
24. DJ Green Lantern ft. Wale, Rhymefest, Christina K, & Royce The 5’9” – “Black President (Remix, Pt. 2)”
25. DJ Green Lantern – “1 Mic, 1 People (Interlude)”
26. Rock City – “Paper Planes Freestyle (Ride For Obama)”
27. Nappy Roots – “Good Day (The Barack Obama Yes We Can Remix)”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?di3x3z2oynz
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/513827915293195f/ )

Link to download the full interview with Steve McKeever – http://www.mediafire.com/?zryzqgfj2nu
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/50825349e7680eb2/ )

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.

Over the weekend, I got the chance to talk with Steve McKeever, the founder of Hidden Beach Recordings, for the latest edition of Sound Session.  You’re probably familiar with the label through their releases from some of the dopest soul & jazz artists (Jill Scott, Kindred, Bebe Winans, Mike Phillips, Tony Rich, Lina, etc.), but they also recently teamed up with the Barack Obama campaign to release Yes We Can: Voices of a Grassroots Movement.  The compilation features great songs from artists like Kanye West, John Legend, Stevie Wonder, John Mayer, Ozomatli, and more, and all the money goes directly to the Obama campaign.

With November 4th only 2 days away, I talked with Steve about how this project came about, what issues are most important to him this election, what words of wisdom he wanted to impart to the youth, and more.  You can check out the entire interview below:

Steve McKeever on Sound Session – http://www.mediafire.com/?zryzqgfj2nu
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/50825349e7680eb2/ )

After you check out the interview, head on over to BarackObama.com/music to cop the album and donate to the campaign.  Every little bit helps as we push through the finish line.  After the 4th, the album will be available in normal retail locations.  In any case, GET OUT AND VOTE!