The Audacity of Dope

J. Bizness, Buff1, and Magestik Legend teamed up for visuals to one of my favorite tracks of the year, “Giraffes.”  Lot of realness on this record…and those DRUMS!

After touring with THEESatisfaction across Europe for the last 3 weeks, J. Moore made his triumphant return on this week’s SNSS.  He also brought with him one of our favorite producers and all around cool dude, 14KT.  Those of you in the know will remember KT from his Athletic Mic League days (the same crew that spawned Buff1 and Mayer Hawthorne), but if you can’t recall those days, perhaps you would recognize him as the reigning Red Bull Big Tune beat battle champion.  If you aren’t familiar, please drop what you’re doing and check out his beats, starting with his newest project, A Friendly Game Of KT.  Without exaggeration, one of the illest producers in the game…hands down.

While KT co-hosted the show with us, we also aired our recent interview with Slaughterhouse…errr, 3/4th’s of the crew at least.  Joey was on the injured list with a tooth issue (hey…tour life is no joke), but Crooked I, Royce Da 5’9″, and Joell Ortiz came through to talk about their upcoming Welcome To Our House album, touring, their webisode series, and more.  I’m hoping to post up the video of the interview shortly, but for now, enjoy the audio…and the rest of the show!

Show #359 (4-29-12)
**Co-hosted by 14KT**

1. Asher Roth ft. Meek Mill – “Party Girl”
2. Theophilus London ft. ASAP Rocky – “Big Spender”
3. Big K.R.I.T. – “4EvaNaDay (Theme)”
4. BJ The Chicago Kid – “Hay”
5. Ryshon Jones ft. Benny Love – “Off-Beat Love”
6. THEESatisfaction – “QueenS” (Local Music)
7. Dice – “Flat Tire” (Local Music)
8. Nas – “Daughters”
9. Deniro Farrar & Flosstradamus – “Look At The Sky”
10. ASAP Rocky – “Goldie”
11. **INTERVIEW WITH SLAUGHTERHOUSE, PT. 1**
12. Slaughterhouse – “Hammer Dance”
13. **INTERVIEW WITH SLAUGHTERHOUSE, PT. 2**
14. 1982 (Statik Selektah & Termanology) – “Up Every Night”
15. TiRon & Ayomari – “They Go”
16. Quakers ft. Frank Nitty – “Dark City Lights”
17. Tha Dogg Pound ft. Snoop Dogg, Jewell, and Big Pimpin’ DeLemond – “What Would You Do” (Throwback of the Week)
18. Thaddeus David ft. Sean Symphony – “Feels So Good” (Local Music)
19. REKS ft. Action Bronson – “Riggs & Murtaugh”
20. Dr. Oop – “Magic Milk”
21. Yuna – “See You Go”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?95wzxn78o3rzgml
(back up / streaming link – http://www.sharebeast.com/4chq119h4zui)
(2nd back up – http://linkmixes.com/notwauzg8zrs)

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.

Possibly the most underrated producer in the game, 14KT, combines one of his amazing productions with handshot footage of family moments from 2011.  The result is a beautiful look into life and love. RIP to his pops.

My guys Buff1 and DJ Rhettmatic recently released visuals for “Say What” off their collaborative Crown Royale album (criminally slept on, by the way).  Buff’s been one of my favorite MC’s for years…ever since I stumbled upon the Athletic Mic League around the turn of the century (thanks Napster!)…and his style is just so dope.  It’s pretty straightforward, but he has that genuine and effortless steez that epitomizes “the MC” in my book.  Good stuff fellas.

Remember where you heard this record first?  *Cough* Cornerstone Mixtape #115 *Cough*

Shout to the homies Buff & Rhett, two of the illest and nicest dudes in the industry.  Their collaborative self titled project is finally dropping on December 7th and it’ll be well worth the wait!

If for some ungodly reason you don’t…peep this dope piece put together by the Ruby Hornet team for a nice recap.  Shout to the homies Buff, KT, and the whole Athletic Mic League.  They’re one of my favorite crews of all time and it’s great to see all the success that Drew/Haircut/Mayer is having these days.  Great music from great people!

Really feeling the the two tracks I’ve heard from Yoshi so far…here’s a video my man Gerard directed featuring Buff1 and D-Brock.  Real smooth.

The last time I posted a video from Buff, it sparked a mini-rant, so I’ll try to keep this one shorter.  Not only is this a great song (flawless beat from 14KT, dope hook from AB, ill lyrics from Mr. 1der) and a great video (ladies x 3…shouts to Jackson on the directorial debut), but it’s a great example of how most “underground” hip-hop these days actually dispels the stereotypes that the term implies.

In other words, this ain’t even “underground.”  This is real life.  I don’t know about the rest of you, but I don’t really dig music I can’t relate to personally.  Instead, I bump this kind of “everyman” hip-hop that folks like Buff, Now On, and the rest of the A-Side Worldwide family represent.  People need joints like this to prove that your ‘girl’ track doesn’t need to be fake, corny, or misogynistic.  Like Buff mentioned in the song, just be little ol’ you and it’s all good*.

Cop There’s Only One in stores now for that goodness…

*Now if being you really does mean making it rain thousands of dollars in a strip club, then by all means, pimp on pimpin’…just throw those dollars [Jay] thaaaaaattaway [/Hov]

I’ve been playing the hell out of this track for ages now, ever since it was included at the end of a mixtape Mayer (as DJ Haircut) put out with his group Now On, and I’m still not tired of it.  Talk about a timeless joint.

As I mentioned, if you aren’t familiar with this dude, you’ve been sleeping for about a decade.  Haircut has been down with the Lab Techs and the almighty Athletic Mic League (peep the Buff1 cameo) for years putting out great albums and making some insane beats.  He’s now splitting his time between crafting songs for Now On, killing beat battles (shout to the Big Tune folks), and becoming a worldwide sensation as Mayer Hawthorne.  Go head homey…

With the latest video off Buff1’s excellent There’s Only One album, Buff took it to the streets, literally, and put his money where his mouth is by putting food where theirs are.  Great stuff from one of my favorite MC’s and one of the nicer dudes I’ve worked with in the industry.  Shout to Buff and the whole AML & A-Side families.

Seeing a video like this reminds me of all this f**kery we’ve been dealing with here in the Seattle hip-hop community in the wake of the tragedy at Chop Suey last week.  If you’re unaware, you can read the basic details here.

I don’t really feel like writing an entire essay on the issue, but one of my biggest problems with the aftermath has been how people within our community have handled it.  I know every hip-hop head is used to defending the culture from the moronic comments and accusations that pour in after any violent incident (in this case, from the Slog comments), so we’re automatically programmed to respond in the usual fashion: it’s not hip-hop, it’s society.

Yes, completely true.  Absolutely.  Problems like this are indeed a reflection of the worst aspects of our society, and the blame can be spread out to every participating member…from gang member up to President.  I agree with this.

My problem is that many of us in the hip-hop community, myself included…at times, don’t react strongly enough against the negative parts of our own culture.  We know damn well that when artists are presenting themselves as ‘uber-gangsters’, it directly affects us, especially the next generation.  There’s a difference between rapping about the violence you see in your hood and glorifying it.  There are far too many artists, in every scene around the country, glorifying ignorance, stupidity, violence, misogyny, homophobia, and countless other negative traits.  Aside from the fact that 80% of the music is straight trash from a quality standpoint, we do ourselves a disservice when we condone this.

As a listener, participant, and DJ in this culture, my tastes have changed over the years, and quite frankly, at 26, I’m too old for this.  I’ve been doing my best to showcase the positive side of hip-hop since I started college radio in 2000 and every year, I’ve taken that more and more seriously.  As we enter 2009, I’ve been a DJ for almost a decade now and we’re in our 4th year of Sound Session on KUBE, a 100K-watt Clear Channel station.  Think about the reach we have each week.  I’ve always strived to provide quality music on my shows, mixtapes, and now blog posts, but that’s just not enough anymore.

I need quality music and quality messages.  I need quality artists and quality people.

I’m going to hold myself to a higher standard in 2009 and beyond, and I hope other members of our community do the same.  Remember what Barack said?  “Be the change you want to see in the world.”  Every day that I get older, I think more and more about life as a whole and what I want for this world, specifically the next generation.  I can’t imagine having a kid and trying to explain to him why we allow these morons to pollute our culture.

Outsiders know they’re wack.  Outsiders know they’re stupid.  We know they’re wack.  We know they’re stupid.  Why do we condone it?

Improve yourself this year and demand better from everyone around you.  I’m not religious in the least (I’m spiritual, big difference), but it’s true: “do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”  Help people.  Get involved.  Make a difference.  It doesn’t have to be something huge, just make an effort and you’ll be amazed how quickly things will change.

Buff bought some sandwiches.  Maybe you can do the same the next time you see someone homeless asking for some change.  Better yet, go mentor a kid from a troubled neighborhood.  Teach him how to fish.  Feed him for a lifetime.  You’ll see your perspective change.

I promise to step it up this year too, but not in that played out “grind” sense.  Who cares if you “get on your grind” in 2009 and become a better artist/DJ/writer/athlete/etc.?  Be a better person.

“Harder, better, faster, stronger.”