The Audacity of Dope

On episode #299 of SNSS, we celebrated our last night in KUBE 93’s current building/studio by playing new records from Wiz Khalifa, Blu, Coolroy, Fresh Daily, Pac Div, Lupe Fiasco, Pharoahe Monch, Kaimbr & Kev Brown, Miles Jones, and more.  Plus, the homey Black Milk checked in from Detroit to talk about his concert Wednesday at the Nectar Lounge in Seattle.  He’ll be rocking alongside local favorites Candidt, Grynch, and Sol.  It’s gonna be a great night, be there.

Next week, we’ll be celebrating our 300th show in a brand new, state of the art studio.  As J said at the end of the broadcast, “Hall Of Fame numbers…”

Show #299 (2-20-11)

1. Wiz Khalifa ft. Chevy Woods – “Middle Of You”
2. Malice & Mario Sweet ft. Choklate – “Happiness” (Local Music)
3. Blu – “Amnesia (Remind)”
4. Coolroy ft. Tunji – “Dreaming”
5. Kendrick Lamar – “Cut You Off”
6. Fresh Daily ft. Nicholas Ryan Gant – “Second Hand High”
7. Pac Div – “Take Me High”
8. Lupe Fiasco ft. Skylar Grey – “Words I Never Said”
9. Pharoahe Monch ft. Showtyme & DJ Boogie Blind – “Clap (One Day)”
10. J. Period ft. Black Thought, Rakim, & John Legend – “In The Ghetto (Wake Up!)”
11. Kaimbr & Kev Brown ft. The Kid Daytona & Asher Roth – “More Gritz (Gritz Remix)”
12. Saigon ft. Marsha Ambrosius – “It’s Alright”
13. Miles Jones ft. Shad – “Say What”
14. Raekwon ft. Ghostface Killah, Jim Jones, & Kobe – “Rock N Roll”
15. **INTERVIEW WITH BLACK MILK**
16. Black Milk – “Welcome (Gotta Go)”
17. Jaylib – “The Official” (Throwback of the Week)
18. Pusha T – “My God”
19. Serge Severe ft. Braille – “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop” (Local Music)
20. Rick Ross ft. Meek Mill – “Perfectionist”
21. The Good Sin & 10.4 Rog – “Bad About You” (Local Music)
22. Kanye West ft. John Legend & Chris Rock – “Blame Game”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?i3n0naqqpbwi807
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/869108707d93385d/)
(2nd back up – http://www.usershare.net/yn8x00c97the)

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.

Our friends from Sweden just killed it at Nectar last week…again…and I stumbled across their new video for “My Step,” one of my favorite records off 2009’s Machine Dreams.  Be on the lookout for the new album soon!

If you missed it, peep our last interview with the band here:

Anyone who has visited TAOD before knows that I’m a huge fan of Shad.  Not only is he one of the most gifted MC’s around, but he’s also putting his heart and soul into his music and discussing deep, genuine emotions.  I’m not sure you can ask for anything more from an artist and I’m elated to see the United States finally starting to catch on to his music.

Fresh of the American release of TSOL, Shad came to Seattle with K-Os for the first stop on their Born To Run tour.  It’s only right that we recorded a little something for y’all, though I do apologize for the poor lighting and video quality.  Hopefully you still enjoy our discussion covering the tour, the TSOL project, how it compares to his previous work, the intricacies of his lyrics, and more.  It’s not often that I get to discuss the finer points of artistic expression/responsibility with our guests, so this was an especially fun interview to conduct.  There’s much more that can be said about the issue though, so we’ll have to rekindle it when Shad’s back in town.

In the interim, enjoy the interview and be sure to cop TSOL and The Old Prince ASAP!

I’m so glad to see the rest of the country is starting to catch on to what Canadians (and TAOD readers/SNSS listeners) have known for years: Shad is one of the illest MC’s out there.  In fact, I dare you to find a better MC who speaks on more realness than Shad K.  The Tanya Morgan homies, Von Pea & Donwill, hopped on the remix to “Rose Garden,” which also features a new verse from Shad.  Remember, the US version of T.S.O.L. drops on October 5th…enjoy!

Shad ft. Von Pea & Donwill – “Rose Garden (Remix)”

And of course, the original video, in case you missed it:

Seattle people: I’m going to see you at Nectar on Friday, October 8th for K-Os and Shad…right?

While in town last night for a show at Nectar, J. Moore and I got a chance to hang out with one of our favorite groups, Little Dragon, aboard their tour bus.  Yukimi, Erik, Fredrik, and Håkan talked about their current US tour, their record label situation, the success of the band so far, how their collaboration with the Gorillaz came about, their early plans for the next album, and more.

If you haven’t checked out both their self titled debut and last year’s Machine Dreams, I really can’t recommend Little Dragon enough.  They can flip pretty much any style, they’re supremely talented, and above all, they’re good people.  Additionally, when you see them perform live, you can just tell that they love music.  It may sound silly, but not a lot of artists seem to share Little Dragon’s passion for creating and enjoying the music they make.  It really comes through on record and in their live performances.  They’re destined for big things…

Seattle’s music scene is brimming with creative, hard-working artists who care about helping those in need—and who know how to party. In that tradition, on Monday, January 18, a handful of the city’s favorite DJ’s will descend upon Nectar Lounge’s well-equipped sound system to provide the jams for a benefit party with proceeds going towards relief efforts in Haiti.

The impoverished Caribbean island, shaken to its core by a magnitude 7 earthquake earlier this week, needs every cent it can get to fund the efforts of those already elbows-deep in the challenging tasks of picking through the rubble and rebuilding their nation. Here at home, Nectar and its partners offer you the opportunity to gather in celebration & reflection to contribute what you can financially to the cause. We’ll see you on Monday!

Be there and support a good cause.

Wow.  An excellent video from Phonte, Nicolay, Muhsinah, and Matt Koza for an excellent song off FE’s Leave It All Behind opus.  I hope you younger cats are feeling Foreign Exchange, cause their music is so necessary for when you’re feeling grown like I do these days.

Seattle people: Phonte, Nicolay, Yahzarah, Carlitta Durand, Darien Brockington, and Zo! will be performing at Nectar on September 15th and it’s sure to be an incredible show.  Even the opener, The Physics, will be great, so everyone 21+ needs to be there.  We’ll be giving away tickets each week on Sound Session leading up to the show and we’ll also be holding a contest here on TAOD to sit in on our interview with them.  Stay tuned and make sure to be there!  More info right here.

Here’s some footage shot by the legendary JKim at the Seattle release party for Exile’s Radio at Nectar Lounge.  This was a dope night all around – DJ Day and Ex killed their set, and I judged the Qualified Beat Battle.  Congrats again to the winner, Ohmega Watts, and shout to all those involved with putting on a great night.

Be on the lookout for Exile’s appearance on SNSS soon…more homies who were down at SXSW!

I’ll be there…possibly telling you how your beats sound.

Exile and DJ Day practice their D-Train routine for their upcoming tour.  Seattle folks: they’ll be bringing the incredible MPC skills to Nectar on March 14th. I highly suggest you be there.  Other dates below:

Feb. 22nd – Long Beach, CA – Blue Cafe
Feb. 26th – Pomona, CA – Cal State Pomona (Session A)
Feb. 6th and 7th – Chicago, IL – Sub T
March 12th – Portland, OR – The Fix
March 14th – Seattle, WA – Nectar Lounge
March 28th – San Bernardino, CA – Paid Dues Festival