The Audacity of Dope

This past week, J. Moore and I were joined in studio by the legendary Raphael Saadiq. While we thoroughly enjoy breaking new artists and conducting interviews with up and coming musicians, there’s always something special about chopping it up with someone of Saadiq’s stature. The man has been one of the brightest starts in R&B for over 20 years and yet couldn’t be a nicer, more down to earth dude.

In the first part of the interview above, we spoke about his new Stone Rollin’ album, the “neo” & “retro” soul tags heaped on his recent work, his creative process, his collaboration with Little Dragon, and more.

In the second half of the interview, Saadiq spoke about his fondest memories of the Tony! Toni! Toné! and Lucy Pearl days, his proudest moment in music, his advice for young artists, and even playing basketball with Prince.

If you prefer to listen to the audio instead, you can grab it below:

Raphael Saadiq on Sound Session – http://www.mediafire.com/?97cxf19frx4o7r7
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/891679810db2ee03/)

During our discussion, I mistakenly stated that Stone Rollin’ was in stores now (mp3’s have sadly rendered release dates somewhat moot…for listeners at least), when in actuality, the album will be released May 10th.  My bad.  Go support it when it drops!

Generally speaking, we prefer to keep Sound Session focused upon what we’re here for: the music.  However, J. Moore and I have considerable interests in the non-hip-hop aspects of our community and we enjoy shining light on certain issues from time to time, particularly when we have the opportunity to bring in an expert in that field.  Along with all the great music on this week’s episode, we had the opportunity to chop it up with one such person, Nick Cain from a Seattle non-profit company called Vittana.

Without embarking on a long rant and getting too philosophical, I feel the two biggest issues negatively affecting the world are overpopulation and lack of education.  When you swim upstream from most other problems, they all seem to lead back to those two.

Seattle’s Vittana organization is a non-profit company that helps students around the world receive higher education for the first time, directly attacking the education issue and helping break the cycle.  For a more detailed explanation, please see their website here, but in short, the system depends on loans (not donations) from folks like you and me that go towards funding scholarships.  For a fraction of the cost of a college education in America, Vittana can help students attend school, graduate, secure a job, repay the loan, and begin providing a better future for themselves, their family, their country, and the world as a whole.

For more information, check out our interview with Nick Cain on this week’s show.  I’d also recommend you to look at their site for more information and even if their cause isn’t one that you choose to support, hopefully you remember the moral obligation you have to make the world a better place.  Give your time/attention/money to some sort of cause and you’ll be more fulfilled.

On a less serious note, we also welcomed the legendary Raphael Saadiq to Sound Session this past week.  We played a short snippet of our interview on the show, but you can download the entire discussion (or watch the video) through the links below and in this blog post.  Saadiq talked about everything from his new Stone Rollin’ album…to his days with Tony! Toni! Toné! and Lucy Pearl…to playing basketball with Prince.  Enjoy the interview and the show!

Show #307 (4-17-11)

1. Childish Gambino – “Freaks and Geeks”
2. Dom Kennedy – “Playa’s Punch”
3. Dyme Def – “Bring It In” (Local Music)
4. Kendrick Lamar – “Hiii Power”
5. Big K.R.I.T. – “King’s Blues”
6. Curren$y ft. Freddie Gibbs – “Scottie Pippen”
7. Sean Price ft. Mayhem Lauren & Roc Marciano – “How The Gods Chill (Remix)”
8. **INTERVIEW WITH NICK CAIN (of VITTANA), PT. 1**
9. Dice – “Things I Couldn’t Say” (Local Music)
10. Atmosphere – “Your Name Here”
11. MED ft. Blu – “This Is Your Life”
12. Soul Khan – “Soul Like Khan”
13. Busta Rhymes – “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See” (Throwback of the Week)
14. Luck-One – “Listening To The Rain” (Local Music)
15. Apollo Brown ft. Oddisee – “The Times”
16. **INTERVIEW WITH NICK CAIN (of VITTANA), PT. 1**
17. Sade ft. Jay-Z – “The Moon & The Sky (Remix)”
18. Frank Ocean – “Lovecrimes”
19. Little Dragon – “NightLight”
20. **INTERVIEW WITH RAPHAEL SAADIQ (SNIPPET)**
21. Raphael Saadiq ft. Little Dragon – “Just Don’t”
22. King – “Hey”
23. Wiz Khalifa ft. Curren$y – “Rooftops”
24. The Weeknd – “The Party & The After Party”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?3sase6eu4esb2m1
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/89167291a9e97cf6/)
(2nd back up – http://www.usershare.net/u3wgilk183iv/DJ Hyphen and J. Moore – Sunday Night Sound Session, Show 307, 4-17-11.mp3)

Link to download the full interview with Raphael Saadiq – http://www.mediafire.com/?97cxf19frx4o7r7
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/891679810db2ee03/)
(2nd back up – http://www.usershare.net/ryo63hezh7xk/DJ Hyphen and J. Moore – Interview With Raphael Saadiq, 4-13-11.mp3)

Link to watch the full interview with Raphael Saadiq – http://www.vimeo.com/22587703

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.

Wow.  Great video and great record.  Shout to the homey Sol for passing this on.

We may be interviewing Saadiq next week…any questions?

As I mentioned last week, we were joined in the studio by the lovely Anjulie on the most recent edition of Sound Session.  It’s always a blast to hang out with talented artists that are also cool people, which isn’t quite as common as you might think.  Anjulie’s self titled album is in stores (and Starbucks) now…be sure you cop it and support one of the dopest up and coming singers around.  If you need more proof, check her out in person when she hits your town for the Raphael Saadiq tour.  Trust me.

Also, if you missed it, peep the video for our full interview with Jay-Z’s first signing to his Roc Nation label, J. Cole.  This kid is destined for huge things, so if you aren’t familiar, catch up right here!

Show #233 (11-15-09)

1. **INTERVIEW WITH ANJULIE, PT. 1**
2. Wale – “Triumph”
3. DJ Crazy Toones ft. Kurupt – “2 Turntables and a Microphone”
4. Timbaland ft. Drake & Lupe Fiasco – “Say Something (DJ Hyphen Edit)”
5. Freeway & Jake One – “All By Myself” (Local Music)
6. Ice The Villain ft. Raheem DeVaughn – “Walk With You”
7. Mike Posner ft. Big Sean & Freddie Gibbs – “Bring Me Down”
8. **INTERVIEW WITH ANJULIE, PT. 2**
9. Anjulie – “Some Dumb Girl”
10. **INTERVIEW WITH ANJULIE, PT. 3**
11. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – “Otherside” (Local Music)
12. Slum Village – “Dope Man”
13. Focus ft. Crooked I, Jay Rock, Kida, & Marsha Ambrosius – “Homage To Dr. Dre”
14. J. Cole – “World Is Empty”
15. Fashawn – “Stars”
16. Solange – “Stillness Is The Move”
17. Little Dragon – “My Step”
18. **INTERVIEW WITH ANJULIE, PT. 4**
19. EvergreenOne & Todd Sykes – “Girl Song” (Local Music)
20. Joell Ortiz – “Happy Birthday Pun”
21. Black Sheep – “Forever Luvlee”
22. Focus ft. Phonte – “Recession”
23. **INTERVIEW WITH ANJULIE, PT. 5**

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?zmyymwhfryy
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/68576204a0b4681a/)

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.

On Monday, Nov. 16th, Raphael Saadiq will be performing at the Showbox Market and he’s bringing with him one of the dopest, up and coming singers out there, Anjulie.  Because Anjulie and her folks are so cool, she’ll be kicking it with us on Sound Session live in studio the night before.  And since we’re so cool, we’re giving you a chance to join us as well.

If you and a guest want to meet Anjulie, sit in the studio throughout our radio show, and take home a signed copy of her self titled debut, all you need to do is email me – DJHyphen@gmail.com – the answer to this (incredibly simple) question:

What province in Canada is Anjulie from?

That’s it.  Contest ends Friday at 10am.  I’ll be selecting one person to receive a pair of passes to join us, Anjulie, and the other winners we got on the air Sunday night.  Good luck!

On the same day as the wackness that is the video for “Jumpin’ (Out The Window)” leaked, Raphael shows these dudes what real R&B is supposed to sound like.  The Way I See It was one of the more slept on releases of the past year, make sure you’re up on it.

Shout to Perception for the higher quality clip!