The Audacity of Dope

I remember watching some of the Joe Budden TV episodes (side note: Joey is one of the most entertaining cats in the industry, hands down) when Drake put out So Far Gone and I always thought it was interesting how open Joe was in praising Drizzy’s work.  Take this one, for example, where Joe spazzes over “A Night Off”…and rightly so, it’s a phenomenal record.  A year or so later, he had the same reaction for Frank Ocean’s “Novacane,” which later led to this (Internet) classic.

Another year later, and it’s not surprising to see Joe release music with that same vibe, though he’s doing it fairly coyly as part of a side project with Emanny, jokingly called Summer Leather Vest (you’ll see the inspiration in the video hahaha).  It’s a shrewd, smart move, because it allows Joe to try something new without fully committing to it.  I’d expect to see some of this sound permeate his upcoming solo releases, but I doubt he’ll bring much of it to the Slaughterhouse project so fans of the rappity rapp rap shouldn’t fear.  I’m glad to see him diversifying his sound though, especially because joking or not, “Unison” came out fresh.

The long awaited video for Frank’s “Swim Good” finally dropped and, as expected with all Nabil directed visuals, it’s clean, dope, and a little twisted. This is actually one of my least favorite tracks on Nostalgia…Ultra, but that’s not really an indictment because the project as a whole is incredible.  If any of the records could potentially catch on to radio after “Novacane” finishes its run (still my song of the year), it’s this one.  Here’s hoping the mass public continues to take notice of Frank.

Oh, and you always win points with me for any panda or samurai references.  Well done guys.

I was excited to see that my frontrunner for song of the year had a video, and then completely geeked to see Frank linked up with one of the best directors out, Nabil Elderkin, for the “Novacane” visuals. Great record, dope effects, NSFW boobies, a bad ass white tiger, and…you already know…a panda. Could you ask for anything more?

The answer is, of course, yes. I would have loved to see the full song, but sometimes life slaps you back to reality rather abruptly…just to see if you can feel your face.

Coming off the audio problems that plagued us on last week’s Sound Session archive, I was horrified to discover that the studio computer we use to record our show was completely inoperable…about 10 minutes before taking the air.  After realizing I wouldn’t be able to fix it in time, I put out a last ditch tweet in hopes that someone might be able to record it from their computer.  Sure enough, our SNSS listeners came through in the clutch!

While one faithful listener recorded the show through laptop speakers (the 2011 version of that old school Stretch & Bobbito tape you have in a shoebox somewhere), the sound quality probably wasn’t going to satisfy y’all.  Luckily, @therealKramer came through with a high quality rip of the show, which actually sounds stronger than anything we’ve recorded in our new studio (we’ll get that figured out, I promise!).  The first few minutes are missing, but if you haven’t heard Frank Ocean’s “Novacane” by now, you have bigger problems than missing the start of SNSS #311.

Enjoy the show and thanks again to all our listeners, especially Greg!

Show #311 (5-15-11)

1. Frank Ocean – “Novacane”
2. DJ Quik ft. Gift Reynolds & Jon B – “Hydromatic”
3. Snoop Dogg ft. Mr. Porter – “My Own Way”
4. Ya Boy ft. Akon – “Lock Down”
5. Killer Mike – “Ric Flair”
6. Curren$y – “#JetsGo”
7. Freddie Gibbs – “Way 2 Fast”
8. Animal Farm ft. Talib Kweli – “Test Of Time” (Local Music)
9. Emilio Rojas – “Breaking Point”
10. Asher Roth & Nottz – “Enforce The Law”
11. REKS – “Underdog”
12. Elzhi – “It Ain’t Hard To Tell”
13. Bad Meets Evil – “Fast Lane”
14. **INTERVIEW WITH STATE OF THE ARTIST, PT. 1**
15. State Of The Artist ft. Shaprece – “Alive” (Local Music)
16. DJ Khaled ft. Drake, Rick Ross, & Lil Wayne – “I’m On One”
17. Big K.R.I.T. ft. Raheem DeVaughn – “Player’s Ballad”
18. **INTERVIEW WITH STATE OF THE ARTIST, PT. 2**
19. Ras Kass – “Soul On Ice (Diamond D Remix)” (Throwback of the Week)
20. Kyle Rapps ft. U-N-I – “Rapps 101”
21. Gods’illa ft. Maimouna Youssef – “You Don’t Have To Be A Star”
22. Fashawn ft. Sam Hook – “Down That Road”
23. Gerald Walker – “The Missing Piece”
24. James Pants – “Darlin’” (Local Music)
25. Fresh Daily – “Easy”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?e1a8fgluyh1t7yl
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/90246287b294062e/)
(2nd back up / streaming link – http://www.usershare.net/fygrjsit4w7r/DJ Hyphen and J. Moore – Sunday Night Sound Session, Show 311, 5-15-11.mp3)

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.