The Audacity of Dope

By now, most of you have heard Nas’ collaboration with the 2009 Red Bull Big Tune champion, C-Sick, but I thought I’d post up the ill behind the scenes footage of the making of “Film.”  Above, you can peep a little background on C-Sick’s journey, while the two studio segments are below.

Also, neither of the 2 versions of the song that have leaked online so far are the final edit, so I’m posting that up too.  In case you’re living in the woods, my co-host on Sunday Night Sound Session, J. Moore, created the Red Bull Big Tune with Vitamin D, Jake One, DV-One, and Marcus Lalario.  The homies helped put this song together and even recruited Seattle’s own Choklate to sing the hook.  Due to sample clearance issues, C-Sick’s original beat had to be replayed, and you’ve yet to hear the final, official version of the track…until now.  Enjoy!

Nas ft. Choklate – “Film” (final version)

People around the 206 know that I’m notorious for not going to many shows, but I may have to make an appearance this Wednesday at the Vera Project (in Seattle Center, right next to Key Arena).  As J. Moore, Jake One, Vitamin D, DV-One, and Markus do in every city that Big Tune hits, the entire week is filled with great events for the public and for the participants.  Since Seattle is the home of the event, you already know that we’ve got some dope stuff going on before this Friday’s battle at the War Room.

Case in point, hit up the Vera on Wednesday for a free show from The Physics, J. Pinder, and Spaceman, along with an exclusive video documenting the collaboration between last year’s Big Tune winner, C-Sick, and the legendary Nas.  See y’all there.

In case you aren’t aware, the Red Bull Big Tune event is the brainchild of our very own J. Moore, along with the big homies Vitamin D, Jake One, Marcus Lalario, and DV-One.  Saturday night, the 11th, you can watch an excellent special on this past year’s competitions on BET at 7:30 EST/PST.  Don’t miss it, for real.  206 stand up.

As I showed y’all yesterday, we’re snowed in here in Seattle and as a matter of fact, it’s even worse than it was during that video.  I think we’re up to about half a foot of packed snow on the ground, with no signs of it letting up for the next few days.  It’s really cool looking outside and fun to walk around in, but the downside is that I’ve been stuck around my house for 4 days straight now.  Wait…that’s probably not such a bad thing…I have good food, a warm place, football (and futbol!) on TV, and I’ve been able to finish up a ton of work.  I take it back, this snow thing is kinda dope.

Well, aside from the fact that I haven’t done any Christmas shopping yet and I’m suppose to be moving in 10 days.  If I have to move my couch on ice skates, I’ma be very, very upset.

Anyway, in the meantime, I’ve been getting some old projects finished.  Here’s some simple Flip Cam footage I grabbed of the homies Black Milk and Elzhi performing at the Red Bull Big Tune stop here in Seattle on 9/12/08.  If you recall, we recorded a dope interview with them the day before, which you can still check out right here.

At the show, they ran through some of their illest songs, including “Sound The Alarm,” “Motown 25,” “Hiding Place,” “1, 2,” and more.  If you’ve never seen Milk and El rock live, you’re missing out.

“Detroit in the muhf****n’ buildin’”

…but he makes dope music off it, so I ain’t mad!

The homey Brainstorm of Dyme Def won our 2008 Redbull Big Tune beat battle a while back and now he’s preparing for the finals out in NYC.  Peep the preview video and get familiar with young Brainy Stacks.  Shout to our runner up, Rising Son, who will also be representing Seattle in the finals.  Good luck fellas!

I’m glad this video is dope, because otherwise I’d almost feel contractually obligated to post it.  Let’s see…

• It features a ton of my good friends.
• It bigs up the 206.
• The Red Bull Big Tune was created by the other half of Sound Session, J. Moore, along with the homies Jake One, Vitamin D, and Marcus.
• I was in the building.
• It’s a great event.
• Budo is hilarious.

I could go on, but the video is pretty self explanatory.  Congrats to Brainstorm and Rising Son for advancing to the finals in NYC.  Let’s hope we get back to back Seattle champions…

Yes, yes y’all.  It’s finally time for the Seattle stop of the Red Bull Big Tune (an event that originated here with my people J. Moore, Vitamin D, Jake One, DV-One, and Marcus Lalario) and here’s the itinerary for the week:

Monday, Sept. 8th: Red Bull Big Tune Kick-Off (flyer)
The War Room
722 E. Pike Street, Seattle, WA 98122
Featuring DJ Maseo of De La Soul and special guests
9pm, 21+, $5 cover

Tuesday, Sept. 9th:  Educational Outreach – Producer workshop with Jake One & Vitamin D
Vera Project
305 Harris Street, Seattle, WA 98109
4pm – 6pm
Free and All Ages

Red Bull Big Tune Film Premiere (flyer)
Screening and Live performance by Brainstorm of Dyme Def with special guest DJ DV-One
Nectar
412 N. 36th Street, Seattle WA 98103
9pm, 21+, $5 cover

Wednesday, Sept. 10th:  Youth Workshop with “Aim for Peace” program
Buttermilk Studios
1108 13th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122
4pm – 5:30pm
Free and All Ages

Thursday, Sept. 11th: Red Bull Big Tune In-Store featuring Black Milk & Elzhi
GOODS
1112 Pike Street, Seattle, WA 98101
4pm – 5:30pm
Free and All Ages

Friday, Sept. 12th: Red Bull Big Tune Beat Battle (flyer)
Beat Battle and special performances from Elzhi & Black Milk
Neumos
925 E. Pike St, Seattle, WA 98122
8pm, All Ages, $5 cover

See y’all there…

You may have heard us talking about this on Sound Session the past few weeks.  It’s official: two of the best in the game, Elzhi and Black Milk will be coming out to the Seattle stop of the Red Bull Big Tune Beat Battle.  It’s going to sell out, so be sure and cop those tickets…

If y’all ain’t up on the Red Bull Big Tune Beat Battle, you really should be. Not only is it an incredible event, but it’s the brainchild of my Sound Session co-host, J. Moore, and the homies Jake One, Vitamin D, DV-One, and Marcus Lalario. In essence, the idea is to emulate and update a traditional ’sound-clash’ by pitting 2 producers against each other in a head to head beat battle. You play your beat, he plays his. Repeat. Then the crowd picks the winner. Pretty simple right?

The program runs in multiple cities over the summer, taking the top 2 finishers in every region to the final round at the end of the year. Last year, Sabzi (of Blue Scholars & Common Market) won the title here in Seattle. This year, Philadelphia, Oakland, and Houston have already represented, and Detroit, Chicago, Seattle, DC, and Los Angeles are on deck. The finals will be held in NYC in December. Producers looking to get involved can apply on the Big Tune website.

Yesterday, The Smoking Section wrote a dope piece on the event with a few videos wrapping up Philly and Oakland. Check out the feature right here.  Big tings a gwan!