The Audacity of Dope

Khat is apparently part of The Weeknd’s mysterious XO crew, so as you’d expect, details on him are pretty sparse. Not surprisingly, he makes a similar “pseudo-R&B meets trip-hop while on X” kind of sound that The Weeknd is killing with as we approach prime cuffing season. More loft music for the nights that you can’t remember, with the people that you won’t forget.

Soundtrack music for the rainy and cold northwest winter…

Download the whole Traphouse project here.

It seems like my Twitter timeline and most of my homies love to clown Drake and I suppose he’s a fairly easy target, but basically, aside from Yeezy, he’s probably my favorite artist around these days.  I’m excited to hear what Take Care sounds like on the 24th (or the week before with the bootleggery) and I have a feeling that as we move in to the heart of cuffing season with a long winter and no NBA, we’re all gonna be listening to a lot of Drake & The Weeknd these next few months.  Don’t fight it.

Ah yes!  After a few months of anxious waiting, we’ve received the follow up to The Weeknd’s House of Balloons in the form of Thursday, a 9 song EP that picks up where his debut left off.  On my first few listens, no, it’s not quite as impressive as Balloons, but that isn’t much of a slight.

House of Balloons is an automatic classic in my book and Thursday has a few moments that live up to that level.  Even the parts that don’t are still dope, but bottom line, either you like The Weeknd‘s sound or you don’t.  There is no middle ground and this tape won’t change your mind one way or the other.

Personally, I love it.

Sexy/Emo/Baller/Depressed music all in one, perfect for the loft and for the upcoming cold season.  I don’t think you’ll find a better 2am soundtrack this winter, but ladies, if you do, please let me know…

Download here.

As I was trying to think of a topic for this week’s SNSS wrap up, I couldn’t really get past the shocking realization that it’s already…August.  How…does…this…happen?  Wasn’t it just New Year’s?

Eh well…time is flying and we’re here to provide the soundtrack for your rapidly moving life.  Episode #322 features new tracks from Smoke DZA, Chevy Woods, Inc., Hassaan Mackey, Wordsworth, Charlie Smarts, and one of my favorite mini-sets in quite some time: a 4 song block of Toronto’s finest.  Between Drake, Shad, Kardinal Offishall, and Purple HeArts (well, The Weeknd too, but we didn’t spin him this show), the T-Dot is responsible for all my favorite music from artists not named Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean, Dom Kennedy, and Big K.R.I.T. right now.  Must be something in the water up there…or the lack of a debt ceiling.

Rock to it.

Show #322 (7-31-11)

1. Jay-Z & Kanye West – “Otis”
2. Thurz – “Dope”
3. Smoke DZA ft. Bun B & Big K.R.I.T. – “On The Corner”
4. Chevy Woods ft. Mac Miller – “The Drive”
5. Kendrick Lamar ft. BJ The Chicago Kid – “Kush & Corinthians”
6. Dom Kennedy – “Graduate”
7. Grynch – “Mister Rogers” (Local Music)
8. Drake – “Headlines”
9. Shad – “Flawless”
10. Kardinal Offishall – “Ol’ Time Killin’, Pt. 2 (Anywhere)”
11. Purple HeArts – “ReMinder Smiles”
12. Frank Ocean – “Thinking About You”
13. Inc. – “Swear”
14. Rapsody – “Sweetest Hangover”
15. The Physics – “Delusions Of Grandeur” (Local Music)
16. DOOMSTARKS – “Victory Laps”
17. Hassaan Mackey & Apollo Brown ft. Finale – “Higher”
18. Roc Marciano – “Momma Told Me”
19. John Crown ft. Action Bronson – “Like This” (Local Music)
20. Jay Rock ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Hood Gone Love It”
21. A Tribe Called Quest – “Buggin’ Out” (Throwback of the Week)
22. Charlie Smarts – “Tony Robbins”
23. Wordsworth – “Reach”
24. Crooked I – “Mr. Porter Meets Mr. Pigface”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?bytc356v4b62rb8
(back up / streaming link – http://hulkshare.com/oroq4t7uavmk)
(2nd back up – http://www.zshare.net/audio/932362681a067691/)

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.

Shout to the homey G for always giving me the heads up on good music from his hometown, Toronto.  Why is the T-Dot killing it so much these days?!

Any record using the classic Dilla “Let’s Ride” drums is always going to get my head nodding (shout to my guy Tunji too), and I so desperately need more of this grown, genuine, soulful music in my world.

It seems like when folks aren’t discussing planking on Twitter (hip-hop, you’re late to the party on that one), they’re talking Drizzy. I’ve seen negative feedback from a lot of my friends and peers for “Marvin’s Room” and “Trust Issues,” but like pretty much all of Drake’s music, I like these records.

And as emo as people want to accuse Drake of being, there’s something pretty gully about dropping the official visuals for “Marvin’s Room” right after Chris Brown released his version. Wamp waaaaaamp.

“I’m talkin’ crazy girl, I’m lucky that you picked up…”

I’ve said it before on the site and I’ll say it again. I’m a sucker for flashing lights and when you combine them with crystal clear video and a time lapse…aw man, it’s ALWAYS dope.

There are certain times when you just have to swear.  When using the “safe” words in the English language just aren’t enough.  When something hits you so right that anything less than vulgarity wouldn’t do it justice.  That’s the feeling I had when I finally got a chance to listen to the new project from mysterious Toronto based singer, The Weeknd.  This shit is sexy as fuck.

And no, the picture of Estella Warren above has nothing to do The Weeknd.  It’s just also sexy as fuck.

Download here.

There are only a few cities that I haven’t been to that I would love to visit and Toronto is definitely one of them.  Big up to all T-Dot massive.

Other cities that need Hyphenated visits:  Hong Kong, Tokyo, Sydney, Stockholm, and New York.  Yes, that’s right.  I’ve been in the music biz for 10 years and alive for 28, but haven’t been to NYC yet.  Shrug.

ManifestoTV caught up with Shad for his recent Toronto performance and also shot a quick interview with the dopest MC out right now.  Stop sleepin’!