The Audacity of Dope

It’s been a busy week here, so apologies for the delay on the latest episode of SNSS.  Lots of good music on this episode from artists like Action Bronson, J. Cole, ASAP Rocky, Lloyd Banks, Yo Gotti, Tinashe, Childish Gambino, Made In Heights, The Game, Cormega, OnCue, Aloe Blacc, and more, but I must admit, the most enjoyable part of my week was checking out the Drake tour.

It’s pretty clear to me that as big as some of these other artists are, it’s Kanye and Drake at the top…and then everyone else.  Nobody else has the popularity, artistry, and quality like those two.  Drake’s a great live performer, with better breath control and enunciation than most of the backpack rappity rap rappers that try to criticize him (or at least their fans do).  He also has hits…an astonishing number of hits…for someone’s who’s only been releasing music for a little over 5 years now.  He shut down the arena and didn’t even do about 30 records he could have.  Impressive.

Anyway, in more important and serious news, our deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of a longtime fixture in the Seattle hip-hop community, Byrdie.  While he passed away last week, his music will live on and it’s clear that everyone in the scene here cherishes the memories they have with him.  I only knew him a little bit, since he was most active while I was at college in California, but I remember him being one of the first artists from the town that I played on my college radio show.  I was always excited to hear new music from him and it’s unfortunate his illness didn’t allow him to release more material.  RIP Byrdie.

Show #442 (12-1-13)

1. Byrdie – “B.Y.R.D.I.E.” (Local Music) (Throwback of the Week)
2. Step Brothers (Evidence & Alchemist) – “Step Masters”
3. Action Bronson & Party Supplies – “The Don’s Cheek”
4. Justin Timberlake ft. J. Cole, ASAP Rocky, & Pusha T – “TKO (Black Friday Remix)”
5. Schoolboy Q – “Man Of The Year”
6. Yo Gotti ft. T.I. – “King Sh*t”
7. Lloyd Banks – “Lead The Blind”
8. Tinashe ft. Travis Scott – “Vulnerable”
9. Jhene Aiko – “The Worst”
10. Drake – “Come Thru”
11. Childish Gambino – “Telegraph Ave”
12. MeLo-X – “A Tree Must Be A Tree”
13. Made In Heights – “Death” (Local Music)
14. Gabriel Teodros ft. Sarah MK – “Black Love” (Local Music)
15. Kenautis Smith & Black Spade – “Lay It Down”
16. Aloe Blacc – “Love Is The Answer”
17. Black Milk ft. Mel – “Interpret Sabotage”
18. Owuor Arunga ft. DadaBass & Felicia Loud – “Black As They Come” (Local Music)
19. The Game – “Breakfast With Al Pacino”
20. Pusha T ft. Pharrell – “S.N.I.T.C.H.”
21. Cormega ft. Raekwon – “Honorable”
22. OnCue ft. Sonny Shotz – “Anything’s Real, Pt. 2”
23. Shad – “Thank You”

Link to download/stream the mp3 of the show – http://www7.zippyshare.com/v/40432572/file.html
(back up – http://www.solidfiles.com/d/23ac17eead/)
(2nd back up – http://linkmixes.com/ay2cfn93wwmx)

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.

Seattle: On Sunday, May 15th, I expect to see you all at the Croc to check out some of the illest (and criminally underrated) artists out there: The CunninLynguists, Tonedeff, and Homeboy Sandman.  You should be familiar with all of them by now, especially if you listen to Sound Session since we play them all quite often, but if not, come see them in person and learn something.  You’ll also get to see Blue Sky, Black Death, who make some incredible beats, and local music from the Knowmads.

Be there!

Not only do you get to see Philly Freezer and Jake tear it down, but you get an opening set from my favorite group in Seattle, The Physics, plus DJ’ing by the legendary Vitamin D all night.  Gonna be a crazy show, be there at Neumo’s on Thursday!

Almost forgot that I grabbed this footage of Jay Electronica performing “Exhibit A” and “Exhibit C” at Bumbershoot a few weeks back.  I’ve heard people were split on his performance: some thought he got the pit area hype, while others were disappointed by how often his DJ cut out the beat and how many acapella verses he spit.  One thing’s for sure…if there’s any beat you should let play in its entirety, it’s “Exhibit C.”  Hearing that bang through the speakers was definitely a highlight of the festival (as was J. Cole’s performance).

“Close The Door” live from 1979.  He will be missed.

*Speechless*

This was the best concert I’ve ever been too and with everything going on that day (girl was in town, chilling with N.E.R.D., catching up with Lupe, etc.), it was probably one of my favorite days ever.  Ah, memories.

Someone buy me this book for Christmas.  Kthxbye.

Weekends like these don’t come along too often.

This past Saturday, Jay-Z performed in Seattle for the first time in 10 years (apparently Bill Gates needs to remind Hov about our lovely city) and pretty much shut down the city.  Aside from a few Blueprint 3 songs that really have no business being performed at a Jay-Z show, the concert was epic from start to finish.  Call me old fashioned, but I’d like to see at least one song from Reasonable Doubt (“Dead Presidents”!?!?!) or In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 (“A Million and One Questions”!?!?!?) rather than “On To The Next One.”  Maybe that’s just me.  *Kanye shrug*

That said, in front of a sold out Key Arena, Jay killed it from beginning to end and the opening lineup of J. Cole, Wale, and N.E.R.D. was excellent.  Big shout to all those artists for coming through the studio before the show.  We’ll have interviews with them coming soon…

Meanwhile, on this week’s SNSS, we played new joints from (who else) Hov, N.E.R.D., J. Cole, Big Boi, Slick Rick, the CunninLynguists, Ghostface Killah, Fashawn, and more.  Local artist Sol joined us in studio and we played a snippet of our interview with Royce Da 5’9″.  Cop Street Hop in stores now!  Last but not least, we world premiered a new track from the one and only YZ featuring Slug and Brother Ali.  If you don’t know, now you know.

Show #229 (10-18-09)

1. Jay-Z ft. Pharrell – “So Ambitious”
2. N.E.R.D. ft. Santigold – “Soldier”
3. Janelle Monae – “Come Alive (The War Of The Roses)”
4. Lupe Fiasco – “Fire”
5. Dynas ft. Slick Rick – “Family Jewels”
6. Keelay & Zaire ft. Tunji, Thurzday, Kam Moye, Ragen Fykes, & the Park – “Addicts For Real (Remix)”
7. **INTERVIEW WITH SOL, PT. 1**
8. Sol ft. Grynch – “No Sleep” (Local Music)
9. **INTERVIEW WITH SOL, PT. 2**
10. Big Boi ft. Gucci Mane – “Shine Blockas”
11. J. Cole – “World Is Empty”
12. **INTERVIEW WITH ROYCE DA 5’9” (SNIPPET)**
13. Royce Da 5’9” ft. Phonte – “Something 2 Ride 2”
14. Yoshi ft. Buff1 & Darien Brockington – “Magnetic”
15. Jay Rush ft. D-Black – “I Ain’t Even Mad (Khrysis Real Sh*t Remix)”
16. BK-One ft. Murs – “Eighteen To Twenty-One”
17. YZ ft. Slug & Brother Ali – “Did I Ever Tell You” (WORLD PREMIERE)
18. CunninLynguists ft. E-40 & Evidence – “Running Wild”
19. Macklemore ft. Geologic – “Church” (Local Music)
20. Debaser ft. Phat Kat & Rasco – “Out Front” (Local Music)
21. Ghostface Killah – “Stay”
22. Sene – “WonLover”
23. Fashawn ft. Exile – “Bo Jackson”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?jjmocwngna4
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/6721777347ecef6a/ )

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.

Ok, granted that he’s performing his H-Town anthem in H-Town (one of my former residences by the way), but it’s crazy how Drake doesn’t even need to rap/sing any of his lyrics already.  These fans know every single word and just like the last time, this same phenomenon plays out every single night he performs.  Every time I play this joint on SNSS we get immediate calls on it and folks even email later asking what it was.  It’ll be crazy to see how big (pause) Drizzy is by the end of the year.

Swiped from H.E.R.

I’ve been meaning to post this up since I went to Braille’s “Everybody Say Ho!!!” event last week here in Seattle (Portland people, yours is this Friday, details here).  It was a real dope show and I even got to catch up with some old friends from way back in the day.  Plus, the Frosty the Snowman vs. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer battle was classic.  You think I’m jokin’.

As an added bonus, everyone who attended received this ill mixtape from Braille’s Lightheaded brethren, Ohmega Watts.  If this doesn’t get you in the mood for Christmas, stop being such a Scrooge.  Download this and bump it while you hang your stockings with care.

Hooooooooooo!

1. RUN-D.M.C. “Christmas in Hollis”
2. Dana Dane “Dana Dane is Coming to Town
3. Beastie Boys “Sure Shot”
4. Sweet Tee “Let The Jingle Bells Rock”
5. Da’rel Jr. “This Christmas”
6. Braille “Blessed Man”
7. Sojourn “Definitely Special”
8. Flying Lotus “Roberta Flack Ft. Dolly”
9. Surreal “First Chapter”
10. Poems “Love”
11. Nicolay & Kay “Tight Eyes”
12. Choclit Kennedy “On & On”
13. J Dilla “Won’t Do”
14. Othello “Silhouette”
15. James Brown “Don’t Tell It”
16. Red Astaire Ft. Caretta Bell “You Dead Wrong”
17. Theory Hazit “Grizzly”
18. Grand Puba “Amazing”
19. Charles Brown “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” (Ohmega Watts Remix)

Download here.  (right click, save as)

The fine folks over at iMeem linked up with the homies U-N-I for a Los Angeles edition of their “Keys 2 The City” series.  In chapter one, Thurz & Y-O give you a basic introduction to the crew and we even get some footage of them on the court.  Which reminds me…every time I see these dudes, we’re supposed to get out there and play but it always falls through.  They’ll be up here in Seattle this weekend for a show on Sunday the 7th at Nectar (with Blu!), so perhaps we can finally do this.  Bring your game fellas.