The Audacity of Dope

Visuals for one of the songs of the year.  A lot of fans wanted Kendrick to keep going in the direction he established on good kid, m.a.a.d city, but the message here is so necessary.  Well done K. Dot.

In what’s becoming a bit of a tradition, J. Moore and I chopped it up with Kendrick Lamar at our Summer Jam last week (if you missed our last K. Dot Summer Jam interview, peep it here).  In front of the natural backdrop of The Gorge, Kendrick talked about his interests outside of music, the possibility of scoring films in the future, what international tour life is like, being an accessible as a celebrity, and more, before taking the stage and performing in front of 15k fans.

Shout to Kendrick, Interscope, TDE, and KUBE for coordinating and the First Ladies for filming/editing!

This is one of the songs of the year, imo. Can’t say the video lives up to the audio, but it’s cool. Shout to Mack’s cameo hahaha.

Kendrick’s flow on this one is crazy!

J. Moore and I recently had a chance to chop it up with Joey Bada$$ and the Pro Era crew at the Sound Session studio.  We touched on a bunch of topics, including how they originally came together,; how they were put on to golden hip-hop by their families, their ambitions outside of hip-hop, and what life is like on tour with the whole crew.  We also discussed their upcoming projects, including solos from Joey and CJ Fly, and they spoke on how artists like Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, and the TDE camp are inspiring them as artists and businessmen.

I’m hoping more younger cats in the game follow the same general path as Pro Era.  There’s just something naturally ill about that classic boom-bap sound, and as long as artists are being genuine and providing their own twist on it, I’ll never get tired of hearing it.

Shout to Statik Selektah and Jake One for coming through as well, plus the Detooz Films homies for filming!

Kendrick’s album was initially hailed as a potential classic and it continues to get better with age. I speculated that he had it in him back in this post for the “Tammy’s Song” video, and I think he’s pulled it off.  good kid, m.a.a.d. city.  5 mics for me.

Not sure why the official YouTube clip got pulled down with a notice saying “UMG Filed A Copyright Claim” on it, but hopefully UMG isn’t standing in the way of Kendrick and TDE running things the way they want. I’m pretty sure the success and classic music they’re releasing proves they know what they’re doing without major label meddling.

Anyway, enjoy this one until it gets taken down too…

New music on this week’s SNSS from artists like Buckshot, Murs, 9th Wonder, Lil Fame, Busta Rhymes, Macklemore, Ellie Goulding, Sean Price, Danny!, Tanya Morgan, ASAP Rocky, Lecrae, Musiq Soulchild, and more, plus we played part of our interview with the man of the moment, Kendrick Lamar.  Kendrick has delivered a GREAT album (too soon to call it a classic…I wish reviewers would let albums breathe for a little…only time will tell if something is truly worthy of that status) and he deserves your support.  Cop Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City right here!

Speaking of Kendrick, be sure to peep the video of our interview with him right here.  Shout to Kendrick, Byze One, Detooz Films, TDE, Interscope, and everyone involved with bringing K-Dot back on our show (missed our first interview from a few months back?  Click here).

Enjoy the show!

Show #384 (10-21-12)

1. Buckshot & 9th Wonder – “Stop Rappin’”
2. Murs & 9th Wonder – “It’s Over”
3. Kanye West – “White Dress”
4. Pusha T ft. Future – “Pain”
5. Fizzyology (Lil Fame & Termanology) ft. Styles P & Busta Rhymes – “Play Dirty”
6. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Ben Bridwell (of Band Of Horses) – “Starting Over” (Local Music)
7. Sol – “Old Him” (Local Music)
8. Charlie Red – “Kansas”
9. Miguel – “How Many Drinks”
10. Jesse Boykins III & MeLo-X x Fink – “Naked For Life (Zulu Guru Remix)”
11. Ellie Goulding – “Hanging On”
12. Sean Price – “Bar-Barian”
13. Danny! ft. Tanya Morgan – “Even Louder”
14. ASAP Rocky ft. Drake, 2 Chainz, & Kendrick Lamar – “F*ckin’ Problems”
15. **INTERVIEW WITH KENDRICK LAMAR, PT. 1**
16. Kendrick Lamar ft. Drake – “Poetic Justice”
17. **INTERVIEW WITH KENDRICK LAMAR, PT. 2**
18. E-40 ft. Suga-T – “Sprinkle Me” (Throwback of the Week)
19. Lecrae ft. Big K.R.I.T. & Ashthon Jones – “Mayday”
20. J. Pinder ft. Musiq Soulchild – “Lenore” (Local Music)
21. Saigon – “Relafriendship”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www25.zippyshare.com/v/935170/file.html
(back up / streaming link – http://linkmixes.com/fimlo5mucb3e)
(2nd back up – http://www.sharebeast.com/7y7na2ln3vb1)

Link to watch our interview with Kendrick Lamar – https://www.theaudacityofdope.com/2012/10/21/kendrick-lamar-on-sound-session-interview-2/

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.

Following up on his interview with J. Moore and I from our Summer Jam a few months ago, Kendrick stopped by the Sound Session studios this past week while out in Seattle for a show. 

We talked all about his new album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City, which drops tomorrow.  He spoke on his approach to the record considering it’s not his first project but his first on a major label, how he wanted it to act as an introduction to the rest of his music, whether or not the label influenced him creatively, his favorite song on the album, and more.  We also touched on his early days as a rapper, getting in front of a mic for the first time, how his Top Dawg Entertainment crew compares to the other cliques in the game, and some other random topics.

Be sure to cop the album tomorrow and support one of the best artists we have in music right now!

There’s a whole lot of talk about crews these days…from G.O.O.D. to MMG to YMCMB to Shady, etc….but honestly, what the Black Hippy crew is doing might be the most impressive of them all.  Quality, genuine, and fresh music, largely built all off their own grind.  Doesn’t get much doper than that.

We all know Kendrick is in a unique position as one of the dopest “underground” MC’s around, but yet potentially on the verge of breaking through and become one of the biggest commercial artists in the game too (a topic we discussed with him at KUBE’s Summer Jam here).  It’s a tricky tightrope to balance upon.

“Swimming Pools (Drank)” is his follow up single to “The Recipe,” both of which are great songs that have some commercial appeal without sacrificing any of his content.  This one is especially well written, as I suspect you’ll hear a lot of people singing along with this song but not actually understanding the true message.  Thankfully, Jerome D’s video does a great job of showing you what Kendrick’s saying here.  Don’t get it twisted.