The Audacity of Dope

2012 is all finished and as is tradition on SNSS, we ended December with our annual “Best Of” wrap up show.  You can check some of our recent wrap ups here (2009, 2010, and 2011) and down below is this year’s list.  Our format is simple: there’s no countdown and we don’t claim this to be any sort of definitive list.  Instead, we just pick our favorite songs of the year from local and national artists, with the only caveat being that we try not to pick multiple songs from the same artists.  If that was the case, folks like Frank Ocean, Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, and Nas could easily fill up many of the spots.

Without further ado, our playlist, download links, and some notes about each track.

Show #394 (12-30-12)
**Best of 2012**

1. Kanye West ft. Pusha T & Ghostface Killah – “New God Flow (Remix)”
2. Meek Mill ft. Big Sean – “Burn”
3. Gangrene (Oh No & Alchemist) – “Flame Throwers”
4. J. Pinder ft. Dice – “Never No” (Local Music)
5. Schoolboy Q ft. ASAP Rocky – “Hands On The Wheel”
6. Big K.R.I.T. – “4EvaNaDay (Theme)”
7. Dom Kennedy – “My Type Of Party”
8. Rashad – “Make Love 2 This”
9. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Mary Lambert – “Same Love” (Local Music)
10. Reef The Lost Cauze – “The Prey”
11. Lupe Fiasco – “Bitch Bad”
12. The Physics – “So Funky” (Local Music)
13. Shad – “Old Prince”
14. Frank Ocean – “Pyramids”
15. Nas – “The Don”
16. Beanie Sigel ft. State Property – “The Reunion”
17. Jarv Dee – “I Just Wanna” (Local Music)
18. Kendrick Lamar – “B*tch, Don’t Kill My Vibe”
19. Miguel – “Do You…”
20. BJ The Chicago Kid – “Good Luv’n”
21. Rick Ross ft. Dr. Dre & Jay-Z – “3 Kings”
22. Ray Dalton – “So Emotional” (Local Music)
23. Yuna – “Live Your Life”

Link to download/stream the mp3 of the show – http://www69.zippyshare.com/v/11535119/file.html
(back up link – http://linkmixes.com/e367jv3frsds)
(2nd back up – http://www.sharebeast.com/vkqnfp1dyis4)

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.

Notes:

1. Yeezy had multiple records that could hold down anyone’s list (“Mercy,” “Clique,” “Way Too Cold (Theraflu),” etc.), but we went with the remix to his Ghostface inspired single, featuring Tony Starks himself.  Pusha might have stole the show though…
2. “God…oh God!” – Big Sean said it all.
3. Alchemist had plenty of great beats in 2012, but this slept on record featured his hardest slap of the year.
4. If it weren’t for a certain duo from Seattle blowing up in 2012, Pinder’s success would be more widely celebrated.  If he continues to release songs like this, it’ll come.
5. Crews like GOOD Music, Young Money, and MMG were everywhere in 2012, but the year’s best collective was Top Dawg.  Ab-Soul, Kendrick, and Q shined, with the latter’s biggest record being this collaboration with ASAP Rocky.
6. While K.R.I.T.’s official major label debut album was quite good, his mixtape was better.  The man just makes quality music left and right.
7. Dom took some flack this year for his slowed down, relaxed rhymes on the Yellow Album, but it worked like a charm on his DJ Dahi produced single.
8. Rashad was the most slept on artist in 2012.  His Museum project came out of nowhere and is a borderline classic.
9. See #4.  Mack and Ryan owned 2012, both in Seattle and nationally, attaining new heights for unsigned artists.  “Thrift Shop” is a top 10 single, but “Same Love” was their most powerful and helped Washington state legalize same sex marriage.
10. Tackling one of the most troubling stories of the year, Reef summed up the anger, confusion, and worry that Trayvon Martin’s murder brought up in February.
11. Never one to bite his tongue, Lupe launched a scathing assault on one of hip-hop’s favorite words.
12. If the Physics put out music, it’s a lock that they’ll have a song on our wrap up list.  One of the best groups in hip-hop resides in our backyard.
13. It’s a testament to SK’s rhyming ability that a freestyle, quick-strike style mixtape dropped for fun still produced some of the best verses of the year.  Just wait until his next album…
14. Last year, “Novacane” was my song of the year.  This year, Frank took it again with his 10 minute opus.  He also gets my album of the year for the brilliant Channel Orange.
15. We could have easily picked “Daughters” or “Bye Baby” here, but we went with his Salaam Remi produced, Heavy D inspired anthem.
16. Beanie may have ran into some legal trouble this year (…again), but he also managed to get the band back together for a record that was undeniably Philly…and filthy.
17. The Moor Gang made a significant impact locally in 2012 and with songs like this, there’s no reason they can’t break out nationally in 2013.
18. With all due respect to Nasir, Kendrick likely dropped the rap album of the year.  We could have picked a number of songs off it, but we went with this instant classic.
19. We played “Adorn” early on, well before it went on to be one of the biggest songs of the year, but “Do You…” was the better pick off Miguel’s album.  A flawless song.
20. Frank may have had the R&B album of the year, but BJ wasn’t that far behind.  Pineapple Now-Laters was highly slept on, but people will wake up when he starts to get a major label push in 2013.
21. Rozay, Dre, and Hov with a beat by Jake One?  Yep!  New name: Jake Won.
22. Many know of Ray’s name through his singing on Macklemore’s “Can’t Hold Us,” but he stepped out on his own in 2012 with this song.  If he keeps making music like this, the sky is the limit.
23. Yuna linked up with Pharrell for multiple songs off her major label debut, but this catchy single was the strongest.  Having her perform it live on SNSS was one of our highlights of the year as well.

Honorable mentions from artists not otherwise represented:

• 50 Cent – “You Took My Heart”
• Aaliyah ft. Drake – “Enough Said”
• Ab-Soul ft. Alori Joh & JaVonte’ – “Empathy”
• ASAP Rocky – “Goldie”
• A Yellow Man – “3,000 Miles Of Youth”
• Big Boi ft. Little Dragon – “Mama Told Me (Unreleased Version)”
• Blu & Exile – “The Only One”
• Brother Ali – “Writer’s Block”
• Brothers From Another ft. Prometheus Brown & Thig Natural – “Molly Moon”
• Common ft. Maya Angelou – “The Dreamer”
• Danny Brown – “Grown Up”
• Dee-1 – “Writer’s Block”
• DJ Khaled ft. Scarface, Nas, & DJ Premier – “Hip-Hop”
• Dr. Oop – “Magic Milk”
• Ellie Goulding – “High For This”
• Elzhi – “Blue Window”
• Freddie Gibbs & Madlib ft. BJ The Chicago Kid – “Shame”
• Gensu Dean ft. Olivier Daysoul – “Wantchu”
• Gilbere Forte – “Pray”
• Killer Mike – “Willie Burke Sherwood”
• Little Dragon – “Sunshine”
• Maffew Ragazino – “Amaretto Sour”
• Mansions On The Moon – “Leaves Fall”
• Oddisee – “Paralyzed”
• OnCue – “Kinda Late”
• Rhye – “Open”
• Rochelle Jordan – “Pressure”
• Saigon ft. Jovan Dais – “Women Are The New Dogs”
• Slum Village ft. De La Soul – “Turning Me Off”
• Steven A. Clark – “Don’t Have You”
• THEESatisfaction – “QueenS”
• The Kid Daytona ft. Jadakiss – “Low (Remix)”
• The Weekend – “Twenty Eight”

See you in 2013.

Another year is in the books and here on Sound Session, you already know what that means: it’s time for our annual wrap up show.  As we’ve said in years past (2009 & 2010), this playlist isn’t a definitive, comprehensive list by any means, nor is it compiled in any sort of numerical ranking marking which songs are “better” than the others.  Instead, we simply picked records and artists that played a large part on our show this past year and the songs we couldn’t stop listening to.

As I usually do, I’ve listed some notes on why each song made the cut, along with a few honorable mentions from artists not otherwise represented (i.e., I could have listed a plethora of tracks from Drake, The Weeknd, Kendrick, Kanye/Jay, etc., but we’ll keep it simple…).

Enjoy the show and make 2012 your best year yet.

Show #342 (1-1-12)
**Best of 2011**

1. Drake ft. Rick Ross – “Lord Knows”
2. Nas – “Nasty”
3. Jay-Z & Kanye West – “Gotta Have It”
4. Kendrick Lamar – “HiiiPower”
5. Tyler, The Creator – “Yonkers”
6. Frank Ocean – “Novacane”
7. TiRon & Ayomari – “If I Had You”
8. The Physics – “These Moments” (Local Music)
9. Dom Kennedy – “On My Way”
10. Curren$y – “She Don’t Want A Man”
11. Big K.R.I.T. – “The Vent”
12. Rocki Evans – “Funeral Song”
13. Purple HeArts – “Know Go”
14. Shabazz Palaces ft. Thee Satisfaction – “Swerve…the reeping of all that is worthwhile (Noir not withstanding)” (Local Music)
15. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Ray Dalton – “Can’t Hold Us” (Local Music)
16. Little Dragon – “Ritual Union”
17. Common ft. Makeba – “Blue Sky”
18. Childish Gambino – “Freaks and Geeks”
19. Maffew Ragazino – “Black Sheep”
20. Ghostface Killah ft. Black Thought – “In Tha Park”
21. Thurz – “Dope”
22. Lupe Fiasco ft. Skylar Grey – “Words I Never Said”
23. Charlie Smarts – “Torture”
24. J. Cole ft. Drake – “In The Morning”
25. The Weeknd – “The Party & The After Party”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?vdi2nrygmyfjrsf
(back up / streaming link – http://hulkshare.com/6d7zxtd90fjk)
(2nd back up – http://www.zshare.net/audio/981872599a085813/)

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.

Notes:

1. Drizzy was everywhere this year and while most records were slow and brooding (“Marvin’s Room” is an instant classic), he reminded his deriders he can rhyme too.  Just Blaze’s incredible beat and Rick Ross coining the #YOLO term didn’t hurt either.
2. Anyone who thought Nas slipped with the Distant Relatives project was crazy to begin with.  Nas punctuated that with “Nasty.”
3. Did Watch The Throne live up to the hype?  Probably not, but it’s still one of the best albums of the year and while “Otis” and “Murder To Excellence” were also great, the standout is this short but sweet record…despite Jay’s “planking on a million” line.
4. After a few good years, Kendrick broke out in a major way with Section.80 in 2011.  This J. Cole produced single was the first track released off the project and set the tone for the whole album.  Kendrick will drop a 5 mic classic before it’s all said and done.
5. Tyler and the Odd Future crew had an amazing year in 2011 and while many tracks were a bit too heavy on the shock value, “Yonkers” didn’t go overboard (though the video might have, for some).  Instead, Tyler cooked up one of the best beats of the year that would have sounded at home on a classic Wu-Tang album.
6. My personal song of the year.  Nuff said.
7. They just don’t make music like this anymore.  TiRon & Ayomari’s uptempo record becomes a classic the second the horns come in for the first time.
8. Three straight appearances on our year end wrap up show for The Physics, who consistently make my favorite music from the Northwest.  No need for drums on this record when everything else is that dope.
9. Dom dropped two great projects in 2011 and had numerous records that we could have picked, but this one represents his trademark new west sound perfectly.
10. The ongoing joke is that Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y are ALWAYS rapping about smoking weed with your girl, but hey, when it comes out like this, you can’t really be mad at it.  Unless that’s your girl.
11. Along with Don Trip’s “Letter 2 My Son,” Big K.R.I.T.’s “The Vent” was the most heartfelt record of the year.  That’s what music should be all about.
12. Rocki may not be on everyone’s radar (yet), but if he keeps making songs like this, he will be in 2012.
13. While Drake, The Weeknd, and even our good friend Shad have been making headlines in the US all year, be on the lookout for another crew from Canada in 2012.
14. International acclaim from fans and press alike marked a great year for Seattle’s own Shabazz Palaces.  Thee Satisfaction come along for the ride on this one, closing out the record in a way only they can.
15. Speaking of international success for local musicians, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis blew up in 2011.  Seriously.  Did you see them rock almost 10k at Bumbershoot?
16. Yukimi is incredible and gets most of the headlines, but the rest of the band is amazing as well.  You need to see Erik drum live to truly experience Little Dragon.
17. Com just barely dropped his album in time for most people to include it in their year end wrap ups, but the minute “Blue Sky” was released, it instantly reserved its spot on our list.
18. I was tempted to pick “Be Alone” or “Hold You Down,” which show a slightly more serious side of Gambino, but this record was Donald’s break out song for 2011.
19. In a year where most newcomers came from other cities, Maffew and Action Bronson showed there’s still a bright future in NYC.
20. Most forgot that Ghostface’s album was released right before the new year so this Frank Dukes produced banger was too late for everyone’s 2010 lists, and sadly forgotten on most 2011 wrap ups.  Except ours.
21. Fans were disappointed to see U-N-I go their separate ways but both Thuz and Y-O dropped good projects in 2011, highlighted by this appropriately titled record from the former.
22. While the beat and hook left much to be desired, Lupe spit some of the realest bars of the year on this track.  If Lu ever releases acapellas, it might destroy the internet.
23. One of our favorite crews, Kooley High, saw one member, Rapsody, achieve a lot of notoriety in 2011 but our favorite track from the North Carolina collective was Charlie Smarts’ “Torture.”  Just listen to those keys…
24. Always a good question…
25. Anytime someone literally goes from unknown to the most sought after independent artist in the game, he has to be the rookie of the year.  Nobody came out of nowhere like The Weeknd in recent memory, thanks in large part to Drake’s co-sign and the strictly grown & sexy music.

Honorable mentions from artists not otherwise represented:

• Amy Winehouse ft. Nas – “Like Smoke”
• Asher Roth & Nottz – “Break Bread”
• Fly.Union – “Hard Sell”
• Goapele – “Play”
• Gods’illa ft. Maimouna Youssef – “You Don’t Have To Be A Star”
• Jhene Aiko – “Stranger”
• Killer Mike – “Ric Flair”
• Mayer Hawthorne – “A Long Time”
• Pete Rock & Smif-N-Wessun ft. Styles P & Sean Price – “That’s Hard”
• Phonte ft. Jeanne Jolly – “Everything Is Falling Down”
• Pusha T – “Blow”
• Raekwon ft. Nas – “Rich and Black”
• Random Axe ft. Roc Marciano – “Chewbacca”
• Raphael Saadiq – “Good Man”
• Rapsody ft. Raekwon – “Black Diamonds”
• Rick Ross – “I Love My B*tches”
• Royce Da 5’9” – “Second Place”
• Saigon – “The Greatest Story Never Told”
• Schoolboy Q ft. Jhene Aiko – “Fantasy”
• Stephen Marley ft. Damian Marley & Buju Banton – “Jah Army (Revelation, Pt. 1)”
• Travis Barker ft. Lupe Fiasco & Pharrell – “If You Want To”
• Young Jeezy ft. Jay-Z & Andre 3000 – “I Do”

2012.  Let’s go.

In a few days, we’ll all celebrate the end of another year (or do you celebrate the start of the next…glass half full vs. half empty?) but before 2011 arrives, it’s tradition that every media outlet in the world releases some sort of wrap up on the previous 12 months.  Here at SNSS, we’re no different…although ours is [hubris] inherently better [/hubris].  In reviewing last year’s Best of 2009 list, I noticed my explanation still applies:

Keep in mind, these are not the biggest records of the year…nor the blogosphere favorites…or Twitter picks.  Nah, these are 26 24 of our favorite songs that we played heavily on SNSS in 2009 2010.  They are not in any sort of countdown or follow any other ranking schema.  We included a few of our favorite records from the town and crossed into other genres as well.  In other words, we followed our normal formula for spinning great music on the radio, but we just supersized it on some Barry Bonds-Roger Clemons-Alex Rodriguez super powered steroid type steez.

Speaking of baseball, we’re closing in on our 300th show.  Not exactly at Cy Young level yet, but still a notable accomplishment in today’s radio environment.  As always, we’re thankful to have the opportunity to shine light on great music and talented artists, plus we really appreciate every soul who tunes in.  We had more positive feedback and new listeners in 2010 than ever before and SNSS continues to move onward and upward.  In all seriousness, it’s humbling to be one of the last bastions of the culture on commercial hip-hop radio.  Thank you.

As I did last year, I’ve included some notes for our selections below, as well as a few honorable mention picks that we would have included on the air if we had enough time.  Any feedback/debate is welcome.  Did we miss any joints in particular?

Enjoy!

Show #291 (12-26-10)
**Best of 2010**

1. Nas & Damian Marley – “As We Enter”
2. Big Boi ft. Andre 3000 & Sleepy Brown – “Lookin’ 4 Ya (Full Mix)”
3. Candidt ft. Maya Jenkins – “Imaginary Stereo” (Local Music)
4. N.E.R.D. ft. Nelly Furtado – “Hot-N-Fun”
5. Freddie Gibbs – “National Anthem (FTW)”
6. Big K.R.I.T. ft. Devin The Dude & Curren$y – “Moon & Stars (Hyphen Remix)”
7. Wiz Khalifa ft. Killa Kyleon – “Spotlight”
8. Concise Kilgore – “Alaska”
9. Freeway & Jake One ft. Raekwon – “One Thing” (Local Music)
10. Aloe Blacc – “Dollar”
11. Nottz ft. Dwele – “You Need This Music”
12. Reflection Eternal ft. Jay Electronica, J. Cole, & Mos Def – “Just Begun”
13. The Physics – “My Place” (Local Music)
14. U-N-I ft. Miguel – “Lately”
15. Kanye West ft. Dwele – “Power”
16. Rick Ross ft. Jay-Z & John Legend – “Free Mason”
17. The Roots ft. STS & Joanna Newsom – “Right On”
18. Bilal – “All Matter”
19. Shad – “Rose Garden”
20. Theophilus London – “Flying Overseas (Version 1)”
21. Sol – “Dear Friends” (Local Music)
22. Dom Kennedy – “1997”
23. The Kid Daytona – “On The Hill”
24. Drake – “Fall For Your Type (Same Mistakes)”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?dgoqsov4ft9aqld
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/84451733eaf81c64/)
(2nd back up – http://usershare.net/vfjlt0697jzy)

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.

Notes:

1. Lead single off a hugely underrated album.  Damian’s production guidance + Nas’ introspective social commentary = WIN.
2. It’s a shame that this flawless Outkast record (Dre’s verses!) wasn’t even on Big Boi’s album because of label politics. The Clipse told y’all bout Jive…
3. Speaking of ‘Kast, this local gem sounded like it was birthed at Stankonia…but with a west coast and distinctly Seattle influence.
4. “Ok, we wrote this for a purpose…” and they succeeded.  Stadium music, 50 thousand at a time.
5. Gibbs is everything that hip-hop purists want in a MC.  We almost picked “The Ghetto,” but this record was harder, thanks largely to a chorus reminiscent of Pac’s best.
6. When a record has an incredible chorus and Devin The Dude featured on it, you just assume he supplies it.  Not here, where Krit’s crooning steals the show.  I blended Curren$y’s verse from the remix with the original to round it out.
7. There were a handful of great records on Kush & OJ and we were one of the shows to help break “Black and Yellow,” but our favorite was “Spotlight.”  Wiz wins the best adlib of 2010 with, “this beat go perfect with my belt.”  TGOD.
8. I guarantee we’re the only show with this record on our Best of 2010 list, but that’s a shame.  The Sade sample gets flipped so nasty, you can’t help but make the Cliff face when you hear it.  Possibly my favorite beat of the year.
9. Extended fam of SNSS (you may have caught J. Moore as Free’s hypeman on tour this year) dropped a great album and thanks to a careful clean edit, this was our favorite track to play off The Stimulus Package.
10. Aloe was EVERYwhere in 2010 and his success is well deserved.  Many in the country don’t know the artist, but they know the song.  And he murdered “Politician” live in studio with us.  Epitome of an artist.
11. Between the title, the lyrics, the hook, and the beat, no record summed up SNSS better than this song.  Take your corporate $$’s thaaaaattaway.
12. Talib and Hi-Tek not only reunited with each other and Mos, but they brought along newcomers Jay Elec and J. Cole for an instant classic.  As Kweli mentioned in studio with us, this record could fit right in with any early Blackstar/RE project.  And that’s a beautiful thing.
13. The Physics delivered our favorite local record of 2009 with “I Just Wanna Beat,” and they’re on the list again with the less direct, but equally sultry, “My Place.”
14. And when wifey is at your place, play this record and let Miguel talk to her.  “You on my mind right now…”
15. My favorite artist of the year (and the decade…and ever?) with the biggest song of the year.  Everything Yeezy did in 2010 was an event and this comeback record sparked it all.  Plus, the homey S1 got introduced to the rest of the world with a great look.  “No one man should have all that power”…but he does.
16. I was ready to go back to back ‘Ye with “Live Fast, Die Young,” but J picked another great track from the Bawse.  Kudos to Ross, who successfully evolved from an industry punchline a few years ago to making some of the best mainstream hip-hop music we have.  His ear for beats might be the best in the whole industry.
17. An incredible beat is complemented by a somewhat lackluster verse, until we hear, “I’m Black Thought, what could be more prolific?” and the song kicks into the next level.
18. J’s favorite song of the year has an eerie Marley-esque feel to its lyrics and Bilal hitting notes that only he can.  Honorable mention for one of my favorites, “Think It Over,” off the same album.
19. Sharing the “best writer in the game” title with Lupe Fiasco, Shad finally got some well deserved respect stateside in 2010.  If you’re still sleeping, you’ll wake up soon.  Don’t worry.
20. Anytime your song acts as my ringtone for a good 6 months of the year, you’ll likely make the Best Of wrap up.  Your getaway anthem.
21. As I mentioned in the post for this video, Sol is one of Seattle’s rising stars.  And with our well respected scene, he’ll soon be making noise around the country.  Cop it now while his rookie card is cheap.
22. “1997” sounds like it was a great year for Dom and a 15 year old Hyph would agree.  I also agree that “I hate how rappers use the term fresh so looooooosely.”
23. Daytona is one of our favorite MC’s in the game right now and his flow over this classic sample are a match made in heaven.  Add in a Nutso/Leon “Above The Rim” reference from the greatest movie ever made and I’m all in.  “He’s playin ball…with no ball!”
24. Yes, Drake’s singing.  Yes, he has limited range.  Yes, 40’s beats aren’t the most varied (…yet).  Yes, he gave this record to Jamie Foxx.  But yes, he has an incredible knack for capturing situations many of us have been in through his lyrics and yes, this is one of the best records of 2010.  Don’t make the same mistakes in 2011.

Honorable mentions from artists not otherwise represented:

• Black Milk ft. Royce Da 5’9″ & Elzhi – “Deadly Medley”
• Donnis – “Gone”
• Homeboy Sandman – “Mean Mug”
• Janelle Monae – “Cold War”
• Jay Electronica ft. Diddy – “Ghost Of Christopher Wallace”
• J. Cole – “Who Dat”
• Kidz In The Hall – “Grizzly Man”
• Laws – “Hold You Down”
• Lupe Fiasco – “I’m Beaming”
• Miguel ft. J. Cole – “All I Want Is You”
• Slum Village ft. Posdnuos & Phife Dawg – “Scheming”
• The Foreign Exchange – “Maybe She’ll Dream Of Me”
• Trek Life – “Wow”

Of course there are more, but if you really want to know all the records we liked in 2010, peep our archives!  See you in 2011!

Well, another year has come and gone and that can mean only one thing: you’re being constantly bombarded with “Best of 2009” lists everywhere you look.  This year, you’re probably also getting hit with “Best of the Decade” lists, which I personally find far more interesting to debate than the standard year-end recaps.  While we didn’t put together any best of the 2000’s (off the top…my favorite albums were “College Dropout,” “Graduation,” “The Blueprint,” “A Piece Of Strange,” “The Listening,” and “Connected,” among MANY others), J. Moore and I did compile our favorite Sound Session records from the past year for you.

Keep in mind, these are not the biggest records of the year…nor the blogosphere favorites…or Twitter picks.  Nah, these are 26 of our favorite songs that we played heavily on SNSS in 2009.  They are not in any sort of countdown or follow any other ranking schema.  We included a few of our favorite records from the town and crossed into other genres as well.  In other words, we followed our normal formula for spinning great music on the radio, but we just supersized it on some Barry Bonds-Roger Clemons-Alex Rodriguez super powered steroid type steez.

I’ve included some extra notes and honorable mentions for my fellow music nerds who want to see behind the curtain a little.  Of course, you can always just download the show and trust the opinions of your friendly neighborhood dope connoisseurs.  It’s unique.  It’s one of a kind.  It’s Sound Session.

Show #239 (12-27-09)
Best of 2009

1. Jay-Z – “D.O.A. (Death Of Autotune)”
2. J. Cole – “Lights Please”
3. Clipse ft. Kanye West – “Kinda Like A Big Deal”
4. Big Boi ft. Too $hort & George Clinton – “For Yo’ Sorrows”
5. Consequence ft. Kanye West & John Legend – “Whatever U Want”
6. The Roots – “How I Got Over”
7. Mayer Hawthorne – “Maybe So, Maybe No”
8. John Legend – “Lay Your Head Down”
9. Drake – “November 18th”
10. The Physics – “I Just Wanna Beat” (Local Music)
11. Outasight – “Brand New Day”
12. Pac Div – “Young Black Male”
13. Jay Electronica – “Exhibit C”
14. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – “Otherside” (Local Music)
15. Mos Def ft. Slick Rick – “Auditorium”
16. U-N-I – “Land Of The Kings”
17. Little Dragon – “Never, Never”
18. Goapele – “Milk & Honey”
19. Mr. Hudson ft. Kanye West – “Supernova”
20. Lupe Fiasco ft. Matthew Santos – “Shining Down”
21. Raekwon ft. Cappadonna & Ghostface Killah – “10 Bricks”
22. Royce Da 5’9” ft. Busta Rhymes – “Dinner Time”
23. Fresh Espresso – “Big Or Small” (Local Music)
24. The Kid Daytona ft. Bun B – “Air Born”
25. Crooked I & DJ Wicked – “Jackin’ For Beats 2009”
26. The Foreign Exchange ft. Darien Brockington – “Take Off The Blues”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?jzwezzjyymy
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/705153199ed07770/)

Notes:

1. The first, best, and most powerful record off Blueprint 3.
2. The 2 best albums this year were mixtapes and J. Cole had one of ’em.
3. “Popular Demand” was up there too, but Khalil & ‘Ye joined Pusha & Malice to make this a lock.
4. Sure, it’s an awesome record. But you wanted to hear Dre on it too, huh?
5. Only problem with this Grammy Family song? It’s too short for all that talent.
6. Is this the only official Roots song they released in 2009? At least they made it count.
7. “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out” came out in 2008 (or was it even ’07?), but the Mayer had a few contenders for song of the year.
8. An unreleased record that leaked this year, though it sounded straight out the Motown era.
9. So Far Gone was my mixtape album of the year and you could have picked about 10 Drake records to represent the 2009 Rookie of the Year.
10. My favorite track from Seattle in 2009, the Physics’ ode to keeping the relationship simple was completely too ill. Girls didn’t want to like it, but they had to.
11. OU’s unique style melded with insane production to result in this optimistic anthem.
12. “Pac Div” or “Mayor” were also flawless, but Like, Mibbs, and BeYoung were at their best when slightly more serious.
13. The radio rip caused a furor, the CDQ killed teh internets. The net’s golden child dropped the excellent “Exhibit A” as well.
14. Mack is one of Seattle’s best (no pun – peep “The Town“) and he opened his heart on this one. Killed our phones with every spin too.
15. Madlib on the beat, Mos remembering he can rhyme, and a Ruler verse for good measure? Check please.
16. A few joints off A Love Supreme could have been included but the GLS single helped Thurz & Y-O break through.
17. Our Swedish indie pop/electro/soul/downtempo/whateveryouwanttheygot darlings dropped another classic LP with Machine Dreams.
18. People should know better than to sleep on Goapele. This should have been on everyone’s Best Of list.
19. “Just give [him] a chaaaaaaance.” 808’s & Heartbreaks records from ‘Ye get better with every listen.
20. Biggest missed opportunity of ’09. Could have been huge, but no push, no video, no album. Lu’s on another level though.
21. Could have told me this was on the original Purple Tape and I would have believed you. Even Cappa sounds ill on it. Dilla!
22. Royce murdered mics all year but he rode this Quincy Tones produced banger perfectly.
23. Rik Rude & P-Smoov dropped one of the best albums of the year, but outside the NW, too many haven’t heard it. Wake up.
24. Not the best Bun verse, but Daytona’s ill flow and the mellow beat were intoxicating.
25. Like Royce, Crook beat up beats all year (word to Jersey Shore) but Wicked served up classics for him here.
26. Tay & Nic followed up the 5 Mic Connected by switching up the sound and still got nominated for a Grammy. FTW.

Honorable mentions from artists not otherwise represented:

• B.o.B – “Generation Lost”
• Brother Ali – “Fresh Air”
• Buggs Tha Rocka ft. Little Brother – “Get Away”
• D. Black ft. Marissa – “Yesterday” (Local Music)
• DJ Spinna ft. Phonte & Yahzarah – “Guaranteed”
• Dyme Def ft. Saigon – “Pick Up Ya Flow”
• Elzhi – “Deep”
• GLC ft. Kanye West & T-Pain – “Flight School”
• Grynch – “My Volvo” (Local Music)
• Kev Brown ft. Kenn Starr, Wayna, Raheem DeVaughn, & Eric Roberson – “The Hennessy Joint”
• K’Naan ft. Chubb Rock – “ABC’s”
• Lushlife – “Until The Sun Dies”
• M64 (Ragen Fykes & Ohmega Watts) – “In The Pocket” (Local Music)
• Marco Polo & Torae ft. Saukrates & S-Roc – “Crashing Down”
• Mike Posner ft. Big Sean & Freddie Gibbs – “Bring Me Down”
• Nas ft. Choklate – “Film”
• Nipsey Hussle – “Hussle In The House”
• Rashid Hadee – “The Wrong Thangs”
• Reflection Eternal ft. Res – “Back Again”
• Saukrates ft. Rich Kidd – “Salt N Pepper”
• Scribes – “Roll My Way” (Local Music)
• Slakah The BeatChild ft. Drake – “Enjoy Ya Self (Remix)”
• Stepbrothers (Evidence & Alchemist) – “It’s Coming Down”
• The Knux – “Fire”
• Timbaland ft. Drake & Lupe Fiasco – “Say Something (DJ Hyphen Edit)”
• TiRon ft. Ayomari – “3 Drink Minimum”
• Wale – “Pretty Girls”
• Yoshi ft. Buff1 & Darien Brockington – “Magnetic”
• Zion I ft. K. Flay – “Coastin'”

Special shout to the homey Shad as well.  America just started to catch on to his incredible The Old Prince album in 2009, but technically, the music had been released a few years ago in Canada.  Either way, he supplied us with a lot of great records to play this past year.

Again, far from comprehensive, but hopefully some of these songs resonated with you as much as they did with us in 2009.  Send any and all feedback this way.  I need something to occupy my time while the whole industry is closed up until the 4th.  See you all in 2010, peace and happiness to you and yours.

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.

Fireworks over the Bird’s Nest during the Closing Ceremonies

The Big Picture followed up their excellent shots of the Opening Ceremonies with a set of wrap up pictures from the Olympics.  Here are a few of my favorites:

The star of the Games, Usain Bolt, dusting the field in the 200m.

Lolo Jones after her heartbreaking loss in the 100m hurdles.

Australia’s Matthew Mitcham still can’t believe he won gold with a flawless final dive in the 10m platform.

Inside the Bird’s Nest during the Closing Ceremonies.

You can see the rest of the pictures in high quality here.