The Audacity of Dope

Almost exactly a year after we played this record on SNSS, Nieve and the homey Tunji have released visuals for “California,” a straightforward ode to their state.  Better late than never!  Also, congrats to Tunj on his recent engagement.  Dopeness.

You can grab Nieve’s full project, Playback, right here.

Not sure why the official YouTube clip got pulled down with a notice saying “UMG Filed A Copyright Claim” on it, but hopefully UMG isn’t standing in the way of Kendrick and TDE running things the way they want. I’m pretty sure the success and classic music they’re releasing proves they know what they’re doing without major label meddling.

Anyway, enjoy this one until it gets taken down too…

The 2nd video from Toro Y Moi’s Anything In Return album isn’t as baller as the first, but makes up for it with subtle hilarity (1:14 is epic).  Go head Chaz.

2012 is all finished and as is tradition on SNSS, we ended December with our annual “Best Of” wrap up show.  You can check some of our recent wrap ups here (2009, 2010, and 2011) and down below is this year’s list.  Our format is simple: there’s no countdown and we don’t claim this to be any sort of definitive list.  Instead, we just pick our favorite songs of the year from local and national artists, with the only caveat being that we try not to pick multiple songs from the same artists.  If that was the case, folks like Frank Ocean, Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, and Nas could easily fill up many of the spots.

Without further ado, our playlist, download links, and some notes about each track.

Show #394 (12-30-12)
**Best of 2012**

1. Kanye West ft. Pusha T & Ghostface Killah – “New God Flow (Remix)”
2. Meek Mill ft. Big Sean – “Burn”
3. Gangrene (Oh No & Alchemist) – “Flame Throwers”
4. J. Pinder ft. Dice – “Never No” (Local Music)
5. Schoolboy Q ft. ASAP Rocky – “Hands On The Wheel”
6. Big K.R.I.T. – “4EvaNaDay (Theme)”
7. Dom Kennedy – “My Type Of Party”
8. Rashad – “Make Love 2 This”
9. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Mary Lambert – “Same Love” (Local Music)
10. Reef The Lost Cauze – “The Prey”
11. Lupe Fiasco – “Bitch Bad”
12. The Physics – “So Funky” (Local Music)
13. Shad – “Old Prince”
14. Frank Ocean – “Pyramids”
15. Nas – “The Don”
16. Beanie Sigel ft. State Property – “The Reunion”
17. Jarv Dee – “I Just Wanna” (Local Music)
18. Kendrick Lamar – “B*tch, Don’t Kill My Vibe”
19. Miguel – “Do You…”
20. BJ The Chicago Kid – “Good Luv’n”
21. Rick Ross ft. Dr. Dre & Jay-Z – “3 Kings”
22. Ray Dalton – “So Emotional” (Local Music)
23. Yuna – “Live Your Life”

Link to download/stream the mp3 of the show – http://www69.zippyshare.com/v/11535119/file.html
(back up link – http://linkmixes.com/e367jv3frsds)
(2nd back up – http://www.sharebeast.com/vkqnfp1dyis4)

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.

Notes:

1. Yeezy had multiple records that could hold down anyone’s list (“Mercy,” “Clique,” “Way Too Cold (Theraflu),” etc.), but we went with the remix to his Ghostface inspired single, featuring Tony Starks himself.  Pusha might have stole the show though…
2. “God…oh God!” – Big Sean said it all.
3. Alchemist had plenty of great beats in 2012, but this slept on record featured his hardest slap of the year.
4. If it weren’t for a certain duo from Seattle blowing up in 2012, Pinder’s success would be more widely celebrated.  If he continues to release songs like this, it’ll come.
5. Crews like GOOD Music, Young Money, and MMG were everywhere in 2012, but the year’s best collective was Top Dawg.  Ab-Soul, Kendrick, and Q shined, with the latter’s biggest record being this collaboration with ASAP Rocky.
6. While K.R.I.T.’s official major label debut album was quite good, his mixtape was better.  The man just makes quality music left and right.
7. Dom took some flack this year for his slowed down, relaxed rhymes on the Yellow Album, but it worked like a charm on his DJ Dahi produced single.
8. Rashad was the most slept on artist in 2012.  His Museum project came out of nowhere and is a borderline classic.
9. See #4.  Mack and Ryan owned 2012, both in Seattle and nationally, attaining new heights for unsigned artists.  “Thrift Shop” is a top 10 single, but “Same Love” was their most powerful and helped Washington state legalize same sex marriage.
10. Tackling one of the most troubling stories of the year, Reef summed up the anger, confusion, and worry that Trayvon Martin’s murder brought up in February.
11. Never one to bite his tongue, Lupe launched a scathing assault on one of hip-hop’s favorite words.
12. If the Physics put out music, it’s a lock that they’ll have a song on our wrap up list.  One of the best groups in hip-hop resides in our backyard.
13. It’s a testament to SK’s rhyming ability that a freestyle, quick-strike style mixtape dropped for fun still produced some of the best verses of the year.  Just wait until his next album…
14. Last year, “Novacane” was my song of the year.  This year, Frank took it again with his 10 minute opus.  He also gets my album of the year for the brilliant Channel Orange.
15. We could have easily picked “Daughters” or “Bye Baby” here, but we went with his Salaam Remi produced, Heavy D inspired anthem.
16. Beanie may have ran into some legal trouble this year (…again), but he also managed to get the band back together for a record that was undeniably Philly…and filthy.
17. The Moor Gang made a significant impact locally in 2012 and with songs like this, there’s no reason they can’t break out nationally in 2013.
18. With all due respect to Nasir, Kendrick likely dropped the rap album of the year.  We could have picked a number of songs off it, but we went with this instant classic.
19. We played “Adorn” early on, well before it went on to be one of the biggest songs of the year, but “Do You…” was the better pick off Miguel’s album.  A flawless song.
20. Frank may have had the R&B album of the year, but BJ wasn’t that far behind.  Pineapple Now-Laters was highly slept on, but people will wake up when he starts to get a major label push in 2013.
21. Rozay, Dre, and Hov with a beat by Jake One?  Yep!  New name: Jake Won.
22. Many know of Ray’s name through his singing on Macklemore’s “Can’t Hold Us,” but he stepped out on his own in 2012 with this song.  If he keeps making music like this, the sky is the limit.
23. Yuna linked up with Pharrell for multiple songs off her major label debut, but this catchy single was the strongest.  Having her perform it live on SNSS was one of our highlights of the year as well.

Honorable mentions from artists not otherwise represented:

• 50 Cent – “You Took My Heart”
• Aaliyah ft. Drake – “Enough Said”
• Ab-Soul ft. Alori Joh & JaVonte’ – “Empathy”
• ASAP Rocky – “Goldie”
• A Yellow Man – “3,000 Miles Of Youth”
• Big Boi ft. Little Dragon – “Mama Told Me (Unreleased Version)”
• Blu & Exile – “The Only One”
• Brother Ali – “Writer’s Block”
• Brothers From Another ft. Prometheus Brown & Thig Natural – “Molly Moon”
• Common ft. Maya Angelou – “The Dreamer”
• Danny Brown – “Grown Up”
• Dee-1 – “Writer’s Block”
• DJ Khaled ft. Scarface, Nas, & DJ Premier – “Hip-Hop”
• Dr. Oop – “Magic Milk”
• Ellie Goulding – “High For This”
• Elzhi – “Blue Window”
• Freddie Gibbs & Madlib ft. BJ The Chicago Kid – “Shame”
• Gensu Dean ft. Olivier Daysoul – “Wantchu”
• Gilbere Forte – “Pray”
• Killer Mike – “Willie Burke Sherwood”
• Little Dragon – “Sunshine”
• Maffew Ragazino – “Amaretto Sour”
• Mansions On The Moon – “Leaves Fall”
• Oddisee – “Paralyzed”
• OnCue – “Kinda Late”
• Rhye – “Open”
• Rochelle Jordan – “Pressure”
• Saigon ft. Jovan Dais – “Women Are The New Dogs”
• Slum Village ft. De La Soul – “Turning Me Off”
• Steven A. Clark – “Don’t Have You”
• THEESatisfaction – “QueenS”
• The Kid Daytona ft. Jadakiss – “Low (Remix)”
• The Weekend – “Twenty Eight”

See you in 2013.

Not much to say this week.  Hope you’re all celebrating the holiday season with your friends and family.  Tune in next week for our “Best of 2012” edition of SNSS.  Don’t miss it…

Show #393 (12-23-12)

1. Game ft. Pusha T – “Name Me King”
2. T.I. – “The Introduction”
3. Maffew Ragazino – “Friday Night”
4. Supastition – “Yada Yada”
5. Skyzoo ft. Freeway – “Pockets Full”
6. **INTERVIEW WITH SCRIBES, PT. 1**
7. ASAP Rocky ft. Kendrick Lamar, Joey Badass, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Actin Bronson, & Big K.R.I.T. – “1 Train”
8. Thurz ft. Jarell Perry – “Keep Livin’”
9. Elijah Blake ft. Common – “X.O.X.”
10. Shelton Harris – “Wake Up” (Local Music)
11. Chin Injeti ft. Sonreal – “Gunna Be Fine” (Local Music)
12. **INTERVIEW WITH SCRIBES, PT. 2**
13. MC Eiht – “The Reign”
14. Outkast – “West Savannah” (Throwback of the Week)
15. Big Boi ft. Phantogram – “CPU”
16. J. Cole – “2012”
17. Arima Ederra – “Flow Chart”
18. Rhye – “Open”
19. Mac Slug ft. Reno Red – “Music Is Key” (Local Music)
20. 2 Player Co-Op (Trackademicks & 1-O.A.K.) – “Nothing Looks The Same”

Link to download/stream the mp3 of the show – http://www14.zippyshare.com/v/67208981/file.html
(back up link – http://linkmixes.com/53cm5qwe7d8w)
(2nd back up – http://www.sharebeast.com/yzr606v2x2fw)

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.

Lost in all the (well deserved) mania about Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ recent success is the fact that Allen Stone has taken the world by storm as well.  The Northwest native has been touring and performing non-stop for months, much of which is documented in his new video for “Sleep.”  This is the number one reason I could never do tour life.  I am NOT about that sleepless life.

New visuals from Kweli and Ryan Leslie, directed by the latter.  I’m not sure how I feel about this new trend of R&B singers deciding to rap, but I’m not mad at Ryan’s skills on the mic.  Lord knows he can do pretty much everything else musically (go check all the YouTube videos of him in the studio if you’re not familiar), so he might as well rap a bit.  Shoot, everyone else is these days.

The Kid Daytona links up with German production duo JR & PH7 for “Humid Nights” off The Good Life.  Check out the project right here if you’ve been sleeping.  Along with Daytona, the guests featured include Sean Price, Skyzoo, Guilty Simpson, Chuuwee, King Mez, Fly.Union, Phonte, Median, Torae, Freeway, Saigon, Ras Kass, and more.  Very solid lineup.

One of the realest records of the year. I’m not sure Live From The Underground lived up to the immense expectations everyone had for it, but K.R.I.T. still delivered a good project and he’s clearly one of the best artists we have in hip-hop right now.

When news spread last week that Trinidad James signed a $2 million dollar record deal with Def Jam, many involved in the industry took to Twitter to give our two cents.  My mini-rant got picked up and spread around the net a bit (read most of it here), and we planned on discussing some of the issues on the air for this week’s SNSS.

However, that topic and the debates it sparked were rendered completely meaningless by the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut last Friday.  Our thoughts are with all those affected, which really should be everyone reading this.  Even if you weren’t directly touched by this event, you’ve undoubtedly been affected by gun violence and/or mental health issues at some point in your life.  Both are far too pervasive in our society and while both have been debated for years, it looks like this might have finally been a tipping point to move in the right direction, at least in terms of gun control regulations.  The debate can rage on for years (and has), it seems we might finally be able to close the “gun show loophole” and perhaps even accomplish a ban on assault weapons.  I haven’t heard one reasonable argument against either of those goals and they seem like the least we can do.  Between Newtown, Columbine, Blacksburg, and the day to day violence we see in places like Chicago and Detroit, we simply must do better.  An intelligent conversation and plan for moving forward is not too much to ask.

We touched on this topic a little during this week’s show, but the focus, as always, was on the music.  We played new records from artists like Game, J. Cole, JMSN, Talib Kweli, Jamall Bufford, John Legend, the Delfonics, Snoop Lion, Wais P, Big Boi, Little Dragon, and more.  Plus we were joined in studio by one of our favorite artists in Seattle, Dice.  Her debut album, Reflections In Broken Glass, comes out Tuesday!

Enjoy the show and be safe out there folks.

Show #392 (12-16-12)

1. Game ft. J. Cole & JMSN – “Pray”
2. Talib Kweli – “Fly Away (Apollo Brown Remix)”
3. Jamall Bufford – “10,000”
4. DJ Phinisey ft. Grynch & Hyphen8d – “This Road” (Local Music)
5. **INTERVIEW WITH DICE, PT. 1**
6. John Legend – “Who Did That To You”
7. Adrian Younge Presents The Delfonics – “Stop and Look (And You Have Found Love)”
8. Charlie Red – “Norah Jones”
9. **INTERVIEW WITH DICE, PT. 2**
10. Dice – “Celebration” (Local Music)
11. Kendrick Lamar ft. Drake – “Poetic Justice”
12. **INTERVIEW WITH DICE, PT. 3**
13. Snoop Lion ft. Mavado & Popcaan – “Lighters Up”
14. Truck North ft. Black Thought & Asher Roth – “Capital Crime”
15. Apollo Brown & Guilty Simpson ft. Planet Asia – “Nasty”
16. Wais P ft. Action Bronson – “Staten Island Ferry”
17. Big Sant – “Live”
18. Geto Boys – “Six Feet Deep” (Throwback of the Week)
19. Choklate – “Wide Open” (Local Music)
20. Big Boi ft. Little Dragon – “Descending”

Link to download/stream the mp3 of the show – http://www70.zippyshare.com/v/12311818/file.html
(back up link – http://linkmixes.com/6f7vv1e8woch)
(2nd back up – http://www.sharebeast.com/02vtchpmg33p)

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.