The Audacity of Dope

J. Moore and I had the chance to catch up with our homies Macklemore & Ryan Lewis at Summer Jam recently and as always with these guys, we had a great time.  I wish I could have shared all of the conversations we had with them off camera, but don’t worry, there’s plenty of good stuff in this for you to check out.

We centered the discussion around their meteoric rise to superstar status, which is a bit surreal to witness since we’ve known the fellas for so long and they haven’t changed a bit since all this started.  They’re still great, down to earth, regular guys…who just happen to be REALLY talented…and through an incredible mix of hard work, smart decisions, rabid fan support, and some fortuitous luck, they’re now at the top of the music industry.  It’s an amazing accomplishment, and not one that can really be put in words, but we tried to wrap our heads around it a bit.

We also spoke on their first appearances on Sound Session years ago and looked towards the future with details on their tour, recording, and promotions strategies, including some insight on their next album.  All in all, good times.

Thanks to Mack & Ryan for chopping it up and a special shout to Mack for his sincere appreciation he showed us at the end of the interview.  Having one of our peers talk about the respect he has for SNSS and our work over the years was perhaps a pseudo Full House moment (cue the music), but it’s one I’ll remember.

We appreciate you, fellas.  Keep making the Town proud!

Recently, J. Moore and I were joined on SNSS by A$AP Rocky for an interview in our KUBE 93 studio.  Rocky talked in depth about his background, including how his brother first got him into hip-hop, his first rhyme, his influences locally (Big L, D.I.T.C., McGruff, Children Of The Corn, etc.) and around the country, and his early relationships with the A$AP Mob.  He also spoke on how “Long Live A$AP” has been well received, even with the early leak, and about his collaboration with Skrillex for “Wild For The Night.”  In discussing that song and video, Rocky mentioned his appreciation of the women in the Dominican Republic, especially his favorite group, cougars.

Shout to A$AP for coming through and our Detooz Films friends for hooking up the video.

J. Moore and I recently had a chance to chop it up with Joey Bada$$ and the Pro Era crew at the Sound Session studio.  We touched on a bunch of topics, including how they originally came together,; how they were put on to golden hip-hop by their families, their ambitions outside of hip-hop, and what life is like on tour with the whole crew.  We also discussed their upcoming projects, including solos from Joey and CJ Fly, and they spoke on how artists like Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, and the TDE camp are inspiring them as artists and businessmen.

I’m hoping more younger cats in the game follow the same general path as Pro Era.  There’s just something naturally ill about that classic boom-bap sound, and as long as artists are being genuine and providing their own twist on it, I’ll never get tired of hearing it.

Shout to Statik Selektah and Jake One for coming through as well, plus the Detooz Films homies for filming!

Recently, J. Moore and I got a chance to sit down with Diplo, Walshy Fire, and Jillionaire, collectively known as Major Lazer backstage at their Showbox SODO show in Seattle.  The fellas were real cool and we chopped it up about their upcoming Free The Universe album and the Lazer Strikes Back series of EP’s they’re releasing leading up to the project.  We also spoke about life on the road, including their favorite shows, US vs. international crowds, and what it’s like to perform at huge festivals like SXSW and Ultra.  They told some stories about working on the new Snoop Lion album as well, including what it means when Snoop shows up to the studio without his Xbox.

Shout to Detooz Films on the filming and editing.  And if you haven’t seen the crew’s new video for “Watch Out For This (Bumaye) with Busy Signal, The Flexican, and FS Green, peep the dopeness:

J. Moore and I recently had the honor of sitting down with the legendary DJ Jazzy Jeff while he was in town to judge the Red Bull Thre3style Regional Finals.  His album with The Fresh Prince, He’s The DJ, I’m The Rapper, was literally the first album I owned and to say I was a die-hard JJ+FP fan growing up would be an understatement.  From the albums to The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air, I consumed everything those guys released together from the late 80’s to the mid 90’s and when they moved on to their solo work, things didn’t really skip a beat.  Will’s gone on to be the biggest movie star in the world and Jeff has released some classic records, plus become one of the most sought after DJ’s around.

J. and I often casually debate who’s the “greatest” in a particular field and whenever we discuss DJ’s, Jeff is at the top of our list.  He can simply do everything a DJ can possibly do, but better than pretty much anyone else.  Rocking a party?  Check.  Producing classic music?  Check.  Cutting up records with battle DJ skills?  Check.  Hell, the man invented a type of scratch.

Jeff’s the best DJ ever in my book and amazingly, he’s even a better person than DJ.  We’ve interviewed him a few times on the phone but this was the first time we got him on Sound Session in person and he didn’t disappoint.  We discussed all things related to DJ’ing, from his background to his current success, including his philosophy on a DJ’s responsibility, the rise of the DJ in popular music (while it seems to wither in hip-hop), and whether or not “real DJ’s” should take requests.  He also told stories about the early days of his work with Will, transitioning from rocking parties in Philly with the Fresh Prince to selling millions of albums and touring worldwide.

We could have talked for hours, so I can’t wait until we get him back on the show.  Thanks to Red Bull, the Cashmere Agency, and Detooz Films for making it happen and ultimate respect to the Magnificent himself!

It’s about that time of the year where we start narrowing down our selections for our annual “Best Of…” show, but we still have a few more SNSS episodes to play brand new cuts before then.  On this week’s show, we welcomed local artist PROPS! into the building and our homey Rapper Big Pooh called to check in and talk about his new project, Fat Boy Fresh, Vol. 2: Est. 1980.  We also played new records from Big Boi and Andre 3000 (sadly, not together), T.I., Kendrick Lamar, Freeway, Wale Dion, Heems, Eminem, Wu-Block, Arima Ederra, Bilal, Promise, Slakah The BeatChild, IAMSU!, and more.

Enjoy the episode and feel free to chime in with your suggestions for what we should play on the Best of 2012 show in a few weeks!

Show #390 (12-2-12)

1. Big Boi ft. T.I. & Ludacris – “In The A”
2. T.I. ft. Andre 3000 & Stacy Barthe – “Sorry”
3. Kendrick Lamar – “The Art Of Peer Pressure”
4. Freeway ft. Wale & Dion – “True”
5. **INTERVIEW WITH PROPS! PT. 1**
6. Action Bronson & Alchemist ft. Evidence – “B*tch I Deserve You”
7. French Montana ft. Curren$y & Mac Miller – “Triple Double”
8. Heems – “Cowabunga Gnarly”
9. Apollo Brown & Guilty Simpson – “Let’s Play”
10. **INTERVIEW WITH PROPS! PT. 2**
11. PROPS! ft. Serius Jones – “Yeah” (Local Music)
12. 50 Cent ft. Eminem & Adam Levine – “My Life”
13. **INTERVIEW WITH PROPS! PT. 3**
14. Wu-Block (Ghostface Killah & Sheek Louch) ft. Masta Killa, GZA, & Erykah Badu – “Drivin’ Around”
15. Arima Ederra ft. Blu – “Questions”
16. Bilal – “Too High”
17. Rocky Sandoval – “All Over Your Body” (Local Music)
18. Promise ft. Slakah The BeatChild & Brendan Philip – “Somebody Else”
19. **INTERVIEW WITH RAPPER BIG POOH**
20. Rapper Big Pooh – “Friends”
21. IAMSU! – “Can’t Hate, U Can’t Hate”
22. Nas ft. Q-Tip – “One Love” (Throwback of the Week)
23. Spekulation – “Remember” (Local Music)
24. Smash Brovaz ft. Richie Sosa – “The Kitchen”

Link to download/stream the mp3 of the show – http://www12.zippyshare.com/v/9499367/file.html
(back up link – http://linkmixes.com/y7u6rd54pz6p)
(2nd back up – http://www.sharebeast.com/o9nkj5f1xo14)

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.

Shout to the homies Kyle and Midnite for coming through SNSS a few weeks back.  If you missed the interview, peep the video above, or you can download the entire show here.

The trippiest one, none other than Juicy J himself, came through Sound Session while in town for the Smoker’s Club Tour.  We chopped it up about life on tour, his favorite city to perform in, linking up with Wiz Khalifa and the Taylor Gang, his upcoming Stay Trippy project, the success of “Bandz A Make Her Dance,” a possible return to Hollywood, and more.

Turn up!

Following up on his interview with J. Moore and I from our Summer Jam a few months ago, Kendrick stopped by the Sound Session studios this past week while out in Seattle for a show. 

We talked all about his new album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City, which drops tomorrow.  He spoke on his approach to the record considering it’s not his first project but his first on a major label, how he wanted it to act as an introduction to the rest of his music, whether or not the label influenced him creatively, his favorite song on the album, and more.  We also touched on his early days as a rapper, getting in front of a mic for the first time, how his Top Dawg Entertainment crew compares to the other cliques in the game, and some other random topics.

Be sure to cop the album tomorrow and support one of the best artists we have in music right now!

While in Seattle for the 2012 Capitol Hill Block Party, Malaysian-born singer Yuna visited SNSS for an interview and live performance.  We discussed her transition from Asia, the role MySpace, Indie Pop, and FADER played in her success, meeting and working with Pharrell, her creative process, her growing collection of cover records, life on tour, her self-titled US debut album, her next project, and more. Additionally, she performed two acoustic songs live in studio: “Live Your Life” (5:40) and “Decorate” (16:08).

Yuna is a true talent.  Catch up if you’ve been sleeping and keep an eye out for her to make some big waves in the near future.

Shout out to the Cornerstone, Detooz Films, and Le Fresh Perspective homies for helping make this happen.