The Audacity of Dope

This past Sunday marked the unofficial 40th birthday of hip-hop, dating back to when DJ Kool Herc held his first house/block party at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in The Bronx.  In that spirit, we wanted to do something a little different with this week’s SNSS and it just so happened that one of hip-hop’s greatest journalists, Elliott Wilson, was in town to celebrate with us.  Elliott co-hosted this entire episode and gave great insight about hip-hop over the years, as only someone whose been working in this crazy industry since 1992 can.

In addition to new records from artists like Shad, Drake (can we just hurry up and make this a #1 chart topping hit?  What a SMASH.), Ellie Goulding, denitia and sene, Nickelus F, Sound Fx, David Dallas, and more, we also played 4 throwbacks, each one representative of a decade in rap history.  On top of all that, one of the dopest up and coming singers around, Arima Ederra, called in and allowed us to world premiere her new track, “New Old School Love.”

This was one of my favorite SNSS episodes in a long time.  Hope y’all enjoy!

Show #426 (8-11-13)
**Co-Hosted by Elliott Wilson**

1. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five – “The Message” (Throwback of the Week)
2. Shad ft. Saukrates – “Stylin’”
3. Schoolboy Q ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Collard Greens”
4. Kanye West – “Blood On The Leaves”
5. Jay-Z ft. Travis Scott – “Crown”
6. Lorde ft. Gilbere Forte – “Royals (RAAK Remix)”
7. David Dallas ft. Freddie Gibbs – “My Mentality”
8. Eric B. & Rakim – “Microphone Fiend” (Throwback of the Week)
9. J. Pinder – “Loaded Gun” (Local Music)
10. Sound Fx – “Apathy”
11. Drake ft. Majid Jordan – “Hold On, We’re Going Home”
12. Nickelus F – “Watermelon and Chicken”
13. Outkast – “Ain’t No Thang” (Throwback of the Week)
14. denitia and sene – “it’s your fault”
15. **INTERVIEW WITH ARIMA EDERRA**
16. **Arima Ederra – “New Old School Love” (WORLD PREMIERE)**
17. Ellie Goulding & BURNS – “Midas Touch”
18. Malice & Mario Sweet ft. Raz Simone – “Goodwill” (Local Music)
19. Grynch & Budo – “Treadin’” (Local Music)
20. Jay-Z – “What More Can I Say” (Throwback of the Week)

Link to download/stream the mp3 of the show – http://www48.zippyshare.com/v/59335975/file.html
(back up – http://www.solidfiles.com/d/d92436c482/)
(2nd back up – http://linkmixes.com/12ep1kflxae8)

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.

Not only is it great to see Mack and Ryan link up with my guy Nick @ Hard Knock TV (cough…SXSW HoopxHang Champions!…cough) during the Paid Dues Festival, but the interview turned out really good as well.  But if you’re familiar with Hard Knock content, that’s no surprise.  Peep both clips to hear the fellas talk all about their story, their upcoming album, Seattle’s hip-hop scene, and much more.

Following up on his XXL Freshmen cover, Mack releases his new video with Ryan Lewis for “Victory Lap,” showing that his rise to stardom has been in the works far longer than just the past year.  Obviously everyone in Seattle knows this firsthand, but this video should help tell that story to the rest of Mack’s rapidly growing fan base.  So proud of these two guys for absolutely killing it…for years!

I have mixed feelings about this song and video.  First off, since switching to a job where I see hundreds of music videos a week, I’m afraid Hype’s clips just don’t do much for me these days.  Perhaps he was at his pinnacle when I was younger and I was easily impressed by the old super glossy, big budget videos he shot, but I haven’t seen anything from him lately that’s absolutely wowed me.  This one is cool visually, but nothing too special and I see more innovative clips every day at the office.

Secondly, you will never, ever…[old school Jay] eva eva eva eva [/old Hov]…look cool/hard playing the piano in a video.  So while Alicia is quite possibly the hottest girl out there right now, I still think the piano shots look hilarious.  I don’t care if you’re a guy or a girl, you just can’t try to look cool in a video while playing the piano.  Sorry, just how it is.

Lastly, this song is overrated to me.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s still good, but it seems like everyone is trying to make it some epic, classic record.  Sorry again, it’s not.  The beat is cool, but not great, and there’s a horrible glitching sound in the loop from where they cut off the tambourine that comes around every time and annoys the hell out of me.  Jay’s lyrics are dope, but that sing-song flow gets old real quick and makes for boring repeated listens too.  Being one of the best songs on Blueprint 3 doesn’t mean it’s an incredible record.  It just means it’s not “Forever Young.”

I think this is a classic case of the music industry being a bit too NYC-centric.  With a lot of the labels, magazines, websites, and TV stations centered out there, they automatically assume what’s big in NY should be big all over the country (and the world).  NYC isn’t the center of the hip-hop universe anymore and just because this record is a great anthem for them, doesn’t mean it’s going to resonate with everyone else throughout the country.  Or if it does, not nearly to the extent they think.

It’s kinda like when XXL pressed up this cover:

There’s no way in hell…in 2009…that cover ever should have been made for a national publication.  None of those artists are remotely hot or popular outside of the Northeast.  I’d say 90% of people who listen to hip-hop on the west coast don’t even know who Freekey Zekey is, let alone like him.  Anyway, I get a similar feeling when I hear all these magazines, TV hosts, and label dudes tell me how classic “Empire State Of Mind” is.

If you’re from NY?  Sure.  Bang it.

If you’re not from NYC?  It’s cool, but it’s not a classic hip-hop record and nowhere near one of Jay’s best.

And this video isn’t either.