Jay Smooth stopped by Jesse Thorn’s The Sound of Young America recently, and the interview turned out dope. They discussed Jay’s background and how hip-hop is evolving through new media provided by the internet. I really respect where Jay’s coming from and he’s undoubtedly one of my favorite “hip-hop journalists.”
Check out more on his blog, and a previous interview of Jesse’s with Blu right here.
Posted in Artists, Videos on July 15th, 2008 by Hyphen
This seems like an older clip, but I’ve never seen it before and Chad just posted it up on his blog. Either way, it’s dope. Chad and Kenna visit their old high school and explain what it was like growing up in Virgina Beach.
My good friends Dru and John from Foundation Crossfit stopped by Sound Session on Sunday to talk a little bit about working out. They explained exactly what crossfit is, what they do at their gym in North Seattle, how you can get down with some free workouts, and more. Make sure you come to the gym for the free “Rainstorm” workouts every weekend. It’s the best workout in Seattle, hands down. Whether you’re in shape or not, you can always get healthier! I’m there every week, and the people are super cool & friendly, so come check it out. Aight?
DISCLAIMER: That Bud Light didn’t belong to the workout warriors. That was Stretch’s from The Parker Brothaz, one of the best hip-hop groups in the NW, who were also on the show. You can hear more of them (and understand why we were joking about Yung Joc) by downloading the full show.
Oh, you didn’t know that Hyph gets down with indie rock? Well, you’re right, I don’t really…but I’m trying to learn! There’s too much good music out there to be trapped listening to just hip-hop and R&B. In fact, I’ve been meaning to make a Lykke Li post for like a month now, I’ll get on that soon.
Anyway, I’m posting the new video from the Grand Archives up for 4 reasons. First of all, it’s a dope track from the hometown. Secondly, the legendary Sub Pop Records just had their 20th anniversay over the weekend and I heard it was crazy. Third…alpacas! Lastly, and most importantly, the star of the video is none other than Upendo, aka J. Moore‘s son! So let’s get this straight: before he’s 10 years old, Upendo’s drummed with ?uestlove, told jokes with Dave Chappelle, made beats, released an album as part of Beyond Reality, and now he’s in a video featured on VH1? Wow. Little man is destined for big things.
I played this joint a while back on Sound Session and every time we ran it, people called in to find out who it was. Well now you get some visuals to answer all your questions. LOL @ the Apple ethering at the end. PC4LIFE son.
“It’s the C-double-O, and I’m back again”
–Common, “Time Travelin'”
Com’s in my top 5 all-time and Like Water For Chocolate is one of my favorite albums, but that little freestyle/adlib always stuck out. In the build up to the verse, you hear “it’s the C-O-double-M-O-N” a few times, so this one didn’t quite fit. ?uestlove pointed it out on OKP right after the album dropped, but said they all heard it and decided to just let it slide. I guess the Coomon does what he wants.
As I alluded to earlier, I got a chance to watch the new Batman flick, The Dark Knight, today, and basically, I’m still in awe. I generally recommend seeing movies completely unaware of anything but the most basic plot details, so I’m not going to spoil it for you. Plus, if I wrote a full review, I’d have nightmare flashbacks about my media studies days at the 5-C‘s. *shudder*
In short, the movie is phenomenal. Everything about it – from the story, to the acting, to the effects, to the overall tone – is spot on. If you enjoyed Batman Begins (which you better have), you’ll like this one even more. Christopher Nolan is clearly one of the most talented directors out there (remember Memento and The Prestige?), and Christian Bale‘s interpretation of Bruce Wayne is flawless. It definitely draws from his role as Patrick Bateman, which, in my mind, never gets old. Everyone else did an incredible job as well, but you expect that from Michael Caine, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman, and Morgan Freeman. The highlight, and ultimately saddest part, of the movie is Heath Ledger giving a masterful performance as the Joker. There are already rumors about an Oscar nomination and I hope he wins it posthumously. It’s really sad that we won’t see his acting prowess again.
Pay your respects to him by checking out the movie ASAP, plus you’ll be thoroughly entertained at the same time. Oh, and you must see this on an IMAX screen. Seriously.
That’s wild, and easily the dopest thing related to this beat. I’m still not feeling it and all the oversaturation with various “freestyles” definitely didn’t help. On a related note, I’m sure Busta’s “I Got Bass” will be labeled one of the bangers of the summer, but that beat’s wack too. Sue me. I will give Bangladesh props for flipping this random obscure sample though.
New video from P, Chad, and Shae. Pretty simple, but there are definitely a few cool shots in here. Pharrell’s ska/Carlton Banks hybrid dance is always hilarious.
