The Audacity of Dope

When Thurz & Y-O were in town last month for Bumbershoot, they brought this video up for the 206 fam (peep Y-O’s fresh Hawks hat) to check out.  As I’ve mentioned before, I’m continually impressed by the visuals U-N-I release, and even though this video wasn’t done by their longtime collaborator Tomas Whitmore (Fredo Tovar handled this one), it still came out super dope.

Great track made even better with an ill video.  If for some reason you don’t have it, grab the audio off the Before There Was Love mixtape.

New visuals from Fresno’s Fashawn, produced by Exile.  This is the lead joint from Fash’s upcoming Boy Meets World album, which is setting up to be an incredible release.  Could it be another Below The Heavens?

There are some artists in this industry who are talented, and then there are a few that seem to be on another level, closer to genius status.  I won’t put the pressure on the homey Exile by calling him a genius, but he’s clearly working on another plane than your average ‘dope’ producer.  Between his beats, his live MPC performances, his beatboxing, and even his rapping, he hears things that we don’t, and puts sounds together in ways that we would never think to do.

A little while back, Ex came through Sound Session to talk all about his latest opus, Radio, an album crafted entirely out of sounds culled from his home radio.  He detailed the creative process behind the project and how it gave him a deeper respect for radio in general.  He also talked about his crazy live MPC sets with DJ Day, how his family influenced his music, his upcoming Boy Meets World album with Fashawn, a follow up to Blu’s Below The Heavens, and the 2892412931 other projects he’s got on his plate.  Check it all out right here:

Exile on Sound Session – http://www.mediafire.com/?gjnb13y1muj
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/610749136fb90d7d/)

If you haven’t already, cop Radio in stores now!

Fresh off last week’s 200th edition of SNSS, we’re hitting you over the head with another dope show, this time, packed full of exclusive joints that I believe we world premiered Sunday on KUBE.  In today’s internet age, the traditional idea of ‘exclusives’ has pretty much gone out the window, and regardless, I’ve never even been that big a fan of the whole notion anyway.  Simply because a DJ plays something first, doesn’t make it worthwhile (“NEW SOULJA BOY!!!!”).

Instead, this past week, we ran some great songs that the general public just hasn’t heard yet, but everyone will probably have soon.  Some of them will be included on our upcoming Cornerstone Mixtape (with some other exclusives), but who knows if they’ll leak before that drops in May.  Speaking of which, DJ B-Mello, J. Moore, and I finished up the mixtape last night (shout to Taybot and L for the engineering assistance!) and it sounds fresh.  Looking forward to y’all hearing it, but for now, peep the show and some world premieres from Fashawn (prod. Exile), Roddy Rod ft. Phonte & Carlitta Durand, Asher Roth, and Tanya Morgan ft. Blu.  [Kanye] Good music definitely in the building! [/Yeezy]

Show #201 (4-5-09)

1. Donnis – “Party Works”
2. CunninLynguists ft. Khujo Goodie & Killer Mike – “Georgia (Remix)”
3. Drake – “November 18th”
4. Kid Cudi – “Rollin’ Freestyle”
5. Kid Cudi ft. Kanye West, Common, & A-Trak – “I Poke Her Face”
6. Melanie Fiona ft. Talib Kweli – “Give It To Me Right (Remix)”
7. J. Pinder ft. Shawn Starr – “Havin’ Problems” (Local Artist)
8. Crooked I & DJ Wicked – “Jackin’ For Beats 2009”
9. Bishop Lamont – “Friends”
10. Method Man & Redman – “Mrs. International”
11. Fashawn – “The Outer City” (WORLD PREMIERE)
12. Outasight ft. The Kid Daytona & Donny Goines – “Fame & Fortune (Remix)”
13. Shad – “Exile”
14. Illa J ft. Grynch – “Showtime (Remix)” (Local Artist)
15. Roddy Rod ft. Phonte (of Little Brother) & Carlitta Durand – “This Time Around” (WORLD PREMIERE)
16. U-N-I & Ro Blvd – “Lauren London”
17. Pac Div – “Shut Up”
18. Common Market – “Escaping Arkham” (Local Artist)
19. Scratch ft. Musiq – “Tonite”
20. Asher Roth – “La Di Da” (WORLD PREMIERE)
21. Keelay & Zaire ft. Supastition & Slo Mo (of Fortilive) – “Trapped”
22. Tanya Morgan ft. Blu – “Morgan Blu” (WORLD PREMIERE)
23. Mayer Hawthorne – “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?mxjmgntmwmy
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/58302299c213a043/)

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.

I recently mentioned that Shad was one of my favorite discoveries of the past year (watch this video to see why) and I should also add Fashawn to that list as well.  The MC from Fresno (what up Blake?) killed every appearance I heard from him this year and he’s dropped a new mixtape to help close out the year in style.  In conjunction with the homies at NahRight and OnSmash, check out Higher Learning:

1. Intro
2. Fortified Live (Remix)
3. Freedom
4. Let Me See Your ID (Skit)
5. Day ‘N’ Nite (Remix) (feat. KiD CuDi)
6. Sunday Morning (Remix) (feat. K-OS)
7. The Far Left (feat. Alchemist & Evidence)
8. Turf Rap (Remix)
9. Seize Power (Skit)
10. Politics (feat. Krondon)
11. Jimmy (Ratatat Remix)
12. Fake ID
13. Life Is Too Short
14. Buyers Guide
15. Cold Shoulder (Remix) (feat. Adele)
16. You Lookin At Me (Skit)
17. Something Special
18. Do You (Skit)
19. Still Gettin Mine “5-5-9″ (Remix) (feat. Rickochet)
20. Beautiful Day (Remix) (feat. Evidence, Big Pooh, Aloe Blacc, Mickey Factz, Theo & Kes Kaos)
21. Over When Its Done (Outro)

Download here.

Damn, I like everything about this video:

• Dope rhymes from Fashawn and Ev.
• NorCal connecting with SoCal.
• Exile killing the beat.
• The homies U-N-I getting some cameo love.
• The message.
• The visuals.

Be on the lookout for Fashawn’s debut album, Boy Meets World, in spring of next year.  “Our Way” is the first peek off the project and judging by the quality here and on Fashawn’s One Shot, One Kill mixtape, you already know it’s gonna be fresh.

Cali’s on fire right now, but they also completely dropped the ball on the Prop. 8 ballot initiative banning gay marriage this past week.  With statistics showing that nearly 70% of black and hispanic voters supported the ban, it’s incredibly disheartening to see people vote for equality and discrimination in one fell swoop.  Hip-hop helped Obama win California (as if he needed any assistance), and then helped propagate homophobia and hatred.  Fail.

I just spent last night chilling with the homies Evidence and Alchemist during the Seattle stop of the “Still High” tour with Method Man, Redman, and Termanology (what up Term & Dan!).  We recorded a dope interview where they both broke down all the various projects their working on, but it may take a minute for me to toss that up online.  In the meantime, peep the new video for “The Far Left” featuring Al and Fashawn from Ev’s Layover EP , dropping on Nov. 25th.  Ev said they’ll be releasing videos for 7 of the 9 tracks on there, and so far we’re on #2 (if you missed #1, peep “The Layover”).  Fashawn will also be dropping visuals for his “Our Way” joint with Ev verrrrrrrry soon too.

Also, to tide you over, check out The Layover Mixtape that Ev put together with DJ Skee.  Guests include Defari, Chace Infinite, Fashawn, U-N-I, Big Pooh, Aloe Blacc, Theo, Crooked I, Strong Arm Steady, Bishop Lamont, Casual, Alchemist, and more.

Tracklisting and download link after the jump.

Read more »

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: