The Audacity of Dope

A few weeks ago, I randomly thought to myself that it was about time for two of my favorite non-hip-hop artists, Kenna and Miike Snow, to drop some new music. While I’m not aware of any music from the group, Kenna has just released the first of three EP’s in his Land 2 Air Chronicles series, all leading up to his next album, Songs For Flight.  Here’s the first video from the project for “Chains,” a song all about discovering what binds us in our every day life and trying to break these restraints.

Kenna was in town last week and stopped by Sound Session, only for the studio in our new production room to screw up the audio of our interview.  I do have some video, so I may still post it, even though the sound quality is pretty poor without the mic audio.  The conversation was great though, as it always is with Kenna.  We discussed the new projects in detail and dived deeper into some philosophical debates over artistry and musical integrity.  I’ll try to get it posted soon, but for now, he says hi:

Maybach Music!

I swear, interview coming as soon as I can get to the station through this snow and get the audio.  Cop Trunk Muzik 0-60 in the interim!

This past weekend, I had a chance to check out the Seattle stop of the Waken Baken tour when it hit the Showbox Sodo.  I’ll be posting up my interview with the opening act, Yelawolf, soon, but I was also able to chop it up with Wiz Khalifa backstage and we recorded this quick interview for y’all.  We discussed the tour, Wiz’ incredible buzz, his experiences in the Pacific Northwest, getting his hometown Pittsburgh Steelers to support “Black and Yellow,” and more.

Shout to Wiz, Will, Artie, and Motti for hooking everything up.  Cop that Kush & Orange Juice if you haven’t already…definitely one of the best projects of the year.  Just wait until the official album drops…

I’ll be honest…I’m spending my day off eating waffles, watching the end of Spike’s Star Wars marathon (greatest movie series ever?), and getting some work done for the day job, so I’ll keep this brief.  Just more good music on a rainy and cloudy 4th of July episode of SNSS this week (wtf is a “summer?”).  Oh, also, happy Tactical Retreat Day to all my British folks.  Ahhh, memories.

Show #266 (7-4-10)

1. Drake ft. Alicia Keys – “Fireworks”
2. Rick Ross ft. Kanye West – “Live Fast, Die Young”
3. Kendrick Lamar ft. U-N-I, Skeme, & Brown – “I Do This (Remix)”
4. Cool Nutz – “Monster Up” (Local Music)
5. Freddie Gibbs – “National Anthem (FTW)”
6. Nappy Roots – “Welcome To The Show”
7. The Roots ft. Jim James – “Dear God 2.0”
8. Big Boi ft. Sam Chris – “The Train, Pt. 2 (Sir Lucious Left Foot Saves The Day)”
9. Shad ft. Relic – “We Are The Ones (Reservoir Party)”
10. The Kid Daytona – “On The Hill”
11. Phil Ade – “Always There”
12. The Physics – “My Place” (Local Music)
13. Raphael Saadiq – “It’s A Shame”
14. Jazmine Sullivan – “Holding You Down (Goin’ In Circles)”
15. Dwele ft. DJ Quik – “I Wanna”
16. Black Milk – “How Dare You”
17. Goodie Mob – “Night Train”
18. Nas – “What Goes Around” (Throwback of the Week)
19. SOTA ft. Champagne Champagne – “What You Asked For” (Local Music)
20. Mark Ronson & The Business Intl ft. Q-Tip – “Bang Bang Bang”
21. Aloe Blacc ft. The Grand Scheme – “Billie Jean”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?mb2nygzm2mz
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/780058030a045658/)
(2nd back up – http://usershare.net/4cee65bhkfzx)

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.

Fresh off the heels of our Reflection Eternal album release celebration episode, we’re right back into a normal edition of Sound Session.  And when I say “normal,” I mean an hour and a half of ridiculously dope and varied music from around the globe.  Peep this week’s show for jawns from Cee-Lo, Drake, Electric Wire Hustle, TiRon, Shad, the Roots, Homeboy Sandman, Slum Village, Laws, and the unquestionable song of the moment, Kanye’s “Power.”  This is why we ride with you Yeezy!  Shout to the homey Spaceman for coming through as well…ch-ch-check it out:

Show #262 (6-6-10)

1. Cee-Lo – “Georgia”
2. Janelle Monae ft. B.o.B & Lupe Fiasco – “Tightrope (Wondamix)”
3. Big Boi ft. Big Rube – “General Patton”
4. Mike Bigga ft. T.I. – “Ready Set Go”
5. Drake ft. Jay-Z – “Light Up”
6. Rick Ross ft. Kool G Rap – “Knife Fight”
7. Eminem ft. Pink – “Won’t Back Down”
8. **INTERVIEW WITH SPACEMAN, PT. 1**
9. Spaceman – “Get It In” (Local Music)
10. **INTERVIEW WITH SPACEMAN, PT. 2**
11. Kanye West ft. Dwele – “Power”
12. Electric Wire Hustle – “They Don’t Want”
13. Shad – “Rose Garden”
14. TiRon – “Boys & Girls”
15. Asher Roth – “G.R.I.N.D.”
16. Sol – “Not The One” (Local Music)
17. The Roots – “Doin’ It Again”
18. Homeboy Sandman – “Mean Mug”
19. Fugees – “Manifest” (Throwback of the Week)
20. JFK – “High School Sweetheart” (Local Music)
21. Slum Village ft. Colin Munroe – “Faster”
22. Laws – “Flashback”

Download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?mygwjyrnyg1
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/770044155b883faf/)
(2nd back up – http://usershare.net/6ttc6r6anh6k)

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.

(Part One in HD on HyphenTV)

As I mentioned in the post with just the audio, Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek came through Sound Session two weeks ago to talk all about their new album.  Here’s the entire in-depth interview with these two legendary hip-hop figures, and more importantly, just two all around good dudes.  Support them by copping Revolutions Per Minute and for the youngins who never bought Train of Thought, you better get that too!

Part 1: “RPM’s,” “City Playgrounds,” and “Back Again.”

(Part Two in HD on HyphenTV)

Part 2: Affion Crockett/Russell Simmons skits, being considered “conscious,” the marketing of “neo soul,” “Strangers” featuring Bun B, “In This World,” sampling Jay-Z’s classic lyric, “Got Work,” and more.

(Part Three in HD on HyphenTV)

Part 3: “Midnight Hour” featuring Estelle, “Lifting Off,” the war on drugs, “In The Red,” and more.

(Part Four in HD on HyphenTV)

Part 4: “Ballad Of The Black Gold,” energy consumption, live instrumentation vs. samples, “Just Begun” with Jay Electronica, J. Cole, and Mos Def, and more.

(Part 5 in HD on HyphenTV)

Part 5: “Long Hot Summer,” working as a group, “Get Loose” with Chester French, “So Good” and the return of MC Hi-Tek, the absence of Dion on the album, and more.

(Part 6 in HD on HyphenTV)

Part 6: “Ends” featuring Bilal, the pursuit of money, music piracy, the autobiographical outro of “My Life,” the future of Reflection Eternal, and more.

Enjoy!

I never thought I’d ever utter the words, “I’m on the cover of a magazine,” but thanks to Thomas and the good folks over at Jenesis, I can cross that off the bucket list!  If you aren’t familiar with Jenesis, it’s a really dope online mag that everyone who frequents this site should enjoy.  They routinely profile great artists and show love to pretty much everyone that we support via TAOD and Sound Session.  Be sure to download this month’s article to check out the feature on yours truly, along with some dope pieces that round out the “DJ’s vs. Bloggers Issue.”

Download here – January 2010 Jenesis Magazine

Much like the article in the Seattle P.I. highlighting J. Moore, SNSS, and myself, I’m flattered and very appreciative of the support Jenesis is giving with this piece.  Many thanks to the owner Thomas Agnew and the writer Mike Wilson.  Thanks fellas!

You might recall that Slaughterhouse recently dropped by the Sound Session studio, but soon after, Royce Da 5’9″ returned for another show in Seattle and came through solo.  We covered a ton of topics in the 3 part conversation so I decided to put the full video online for y’all to enjoy.

Shout to Royce, easily one of the most down to earth and talented artists that we’ve had on the show.  When I was a high school kid losing my mind to all his verses in the late 90’s, I never would have thought I’d have the opportunity to kick it with him a few times.  Craziness.  Go cop Street Hop immediately and peep below for the interview.

Part 1:

(watch on HyphenTV)

• Reception of the Slaughterhouse project
• Familial relationship of the group
• Future of Slaughterhouse
• Earliest memories of Eminem

Part 2:

(watch on HyphenTV)

• Working with Eminem as part of Bad Meets Evil
• Learning recording techniques from Em
• His favorite MC’s
• Detroit’s knack for producing dope rappers
• His thoughts on J. Cole

Part 3:

(watch on HyphenTV)

• The Charles Hamilton/J Dilla fiasco
• His current relationship with Dr. Dre
• His new Street Hop album
• What he has left to prove in the game
• Future Bar Exam mixtapes

If you would prefer to just listen to the discussion and toss it on your mp3 player, here’s the audio of the full interview:

Royce Da 5’9″ on Sound Session – http://www.mediafire.com/?mkjzymhzzj1
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/690590078f4fcc91/)

Enjoy!

A few weeks back on Sound Session, we had the pleasure of chopping it up with one of hip-hop’s rising stars, J. Cole, during his first trip to Seattle.  I’ll admit that I wasn’t up on J back when The Come Up dropped, but a few homies recommended it shortly after the release, and I once I checked it out, I was hooked.  Now that The Warm Up has solidified his “got next” status and he’s on tour with Jay-Z, it’s only a matter of time before he becomes a household name.

Peep our 3 part interview with Cole to hear him discuss all sorts of topics:

Part 1:

(watch on HyphenTV)

• His background and influences
• How he found his own voice on the mic
• His first rap names
• The tenacity in his delivery
• How graduating college helped him as an artist and person
• His experiences hustling beats as a producer

Part 2:

(watch on HyphenTV)

• His audition with Jay-Z and when he got signed to Roc Nation
• The Come Up vs. The Warm Up
• The state of his basketball game these days
• The Blueprint 3 tour and Jay’s cosign
• The status of his debut album
• His production influences

Part 3:

(watch on HyphenTV)

• Where he sees himself in 5 years
• What he would change about the music industry
• His 5 favorite foods
• The decline of MySpace

You can also download the entire interview, including some topics that weren’t included in the video segments, right here:

J. Cole on Sound Session – http://www.mediafire.com/?amymlnnjndy
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/6849461769676d85/)

“Everyday a star is born…”