The Audacity of Dope

As I mentioned when we first played this track on SNSS a while back, it seems like Tariq’s singing on the Jimmy Fallon Show might start to shine through more on their recorded material too.  If the results are anything like this, I don’t mind one bit.

Get out of these streets and get into the classroom kids.

Aside from Kanye’s “Glow In The Dark Tour,” I’ve never seen anyone do a better live performance than the Roots.  Seeing as how I’ve caught them about 15 times vs. 4 for ‘Ye, I think the overall edge has to go to Legendary.  In this clip from OKP TV, there’s some dope performance footage and ?uestlove and Black Thought talk about their live show strategy.  Plus, Greg The Dude broke out the fisheye.  I love the fisheye.

The homey Tunji also helped put this together (as you can partly see in the mirror while Tariq is talking), and he has additional clips over at his site…peep ’em.

Remix America paired up with Declare Yourself and interviewed ?uestlove (of the Roots) about the importance of voting in the upcoming election.  Decon Records‘ own Jason Goldwatch remixed the raw footage to create this dope final product.  If you’re not registered, head on over to Declare Yourself and do it.  Only takes a second to make a difference.

I’ve been having friendly debates with people recently about this upcoming monumental election, and the better ones have evolved into discussions about why you believe what you believe. I’ve found that a disappointingly large number of people will blindly support a candidate, either due to image or party affiliation. I’ve always fallen squarely on the ‘Democrat’ side of things, but that’s because the general beliefs of their party line up with mine most of the time. If you believe in the same things I do, and see the world the same way, chances are I’ll vote for you…regardless what party you schlep around in.

So with this election coming up, the most fundamental thing you can do is educate yourself. Find out what the candidates believe in, what their policies are, and what they want to do with this country. Then make your choice accordingly. Granted, you may believe that you’re choosing between “the lesser of two evils,” but that’s still an incredibly important decision…especially this time around.

?uestlove put up this little PSA to talk about a few of the reasons why he is voting for Barack Obama, and I encourage y’all to check it out. The topics he mentions are almost never discussed on any of the ‘talking heads’ news programs, but they’re all very important.

Decide what issues are most important to you in this election and then find out where the candidates stand on them. Hopefully, we’re all progressive people here and supporting Obama, but if not, it’s all good. We just disagree. But make sure we’re really disagreeing on issues and policies, not because your parents have always voted Republican…

Here’s the playlist and download links for last night’s edition of Sunday Night Sound Session. The music was crazy, if I do say so myself. There’s so much great music out right now, it’s a privilege to play these joints over the airwaves. Check it out if you missed it:

Show #159 (6-8-08)

1. The Roots ft. Mos Def & Styles P – “Rising Down”
2. Nas ft. Johnny Polygon – “Black President”
3. Nappy Roots – “No Static”
4. Common Market – “Bonanza” (Local Artist)
5. Freddie Joachim ft. Othello – “Wake Up”
6. Dwele ft. Slum Village – “I’m Cheatin’ (Remix)”
7. Elzhi (of Slum Village) – “The Know”
8. Reks – “Say Goodnight”
9. N.E.R.D. – “Yeah You”
10. Robin Thicke – “Magic”
11. Kidz In The Hall ft. Estelle – “Love Hangover”
12. El Prez ft. U-N-I & Dale Danja – “UAintUpOnThis!”
13. Blu – “The Classy Man”
14. Tanya Morgan – “We Doin’ Our…”
15. Grieves & Type – “Dame Dreamin’” (Local Artist)
16. Saigon ft. Red 5ive – “Believe It”
17. Joker The Bailbondsman – “She Was Like” (Local Artist)
18. Busta Rhymes ft. Reek Da Villain, Spliff Star, The Game, Lil’ Wayne, Nas, & Big Daddy Kane – “Don’t Touch Me (Throw Da Water On ‘Em) (Remix)”
19. Giant Panda – “Speakers Funk”
20. Common ft. Pharrell – “U.M.C. (Universal Mind Control)”
21. Big L – “Unexpected Flava”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WN593WXZ

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.

The Roots and Erykah Badu came to Seattle last Thursday to perform at Marymoor Park. While there, J. Moore and I had a chance to hop aboard the Roots’ (dope as hell) tour bus and talk to their drummer/ringleader, the legendary ?uestlove. We recorded the whole interview (shout to Caitlin on the Flip Cam) for y’all to check out. It’s 5 parts on YouTube, but the conversation was so dope and extensive, I didn’t want to just put up clips.

?uest spoke about all sorts of topics, including their new Rising Down project, the lost Roots album, volunteering for Barack Obama’s campaign, working on albums from Al Green and Marvin Gaye, why Black Thought is continually underrated, the rumor of a sequel to Dave Chappelle’s Block Party, and more!

Check out the first video here, and the rest after the jump.

Part 1 of 5

Also, if you can’t watch the videos and just want to peep the audio, you can do that right here (ZShare link available here). Warning: the audio only quality is a bit janky…the Flip Cam’s microphone + a running tour bus = an audiophile’s nightmare.  I suggest watching the videos if you can.

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more ?uesto coming soon