The Audacity of Dope

(not for the feint of heart)

Pharoahe’s Public Enemy remake off Desire gets some fiery visuals that’ll really make you realize how much change is needed in the world.  Is Obama going to wave a magic wand and fix it all?  Of course not, but he’s the first step in the right direction that this country will take in a looooooong time.

Sidenote: is anyone better bar for bar/verse for verse/flow for flow than Pharoahe?

New visuals for the lead single off Black’s Tronic album, one of the best projects of the year and the CD currently holding my deck hostage.  Go buy it.  In the meantime, make sure you at least have this jawn:

Black Milk – “Give The Drummer Sum”

Interview with Milk & Elzhi coming as soon as I get some free time to toss beats behind it.  Soon though…I swear!

Video courtesy of Legend.

Doo. Da. Dippity.

We’re going to have to play this on this week’s Sound Session.  Change is coming people!  Are you ready?

Yes, she can.

I hit up the Lykke Li show in Seattle last night and it definitely lived up to my high expectations.  If you’re unfamiliar with her, peep this post from a while back.  As for the concert, let’s see…

• Performing my favorite songs of hers (“Little Bit,” “I’m Good, I’m Gone,” “Tonight” (ultimate mood music), and more)?  Check.
• Kanye-esque “Love Lockdown” style live percussion?  Check.
• Hauntingly dope live voice?  Check.
• Swedish swag (shout to my people)?  Check.
• Breaking out a megaphone to sing random verses?  Check.
• Covering 2 classic hip-hop songs (BDP’s “Sound of da Police” and Tribe’s “Can I Kick It”) and 2 of my favorite samples ever (Sister Nancy’s “Bam Bam” and Wendy Rene’s “After Laughter (Comes Tears)”)?  Check.
• Crazy Euro hippie white girl sex appeal?  Check.

Even if you’re a novice to the indie rock scene like I am, break out your schmedium t-shirt and go see her when she comes to your town (dates available here).  Also be sure to check out her album, it’s dope.  Her live show is even better.

What better place for Ev to shoot visuals for “The Layover” than at an airport?  I was waiting for that final scene to happen the entire time I was watching it hahah.  Ev’s EP drops on Nov. 25th and you already know it’s gonna be fire.  He’ll be in Seattle soon, so look for another appearance from the Weatherman on Sound Session in the coming weeks.

Swiped from the Dopehouse.

Perhaps a little amateurish, but like I mentioned with LL, I’m willing to give people a pass if their hearts are in the right places.  Nish Gaveer is a dude from Philly who put together this song and video in support of Obama.  You ever notice how diverse Barack’s supporters are versus John McCain’s?  The people I see at McCain/Palin rallies look like they’re from another world…and certainly not the America I live in where people of all backgrounds work and live together.  Oh, but I almost forgot, according to Palin, I live in an anti-America city.  GTFOH.

(chyea @ the Usain Bolt pose at 1:45)

This is the third incarnation of this song, as the initial leaked version featured the Pussycat Dolls, the album track featured Rihanna, and now the video features Keri Hilson.  To be honest, I can’t really pick one of those over the other, since they all do a decent job.  The best part of this song is clearly Kardi and his energy, and the video does a great job capturing what one of his live shows is like.  Dropping videos like this in October just isn’t fair though.  The weather is starting to get awful and [Biggie] I swear to God sometimes it feels like death Jamaica is callin’ me [/Big].

Huge shout to Kardi and the Black Jays fam, especially for tossing my favorite track off of Not 4 Sale, “Nina,” at the end of the clip.  Video courtesy of OnSmash.

One of my favorite songs of the year, Phonte & Nicolay’s “Daykeeper,” finally has some excellent visuals to go along with it.  If you missed my interview with Tay a few weeks ago, we talked a lot about how part of the beauty of Leave It All Behind is that it’s so open to interpretation.  I think the same can be said for this video.  One thing’s for sure though, it’s wild how a song like this can really change your mood everytime you hear it.  Definitely a “night song” and I always tend to get very reflective when I hear it.  Great stuff.

Peep that interview with Phonte right here and be sure to stay up to date with everything FE on their site.

Yes…super last minute, but for L.A. readers, go check out a special birthday party tonight for Planet Asia at Busby’s East.  Performances by Strong Arm Steady, DJ Muggs, and Asia himself.  Should be a great night so check it out if you’re in SoCal and your schedule’s open!

And just in case you’re on the fence, peep Asia & Muggs’ new video for “Lions In The Forest.”  This is my jam right now.

See Musiq, was that so hard?  After the debacle that was “Radio,” I’m glad to see one of my favorite R&B singers bounce back with a solid single.  It’s not my favorite Musiq track, and I’ve never been a big fan of Mary, but at least it gives me hope that his album won’t be a complete departure from his style.

Musiq ft. Mary J. Blige – “IfULeave”

Swiped from IllRoots.