The Audacity of Dope

(watch in better quality on HyphenTV)

Anyone who follows TAOD knows that last week marked Seattle’s annual music & arts festival, Bumbershoot.  J. Moore and I have hosted the main stage hip-hop show for the past few years, but this time around, I had the special pleasure of not only being on the “Bumberboard” that helped plan the entire event, but I even got to perform by DJ’ing for the homies U-N-I.

Thurzday and Y-O took to the Fisher Green Stage (alongside artists like Mayer Hawthorne, Janelle Monae, De La Soul, and more) to rock in front of an enthusiastic crowd. We ran through a high energy set including tracks like “Cali Soul,” “Beautiful Day,” “Land Of The Kings,” “Supreme,” “K.R.E.A.M.,” “Hollywood Hiatus,” and more.  Aside from the classicness that occurs at 1:29, the highlight has to be “Supreme.”  The kids were wylin’ out to that one and both Y-O and Thurz got some crowd surfing in.

I had a really good time all weekend, so big shouts to everyone involved: One Reel, the artists, KUBE, the homies, the new folks I met, and [Jay-Z] most importantly, you, the customer [/Hov!].  If I have time, I’ll be posting up some more footage of various Bumbershoot performances here on TAOD.  Stay tuned.

(Thurzday, me, & Y-O at last year’s DunkXChange)

Yes y’all, Bumbershoot Festival is finally here and it’s all set up to be a big weekend at the Seattle Center.  Come through the Fisher Green Stage (the big one right in the middle near the fountain) at 5:45pm on Saturday to see U-N-I, featuring yours truly on the 1’s and 2’s, though I’d recommend getting there early at 4pm to see Mayer Hawthorne too.  De La Soul will be on that same stage at 9:30pm as well.

I’ll also be helping introduce the homies the Knux and the Black Eyed Peas on the main stage Monday, but to check out the full line up, click here.

Yo…my people are DOIN’ IT y’all!

It’s so great to see two of my favorite people in the industry, Thurz & Y-O, really start to take off and make some major moves.  This track was produced by Ro Blvd (who gets a quick cameo in the clip as well), but it’s not from their Love Supreme project.  Instead, it was a special song and video commissioned by Mountain Dew’s Green Label Sound, closely affiliated with the FADER Label and my folks at Cornerstone.  Just like our collaboration with GLS, the project turned out great and this clip is yet another stellar music video in U-N-I’s library.  Do your thing fellas…

Sidenote, be on the lookout for the official Love Supreme documentary coming soon from DRG Films.  You just might recognize one of your favorite DJ’s as the narrator…nomorganfreemano.

Man, I’m kinda speechless right now.  The homies Y-O and Thurz have really outdone themselves with the new clip for “Hollywood Hiatus” off A Love Supreme.  Much respect to super director Tomas Whitmore who has directed all their clips (and El Prez’ “UAINTUPONTHIS!”), and they seem to get better each time.  All these joints are smashing major label videos right now.

Cop that Love Supreme if you haven’t already…hint: it’s free!

I take a huge L for not posting the new album from the longtime homies Y-O and Thurzday until a full 2 days after it dropped.  Argh @ me being super busy, but at least I’m finally getting this up here.  Besides, if you’re up on things, you should have already grabbed this.  If not, head on over to YOThurz.com and download the masterpiece.

I’ve been looking forward to this ever since Y-O and Thurz first talked about it damn near 2 years ago.  Then they came up to Sound Session at the end of last year and played us the snippets and I really got hype.  Now it’s finally here in full.  Ro Blvd on the beats, Yonas & Thurz on the mic.

Download immediately.

I told y’all that I’m all about these SXSW recap clips.  Chillin’ with the homies Y-O and Thurz in Austin was definitely one of my highlights, and as you can briefly see in the clip above, Theo also traveled down with ’em.  Very dope to meet another one of the up and coming MC’s in the game.

Shout to DRG Films for producing all these dope U-N-I clips recently.  Remember, A Love Supreme drops on the 31st!!!!

The homies Y-O and Thurzday came through Sound Session at the end of last year and it’s taken me a minute to post up the video of the full interview.  We aired part of the audio a few weeks ago, but here’s the full thing.  You can peep the clip above to hear them talk all about their upcoming Love Supreme project (dropping soon!), their possible beef with the Knux, the dreaded ‘hipster’ label, and much more.

If you want to check out the broadcast audio and hear it all more clearly, here’s the audio only:

U-N-I on Sound Session – http://www.mediafire.com/?vuh4mjmr5o3
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/56497985ef8e1e3a/)

And if you missed the last time we had U-N-I in the studio, click here.  I hope you remember this:

Awww yeah, it’s finally here.  With A Love Supreme dropping soon(er than you think), Thurzday and Y-O linked up with Mick Boogie, IllRoots, and 2DopeBoyz to whet your appetite with this insta-classic mixtape.  Beats from Dibia$e, Ro Blvd, 6th Sense, Jaguar Skills, Cook Classics, and more, plus guest spots by Shawn Jackson, Evidence, Big Pooh, Tunji, Black Milk, Fashawn, Buff1, and more?

Wow.

Download this immediately and look out for U-N-I’s latest Sound Session interview to be posted soon…

Download here.

Chyea.  For those missing my Wack Lyric of the Day posts, this is hotter than LA sunshine.  Happy now?  Don’t worry, WLotD will be back soon.

But nah, for real, this is heat.  In case you can’t read above, the homies Thurz & Y-O linked up with Evidence, Big Pooh, Aloe Blacc, Fashawn, Mickey Factz, Theo, and Kes Kaos for the remix to their classic “Beautiful Day” cut.  Get that:

U-N-I ft. various artists – “Beautiful Day (Remix)”

And a little Sound Session throwback in case you forgot:

New heat from Thurz & Y-O, off the Dub Frequency mixtape available for streaming here.  These guys just make great tracks, time after time.  Be on the lookout for the long awaited “SoulHop” video debuting soon on a huge network!

U-N-I – “Yesterday”