The Audacity of Dope

Another fun week here in Seattle as we ran new records from artists like Slaughterhouse, Shad, Rocki Evans, Aaliyah, Drake, Ro Blvd, Yelawolf, Latoiya Williams, and more on Sound Session.  Shout to Mr. MFN eXquire for calling in as well.  He’s one of the dopest up & coming MC’s around and after rocking the Mad Decent Block Party earlier in the day, he took some time to call and discuss his background, upcoming projects, signing to a major label, and more.

Speaking of interviews, we posted our backstage conversation with Meek Mill this week too.  You can watch the video right here if you missed it –

Show #373 (8-5-12)

1. Slaughterhouse – “Weight Scale”
2. Shad – “A Milli Vanilli”
3. J. Cole – “The Cure”
4. Bumpy Knuckles & DJ Premier – “More Levels”
5. Rick Ross – “Amsterdam”
6. Mic Phenom ft. Peta Tosh & Lace Cadence – “My Melody” (Local Music)
7. Lupe Fiasco – “Bitch Bad”
8. Frank Ocean – “Bad Religion”
9. Rocki Evans – “Warms The Soul”
10. Aaliyah ft. Drake – “Enough Said”
11. CyHi The Prynce – “Bachelor”
12. Sam Lachow ft. Sky Blaow & Ryan Campbell – “Hash Muffins” (Local Music)
13. **INTERVIEW WITH MR. MFN EXQUIRE**
14. Mr. MFN eXquire – “Huzzah”
15. Kendrick Lamar – “Swimming Pools (Drank)”
16. Ro Blvd ft. California Cush – “Summer Solstice”
17. Wiz Khalifa ft. Rick Ross & Amber Rose – “Never Been, Part II”
18. DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince – “Summertime” (Throwback of the Week)
19. Art Vandelay – “Bleach” (Local Music)
20. Yelawolf – “Wrap Song”
21. Nas – “Stay”
22. Latoiya Williams – “This Love Is Sweet”
23. Homeboy Sandman – “Rated Ours”
24. Elzhi – “Blue Window”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?9j1nw8r2krr2rnf
(back up / streaming link – http://www.sharebeast.com/wz4hl170qjiq)
(2nd back up – http://linkmixes.com/pgwz9heclv4l)

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.

We all know Kendrick is in a unique position as one of the dopest “underground” MC’s around, but yet potentially on the verge of breaking through and become one of the biggest commercial artists in the game too (a topic we discussed with him at KUBE’s Summer Jam here).  It’s a tricky tightrope to balance upon.

“Swimming Pools (Drank)” is his follow up single to “The Recipe,” both of which are great songs that have some commercial appeal without sacrificing any of his content.  This one is especially well written, as I suspect you’ll hear a lot of people singing along with this song but not actually understanding the true message.  Thankfully, Jerome D’s video does a great job of showing you what Kendrick’s saying here.  Don’t get it twisted.

Dark Time Sunshine is comprised of Onry Ozzborn on the mic and Zavala on production.  They just released their album, Anx.  This video is for “Never Cry Wolf” featuring Reva DeVito.  It’s dope.  You should buy their album and hear more.  Simple.

I’m currently trying to recover from the mistake of listening to Iggy Azalea’s new EP, Glory, and while there are cringe-worthy bars throughout, this one stood out…cause it’s repeated about 12 times on this hook:

“I’m bout the paper, like wood.”
— Iggy Azalea, “Me, Myself, My Money”

SNSS listeners know that we welcomed Thaddeus David, Nacho Picasso, and Avatar Young Blaze in to our studio last week to debut their new “Sir Lancelot” record and now you can download the mp3 for yourself.  It’s somewhat of a different sound for Thad, but as you’d suspect with a MC of his caliber, he adapts his flow well for the track.  Nacho and Avatar sound at home too, with Nacho’s vocals cutting sharply through the beat and Av’s closing it out with his “scumbag of the year” verse. Download it below:

New music on SNSS this week from artists like Nas, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Rick Ross, Andre 3000, Ghostface Killah, CyHi The Prynce, Talib Kweli, Warren G, Shad, Dee-1, Frank Ocean, Shawn Chrystopher, and more.  Special thanks to Feezable The Germ, Thaddeus David, Nacho Picasso, and Avatar Young Blaze for coming through the studio as well.

If you missed our interview from Summer Jam with Kendrick Lamar, you can watch it right here.

Show #372 (7-29-12)

1. Nas – “A Queens Story”
2. Kendrick Lamar – “Swimming Pools (Drank)”
3. J. Cole – “The Cure”
4. **INTERVIEW WITH FEEZABLE THE GERM, PT. 1**
5. Feezable The Germ – “Higher” (Local Music)
6. **INTERVIEW WITH FEEZABLE THE GERM, PT. 2**
7. Rick Ross ft. Andre 3000 – “Sixteen”
8. KJ – “Cheese, Bread, Skrilla”
9. Childish Gambino ft. Ghostface Killah – “It May Be Glamour Life”
10. **INTERVIEW WITH THADDEUS DAVID, NACHO PICASSO, & AVATAR YOUNG BLAZE, PT. 1**
11. Thaddeus David ft. Nacho Picasso & Avatar Young Blaze – “Sir Lancelot” (Local Music)
12. **INTERVIEW WITH THADDEUS DAVID, NACHO PICASSO, & AVATAR YOUNG BLAZE, PT. 2**
13. CyHi The Prynce – “Bachelor”
14. Talib Kweli ft. Curren$y & Kendrick Lamar – “Push Thru”
15. Warren G – “Still In Love”
16. Shad – “It Ain’t Over”
17. A Tribe Called Quest ft. Tammy Lucas – “1nce Again” (Throwback of the Week)
18. Dee-1 – “Shut Up and Grind”
19. **INTERVIEW WITH AVATAR YOUNG BLAZE, PT. 1**
20. Avatar Young Blaze ft. Jerrel Perry – “Ghostbusters” (Local Music)
21. **INTERVIEW WITH AVATAR YOUNG BLAZE, PT. 2**
22. Frank Ocean – “Forrest Gump”
23. Polica – “Dark Star”
24. Shawn Chrystopher ft. Dom Kennedy – “Situation”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?1se30una0cnjnj9
(back up / streaming link – http://www.sharebeast.com/gii79n1wo7t2)
(2nd back up – http://linkmixes.com/j0doh16vvule)

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 had the chance to chop it up with Meek Mill backstage after his recent performance at Showbox Market and here’s the video we put together.  Meek discussed how he takes the energy from his studio records to the stage, the inspiration behind his hit single “House Party,” his “Dreamchasers 2” mixtape breaking download records, his official upcoming major label debut album, his favorite Philadelphia MC’s, and more.

Big shout to Meek, his MMG family, WMG, Detooz Films, and Le Fresh Perspective for helping coordinate.

Dee-1 was recently named as the main support for Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ nationwide tour, which should come as a great time since Dee is gearing up for his #TheFocusTape, hosted by DJ Drama and Mannie Fresh, set to drop 9/11/12.  Here’s the first song and video from the project, “Shut Up and Grind”…something more rappers should do.

While this record is a biiiiiiit too Kanye-esque at times, I’m a Yeezy stan, so I’m not mad.  Gambino’s dope.

I’ve always been a big fan of when two dope MC’s can share a verse and trade lines back and forth, and that’s exactly what you get with “Eternally” off Phonte’s Charity Starts At Home.  Since it starts there, Tay and Median go door to door bringing that good music to the fine folks of North Carolina, complete with their bicycle helmets.  Hey, safety first!