Your boy got a promotion at the day job, which is a dope thing, but also means that time is at a premium…so I’ll let Sabzi explain this one:

People ask me why I care about making a mix of Hawaiian tunes.  I tell them that it’s because Iʼm from Seattle.

I donʼt think I can apply the word ‘foreign’ to any cultural elements that have influenced me in becoming the person I am today.

Through years of, um, ‘nourishment’ from grinds, to listening to Jawaiian tunes as a teenager, to starting a group with a military kid from Honolulu, to learning the meaning of ‘false crack’ the hard way (ha!)… the spirit of Hawaii has long maintained a notable presence in my life.

And while Iʼm not Hawaiian, nor do I claim to be a local boy, I acknowledge and am thankful for the role that the Islands have played in the development of my cultural identity.

For me, a big part of the OOF! EP project was to experiment with a new way of identifying who we are and where we come from.  It was an exercise in global cultural expression.  Perhaps this is the age we can start believing that ‘where we are from’ is anywhere that has influenced us in becoming who we are.  And perhaps our brothers and sisters are simply those who want to share this belief with us.

Watch out tho.  When you embrace this idea, you start to think that home can be everywhere and your people could be everyone.

New People comin thru, son!

Respect to In4mation for the nifty ‘OOF!’ logo they designed and lent us, respect to Ohana for engineering the delicious shrimp tempura + diced spicy scallop + krab + masago sushi that they’ve dubbed the ‘69 Roll,’ and respect to you for reading this and listening to these tunes.

Mahalo.

saba / sabzi

Download here.

When we first premiered “HI-808″ on our Cornerstone Mixtape, the homies Geo & Sabzi also mentioned to us that they shot a video for the song on location in Hawaii.  A little later, I saw a rough cut of the video at the office (benefit of the day job…ScreenPlay/Fuzed Music building FTW) and now the final edit is here for the masses.  And when I say masses, I mean it.

This video will be spinning in heavy rotation on MTVu all day and it will also be on the front page of MTVu.com.  With Massive Monkees killing it on “America’s Best Dance Crew” last night, this is yet another great national look for the town via MTV.

To download the song and for more information about the Blue Scholars’ upcoming OOF! EP, check out their official site.

Oh…and I really want to go to Hawaii.  Soon.

Off the brand new Common Market digital release, Winter’s End EP, here’s the MTVu debut of RA Scion & Sabzi’s “Escaping Arkham.”  With Zia at the directorial helm, you already know the visuals are going to be flawless.  He’s really one of the most underrated directors in the game nationally…it won’t be long until people are flying him all around the country to do their videos.

Sidenote:  mobbing down to SXSW with a lot of Seattle folks, RA and Sabzi included, was one of my highlights of last week.  We have a ton of talent in the town and if you aren’t aware, you’re sleeping.  Plus, everyone is cool as hell…

Now this is hilarious.  Fellow Massline member Ra Scion saw Geologic & Sabzi’s “Coffee and Snow” video and had to respond.  He linked up with tthe original director, Zia, to record this dope sequel to the Scholars’ video.  Comedy…and still doper than what most artists try to create with their official videos.

(I recommend watching in high quality here)

While some of us were making completely pointless videos during the Seattle snow, the homies Geo and Sabzi were killing time making a better song and video than most artists do with huge budgets.  Seriously, are you kidding me?  About 95% of the artists out there wish they could make something this ill.  The clip was directed by Saba’s brother, Zia, who continues to churn out some of the coolest visuals I’ve seen recently.  Very dope.

Blue Scholars – “Coffee and Snow”

Here’s the Sound Session playlist and download links from Sunday night.  As usual, we had a ball playing the best new music around, plus we were joined in the studio by the homey Geologic from the Blue Scholars.  Along with laughing at our crazy callers, Geo was in the building to talk about the upcoming Blue Scholars and Common Market shows at the end of the week here in Seattle.  If you’re in the town, you better be coming through Neumo’s Thursday, Friday, and/or Saturday night to see two of our most talented groups tear it down like they always do.  Shout to the entire Massline family.

We also had a quick appearance from two of our Cali friends, Glasses Malone and Mistah F.A.B., who dropped in before performing at the Star Bar.  First off, you haven’t lived until you’ve heard these two cap on each other.  I wish y’all could have heard the off-air convo…hilarious.  Secondly, be on the lookout for Glasses’ major label debut, Beach Cruiser, coming in March of ‘09.  Dude has been putting in work in the Cali underground for years so it’s good to see him on the verge of such big success.

Do what you do and peep the entire show below:

Show #185 (12-14-08)
**Co-Hosted by Geologic (of Blue Scholars)**

1. 88 Keys ft. Bilal – “M.I.L.F.”
2. Alchemist ft. Evidence, Blu, & Kid Cudi – “Therapy”
3. Freeway – “Look Around”
4. Ghostface Killah – “Slept On Tony”
5. Blue Scholars – “Joe Metro” (Local Artist)
6. Q-Tip ft. D’Angelo – “I Believe”
7. Black Milk – “Hold It Down”
8. **INTERVIEW WITH GLASSES MALONE & MISTAH F.A.B., PT. 1**
9. Glasses Malone ft. Lil’ Wayne & Birdman – “Haterz”
10. **INTERVIEW WITH GLASSES MALONE & MISTAH F.A.B., PT. 2**
11. Souls of Mischief – “Tour Stories”
12. Evidence ft. Elzhi & Aloe Blacc – “To Be Determined”
13. 6th Sense ft. Adele – “Bringing 1988 Back” (WORLD PREMIERE)
14. K’Naan ft. Chubb Rock – “ABC’s”
15. Common ft. Martina Topley-Bird – “Everywhere”
16. N.A.S.A. ft. Kanye West, Santogold, & Lykke Li – “Gifted”
17. He Say She Say – “Crash Dummie”
18. U-N-I – “Hollywood Hiatus”
19. Clockwork – “Same As Me” (Local Artist)
20. Joe Budden ft. the Game – “The Future”
21. Fresh Espresso (Rik Rude & P-Smoov) – “Elegant” (Local Artist)
22. Sene – “Whateva, Wheneva”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?ymzmtolw3lz
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/52807805c886e2c9/ )

Link to download the parts with Glasses Malone & Mistah F.A.B. – http://www.mediafire.com/?rejomlz2njm
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/52808768b3ac3185/ )

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 guess we should probably get back to some hip-hop related content, huh?  Well, Obama is definitely hip-hop, but yeah…here’s a new interview with the homies Geo and Sabzi, collectively known as Blue Scholars.  Peep some words from two of Seattle’s dopest.  TBM.

Swiped from BlogsIsWatching.

(look at Grynch gettin’ his cameo on…well done sir!)

Brand new video from some of the finest local talent here in Seattle, RA Scion & Sabzi, collectively known as Common Market.  I’ll let them describe the visuals:

”Trouble Is” tells the story of a vagrant farmer’s hardship in a town where the locals call into question his intentions and work ethic. The video captures this tension with unmistakably rustin and southern imagery as the first scene opens with a fiery sermon delivered from the pulpit of a dusty Baptist church.  The farmer, played by the emcee RA Scion, is aggressively pursued by a town mob, first driven out of town over distrust and distaste, then back again for the purpose of assimilation by force.  The video takes a curious turn in the final scene, ultimately leaving the viewer in the position of the town-folk to question the farmer’s motivation.

Shout to Zia Mohajerjasbi, who continues to direct excellent pieces.  If you missed RA on Sound Session a few weeks ago, peep it here.

Seattle people: catch CM along with People Under The Stairs and Shawn Jackson on Sunday at King Cobra.  And cop that Tobacco Road asap’ers.

Video courtesy of OnSmash.  **UPDATE** – Added the full video.  Thanks to reader Shale for the heads up.

(if you prefer YouTube, here are parts 1 & 2)

One half of Seattle’s own Common Market, RA Scion, came through Sound Session yesterday and we recorded it for y’all.  We chopped it up about their new Tobacco Road album, their unique release party coming up on Thursday at Neumos, their experiences performing at the protests of the Democratic National Convention in Denver, and more.  You can watch the video above, or if you prefer just the audio, grab it here:

RA Scion on Sound Session – http://www.mediafire.com/?nu43ylmjxn3
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/1839003132f3b8cf/ )

Tobacco Road drops tomorrow…cop that!  Shout to the other half of CM, Sabzi, who we saw over the weekend as the Blue Scholars tore down Rock The Bells.  Some random RTB video will be popping up on TAOD this week.