The Audacity of Dope

Some of our favorite artists, individually and collectively, denitia and sene came through Sunday Night Sound Session recently to chop it up while on tour here in Seattle.  We talked about their backgrounds, how they met at an artist collective, their first impressions of each other, what their creative process is like, breaking barriers between genres, their side fx EP releasing in January 2015, and more.

We’ve been playing their music for a while so it was great to finally meet in person.  Big shout to them for coming through and to Lea with the First Ladies for filming/editing!

One of the best writers in hip-hop, one of our favorite artists, and one of our best friends, the incomparable Shad, visited Sound Session to speak with J. Moore and I recently. We discussed a variety of topics, exploring what it’s like coming up in Canada making his style of music, winning the Rap Juno Award (Canadian Grammy) over his countryman Drake, and how he chooses to promote himself in the US market. He also spoke about his last album, Flying Colours, and his plans to take the follow up project in a new direction, before running through a lightning round of questions covering 90’s sit-coms, left handed basketball players, his favorite sneakers, and more.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Shad represents everything I love about hip-hop and I cosign literally every song/message he’s put out into the world.  Very talented, very humble, and very intelligent, I wish more artists would follow in his footsteps.

When you start going through the list of producers that also rhyme on the mic, you’ll actually come up with more names than you might expect. That said, our homey Black Milk is definitely right there near the top of the list.  Milk’s been dropping great music for years now and we always enjoy catching up with one of our favorites when he comes through town.

On this appearance on Sound Session, he spoke specifically on his peers that both rap and produce, and the advantages that handling everything yourself affords you as a MC.  He’ll continue to take matters into his own hands by releasing If There’s A Hell Below on his own Computer Ugly label later in the year, and Milk talked in depth about the project, including revealing his guests.  Other topics included the state of mainstream rap production over the years, the temptation of compromising his sound and how he stays true, his desire to work with Earl Sweatshirt, and more.

Shout to Black Milk, Rosalinda, and the First Ladies.  What up doe!

One of the dopest MC’s in the game and one of the realest dudes in the industry, Freddie Gibbs has been one of our favorites for years on Sound Session.  We’ve ran into him numerous times but amazingly never had him in studio for a SNSS interview…until now.

Freddie came through the KUBE studios on 5/24/14 while in Seattle on tour with Tech N9ne and we chopped it up for a bit about his love for the city (its greenery and Seahawk Richard Sherman, in particular), growing up and starting his rap career in a tough environment in Indiana, and later making the move to Los Angeles to pursue music.  We also talked about his approach to the industry and how he can appeal to a wide fan base, before touching on his recent projects with Madlib and DJ Fresh.

Peep the full interview above for more and be sure to catch Freddie when he’s in your town.  Shout to Archie for coordinating and the First Ladies for shooting and editing the piece.

Our good friend Lupe made another appearance on Sound Session recently, though this one was in the form of our “Studio 93” series, where we interview an artist in front of a large group of winners.  We talked about his upcoming Tetsuo & Youth album, including details about his creative process and a discussion about how responsible complex MC’s are in ensuring listeners understand the messages they put in their verses.  We also discussed how he collaborates with other artists and how he’s often turned down for these projects because of his past controversial statements, before moving on to topics like his relationship with Rick Ross and how the music industry has changed as technology has improved over the years.

It’s always fun to chop it up with Lu, who really is one of the most gifted individuals we have in hip-hop.  He’s an innovative thinker that likes to challenge the status quo, which is always necessary, plus him and Shad are the 2 best writers in the game, imo. Hope you guys enjoy the conversation.  Shout to the Marsupial Empire for recording and editing.

FNF up!

Shout to Kid Ink for coming through the Sound Session studio recently and chopping it up.  We discussed his background and when he first realized he could make music a career, before getting in depth on the keys to his independent success and why he decided to sign with a major label. He had an interesting take on how labels are adapting to work better with artists like himself, who have a dedicated fan base before inking a deal.

Real cool dude, I enjoyed our convo.  Shout to Detooz Films on the cameras!

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 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:

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!