The Audacity of Dope

When we weren’t playing dope new music from artists like MeLo-X, J. Cole, Tito Lopez, REKS, The Bullitts, Kanye, Jay, Joey Badass, and more on this week’s SNSS, we spent much of our talk time discussing the tragic Trayvon Martin case and incomprehensible acquittal of his murderer.  Peep the show for more, but suffice it to say, when we feel a wide range of emotions, from anger to sadness, but yet don’t feel shock, something is horribly wrong with the system.

On a lighter note, we were also joined in studio by the homies: Louis V, Peta Tosh, Spaceman, iLLChris, and Nacho Picasso.  Enjoy the show!

Show #422 (7-14-13)

1. Reef The Lost Cauze – “The Prey”
2. MeLo-X – “The Truth”
3. J. Cole ft. James Fauntleroy – “Born Sinner”
4. REKS – “The Molotov”
5. Tito Lopez – “Y.O.U.”
6. **INTERVIEW WITH LOUIS V, PT. 1**
7. Louis V – “Ride” (Local Music)
8. Jay-Z – “SomewhereInAmerica”
9. **INTERVIEW WITH LOUIS V, PT. 2**
10. Mac Miller ft. Action Bronson – “Red Dot Music”
11. Joey Badass – “Sweet Dreams”
12. **INTERVIEW WITH PETA TOSH, PT. 1**
13. Peta Tosh – “Plane” (Local Music)
14. Halo & Masta Killa ft. Rocki Evans – “No Matter”
15. Mayer Hawthorne ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Crime”
16. **INTERVIEW WITH PETA TOSH, PT. 2**
17. iLLChris ft. Sir Michael Rocks – “Coolin’ With The Coolest” (Local Music)
18. **INTERVIEW WITH iLLCHRIS & SPACEMAN, PT. 1**
19. Spaceman – “Procrastinatin’” (Local Music)
20. Run The Jewels (Killer Mike & El-P) – “Run The Jewels”
21. Public Enemy – “Fight The Power” (Throwback of the Week)
22. Shad & Skratch Bastid – “Bound 2 (Dub)”
23. **INTERVIEW WITH NACHO PICASSO, PT. 1**
24. Kanye West ft. Frank Ocean – “New Slaves”
25. The Bullitts ft. Jay Electronica & Lucy Liu – “Close Your Eyes”
26. REKS – “Winners & Survivors”
27. **INTERVIEW WITH NACHO PICASSO, PT. 2**

Link to download/stream the mp3 of the show – http://www73.zippyshare.com/v/52572614/file.html
(back up – http://www.solidfiles.com/d/7bfc0c2117/)
(2nd back up – http://linkmixes.com/qveg758v6nij)

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.

While I’m never really a fan of videos this gruesome, this song is dope enough that I felt compelled to post it up.  One view is enough for me, but this is definitely getting a ton of listens and I’ll create my own, less creepy, more grown & sexy visuals in my head instead.

Steven has been described as Pharrell meets The Weeknd. That should be enough to warrant a free download the whole project, Stripes, right here.

This is literally the worst day in Seattle sports history.  If you haven’t heard, the City of Seattle and the ownership group for the Seattle Supersonics NBA franchise agreed to terms yesterday that released the team from the last 2 years of its lease at Key Arena, effectively ending 41 years of storied tradition the Supes built in my city.  If you want all the gory details, hit ESPN.  If you want to see the carnage as it was unfolding, read this brilliant Bill Simmons piece.

I could write a book on this travesty, but here’s the Cliff Notes version.  The head of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, bought the Sonics in 2001 and aside from some minor success, ran the team into the ground.  Despite having a net worth of over a billion dollars, Schultz worried about losing a few million and decided to sell the Sonics to an ownership group from Oklahoma City, even though it was widely known that they would attempt to relocate the franchise to their hometown.  He could have sold the team to other local business people and prevented this all from happening, but he declined.  He’ll forever have the legacy of Seattle’s biggest traitor.

Instead, from day one of their ownership, Clay Bennett, Aubrey McClendon (who was the 8th largest donor to the Swift Boat Veterans who smeared John Kerry in 2004 and is currently raking in a fortune as the head of Chesapeake Energy while we pay $4.50 a gallon), and the rest of The Professional Basketball Club, LLC, lied to the city and people of Seattle, promising that they would do everything possible to keep the team here.  Rather than keep their word, they traded behind the scenes emails that later became public about how they were planning on moving the Sonics all along, and literally laughed about keeping it a secret.  At the same time, they snuggled up to Bennett’s long time friend, NBA Commissioner David Stern.

After doing everything in their power NOT to keep the Sonics in Seattle (including a Major League style fire sale that led to the Sonics posting their worst record in franchise history last year), the city was left with one last option: sue the team to ensure that they play out the final years of their lease at Key Arena or settle with them for a barrel of money and hope to receive an expansion franchise (or steal someone else’s team…hello Memphis) in the years to come.  Rather than irrevocably damage their relationship with Stern and the league, the City of Seattle caved and gave up the team for $45 million dollars, or $75 million if another NBA franchise isn’t put in place within 5 years.  This doesn’t even cover the economic benefits of having the Sonics here, let alone the non-financial value the team had to the city and residents.  There’s also no guarantee that we’ll get another team, and one of the greatest cities in the world (not to mention the 13th biggest market in America) will be without professional basketball for years to come.

In layman’s terms: a bunch of really rich people decided to become local heroes by going to another city, swindling more rich people and an inept local government, and stealing a franchise that had been there for 41 years.  In the process, they ripped out the hearts and souls of the people in that city, including my own.

Teams have relocated in other sports and other cities in the past, but never under such devious and unscrupulous auspices.  It’s unfathomable that a city as brilliant as Seattle is going to be without an NBA team, and it’s a warning shot to sports fans everywhere.  If a city’s franchise can be hijacked and stolen away in broad daylight, it sets a frightening precedent.

Worst of all, this has a real effect on the kids in this area.  I grew up obsessed with basketball and shaped almost every aspect of my life around it.  The friends I made, the memories I had, in full, the person I have become…are all direct results of growing up in the Seattle basketball community.  It’s part of who I am.  Now similar kids won’t have this opportunity here.  Dads can’t bond with their sons at Sonics games like I did with my stepdad.  That’s gone.  The 8th graders I coached this past year are absolutely crushed, and all because a few rich people decided to screw us all over.

I’ve been doing my best not to swear on this site (no easy feat on a hip-hop blog), but this is the first time where it’s completely justified, and in fact, too lenient.

Fuck you Howard Schultz.  Fuck you Clay Bennett. Fuck you David Stern. You stole basketball from the city of Seattle and you stole memories from me.  You extinguished the possibility of life changing experiences for future generations and I hate you all.

(NBA Finals, 1996.  The start of summer after 8th grade.  We were louder than the PA announcer.  I’ll never forget it.)