The Audacity of Dope

Hopefully you’re all enjoying this historic MLK Day and reflecting on how far we’ve come (shout to Barack) and how far we still have to go.  Remember: “be the change you want to see in the world.” – (c) Gandhi

We’d also be remiss if we didn’t mention this small bit of news:  *ahem*….SONICS BACK.

With that out of the way, here’s SNSS #397 (steadily closing in on #400…aka Hall of Fame numbers), complete with new music from artists like the Smash Brovaz, Wale, Pro Era, ASAP Rocky, DaVinci, Supastition, DJ Nu-Mark, Aloe Blacc, Phil Beaudreau, Reef The Lost Cauze, The Lions, Denitia Odigie, Meyhem Lauren, and more.  Shout to The Good Sin for coming through the studio as well.

Show #397 (1-20-13)

1. Smash Brovaz – “Whatever”
2. Wale ft. Lightshow – “Georgetown Press”
3. Pro Era – “Like Water”
4. Joey Badass – “Unorthodox”
5. Jay-Z – “So Ghetto” (Throwback of the Week)
6. ASAP Rocky – “Long Live ASAP”
7. DaVinci – “Paper, Power, P***y”
8. Supastition – “Expectations”
9. **INTERVIEW WITH THE GOOD SIN, PT. 1**
10. The Good Sin ft. Dizz – “Great Expectations” (Local Music)
11. Phil Beaudreau – “Take It High”
12. DJ Nu-Mark ft. Aloe Blacc & Charles Bradley – “Don’t Play Around”
13. **INTERVIEW WITH THE GOOD SIN, PT. 2**
14. Louis V ft. Gizzle McFly, Young Meez, Willie Beamin, & Fearce Villain – “Hello (Remix)” (Local Music)
15. Kid Cudi – “King Wizard”
16. Reef The Lost Cauze – “Ghost Town”
17. The Lions – “Padre Ichiro”
18. Elijah Blake – “Vicky’s Secret”
19. Denitia Odigie – “Weekend”
20. Feezable The Germ – “Hollywood Blvd” (Local Music)
21. Styles Of Beyond – “Radio Clash”
22. Big Noyd, Large Professor, & Kool G Rap – “Naturally Born”
23. Meyhem Lauren – “Get That Money Black”

Link to download/stream the mp3 of the show – http://www57.zippyshare.com/v/39038137/file.html
(back up link – http://linkmixes.com/2vjr9vrhieh5)
(2nd back up – http://www.sendspace.com/file/6ga5ah)

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.

There are a million things I could say about the positive, progressive steps that America took tonight as a whole (and many states, including Washington took individually), but if you listen to SNSS, you’re already on the same page as us.  Our society can now continue to evolve, but only if you do your part and continue to push yourself to be a better person in every aspect of your life.  It’s not about Barack.  It’s about us.

Work harder.  Get smarter.  Share more.  And most importantly, love more.

We love this music and culture, and hope you do too.

Show #386 (11-4-12)

1. Wu-Tang Clan ft. Kool G Rap – “Rivers Of Blood”
2. Sean Price – “Pyrex”
3. Meek Mill – “Dreams and Nightmares”
4. Mikkey Halsted ft. Pusha T – “Momma In My Ear”
5. Gilbere Forte – “Pray”
6. Kids These Days – “Bud Billiken”
7. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Mary Lambert – “Same Love” (Local Music)
8. Jesse Boykins III & MeLo-X – “I’m New Here”
9. Miguel – “Use Me”
10. Kendrick Lamar ft. Jay Rock – “Money Trees”
11. **INTERVIEW WITH SPACEMAN, MIC FLONT, KHINGZ, & GRYNCH, PT. 1**
12. Spaceman – “The Flyest” (Local Music)
13. **INTERVIEW WITH SPACEMAN, MIC FLONT, KHINGZ, & GRYNCH, PT. 2**
14. J. Pinder ft. Choklate – “Illuminate” (Local Music)
15. Bambu – “Moms”
16. Brother Ali ft. Cornel West – “Letter To My Countrymen”
17. Lupe Fiasco – “ITAL (Roses)”
18. Gemstones – “Fire In My Heart”
19. Bad Lucc ft. Problem – “Outchea”
20. Nas – “Represent” (Throwback of the Week)

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www60.zippyshare.com/v/54355991/file.html
(back up / streaming link – http://linkmixes.com/t7fdxysq5qhp)
(2nd back up – http://www.sharebeast.com/fxgkq1vgh1cd)

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.

Following up on the absolutely absurd “controversy” regarding Common’s appearance at the White House, Jon sat down with O’Reilly to dispense more ether, this time face-to-face.

Barry was lickin’ shots at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner yesterday.  Yeah, yeah, he has writers obviously, but still, his delivery was great.  How strange is it that our President is cooler than us?

By the way, this >>>>>> the Justin/Samberg “Mother Lovers” skit.

It’s time to put the smack down on these Republicans and their sickening behavior in the House and Senate. Not only are they being contrarian just for the sake of arguing, they have absolutely no legs to stand on.  When you’ve run the country into its lowest point since the Great Depression and have made wrong decision after wrong decision, your opinions and theories are null and void.  You had your chance and you failed…epically.

I’m glad Barack is playing nice with these fools, but they’ll soon find out that all their whining and complaining is going to be moot as he gets to work.  I just wish they’d spare us the show.  STFU and sit your ass down in the backseat.  You drove the country off the pavement at every fork in the road, and now you’re trying to tell us how to drive.  Why on earth should anyone listen to you?

Do your thing Barack and let’s get this headed in the right direction.

Damn, this came out of nowhere.  Brainchild and Phonte haven’t recorded an episode of GGR in a minute, but it’s back just in time for Tay to drop his thoughts on the upcoming year.  Plus, Brainchild kills the mix…as always.

1. DJ Day “Four Hills”
2. Daru & Rena “Things You Do”
3. Ed O.G. & The Bulldogs “Bug-A-Boo”
4. Shawn Jackson “Fix Ya Face”
5. Sa-Ra “High Life”
6. Portishead “Lot More”
7. Bjork “I Miss You” (Dobie’s Sunshine Mix)
8. Apple Juice Kid “A Different Blues”
9. Fat Jon “Tell Me”
10. The Foreign Exchange “Take Off The Blues”
11. Ron Browz “Pop Champagne”
12. Q-Tip “Dance On Glass”
13. Hueston Independent Spit District “Jus Sayin”
14. Hi-Gloss “You’ll Never Know”
15. The Whispers “Keep Your Love Around”
16. Carl Anderson “Buttercup”
17. Jermaine Jackson “Where Are You Now”
18. Prince “My Love Is Forever”
19. Joey Negro presents The Sunburst Band “Every Day”
20. Made In Japan “The City At Night”
21. Musiq Soulchild “Until”
22. The Pharcyde “She Said” (Jay Dee Remix)
23. Cunninlynguists “Yellow Lines”
24. Theophilus London “Cold Pillow” (feat. Jesse Boykins III)

Download here. (right click, save as)

Here’s Kanye’s performance from one of the inaugural balls last night in DC.  ‘Ye kinda killed it, mullet and all.  This was the same ball that after Barack and Michelle shared the dance, he told the crowd…”we call that ‘old school’.”

Coolest. President. Ever.

More true words from Jay Smooth.  Like I said in my last post, we have to “be the change” we want to see.  That means we have to get to work and take pride in what everything do.

I’m making 2009 a huge year for myself and I hope y’all do the same.  Live better in every aspect of your life and get things moving in the right direction.  Do your best to really experience life.  Remember what Jimmy V said?

To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And Number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.

In spite of this picture, the most important thing to remember today is that Obama is not alone. We cannot expect him to solve all our problems and make the world a better place without buying into his vision ourselves. As he’s mentioned numerous times, “be the change you want to see in the world.”

If you want things to be better in your life, in your family, in your neighborhood, in your country, or in the world, you have to take responsibility. Be smart. Be positive. Be caring and be there for other people. We can do this, but we have to pull together and demand the best from ourselves and each other.

Let’s go.

(Pardon the language, but I never did get the chance to use one of my favorite pics of the year)

Alright, there are two things that are slightly bugging me right now, at least enough that I felt the urge to blog ’em.  Welcome to the rant.

Issue #1: The buzz around the net about the new Common album is off the charts.  Unfortunately, I’m seeing damn near nothing but negative reviews.  What album are y’all listening to?  You really wanted him to make a 3rd album in a row that sounded pretty much the same?  Eff y’all, Universal Mind Control is heat.  My dude Dru suggested I do some reviews every now and then, but working 2.5 jobs kinda kills that.  Here’s my track by track faux review:

1. “Universal Mind Control” – you’ve heard this.  Either you like it or you hate it.  If you’re fun, you like it, it’s your jam when you hear it in public, and you can’t let it finish without attempting some horrible popping and locking.  If you don’t like it, your Jansport might be too tight.
2. “Punch Drunk Love” – Dope.  Kanye + Skateboard + Com?  Say no more.  “Am I crazy”?
3. “Make My Day” – Love this record.  So bouncy, so melodic.  [Thugnificent] stop hatin’, get money [/Boondocks].
4. “Sex 4 Sugar” – Fair enough, swing and a miss.
5. “Announcement” – Nice ode to Biggie and P kills his verse.  Nobody at Geffen/Interscope will tell me why they pulled the video down, so I’ll have to ask Com on the 13th.  The animation was dope.
6. “Gladiator” – FLAMES.  Hard ass beat, crazy horn sample, classic Com battle rhymes.  Absolutely insane in concert too.  “Are you not entertained?”
7. “Changes” – Good positive joint inspired by the late stages of Barack’s candidacy.  Would fit right in on Be or Finding Forever.
8. “Inhale” – Smooth.  Crazy synth and percussion.  Ill record.
9. “What A World” – Com kills it with the old school flow and them Chester French boys add some Freddie Mercury-esque swag.  All that’s missing from the beat is Pharrell’s “sexy breath” style adlib in between the hook and verses.  Could easily be a Kenna song…and that’s a good thing.
10. “Everywhere” – Reminds me of the new Foreign Exchange record.  Great way to end it, but I would have let this one ride out for like 8 minutes and let the beat/melodies go crazy.

So look.  9/10 songs are good and one isn’t.  That’s 90%…that’s a A-.  You messageboarders, bloggers, and Debbie Downers in general need to calm down.  If you want to hear Resurrection again, go put in your CD.

*bangs gavel*

Issue #2: The political pundits (worth about as much as hip-hop pundits) are getting all worked up because Barack has been hiring people associated with both the Clinton and Bush administrations, and they’re wondering what happened to “change.”  First off, the people he’s picking are very qualified and are all excellent choices.  Secondly, these people are respected across party lines, which was a huge theme of Barack’s campaign.  When I worked for them, the official mantra was “respect, empower, include.”  You can’t change things for the better when you alienate half the people in the country.  This is the beginning of a new way of politics, perhaps not ‘post-partisan’, but moving towards that.  And it’s certainly a HUGE ‘change’ from Dubya’s (mis)management style.

Thirdly, Barack has been set up for these attacks since day one.  Regardless of what he does, people will try to criticize him because they are, rightly so, fed up with government.  However, let’s not forget how we got here and who was at the helm.  We’re at the lowest point in American history since the Great Depression.  Literally every day for the past 2 weeks I’ve heard of either personal friends losing their jobs or seen large business make massive cuts.  Finally, at the first of the month, CNN sent out the hilariously titled “breaking news” that we were in a recession since last December.  Thanks for the update fellas.

If Barack picked a team of brand new faces, he would be ridiculed for selecting unknown commodities when we’re in such dire straits.  When he picks a balanced and diverse group of accomplished and, gasp, intelligent appointees, people flip because they aren’t “change-y” enough.  Miss me with that, please.  Anyone want to let these people actually get in office for…I dunno…a week…before trying to tear them down?  Barack’s not going to be able to fix things completely in 4 full years and you already want him solving the world’s economic crisis 2 months before he’s sworn in?  Wow.  We really do live in an “instant gratification” culture.  Speaking of which…

*pops dinner in microwave*

Ok, I should wrap up this rant.  Before I do though, I need all you conservatives, particularly the bombastic, comically dimwitted talking heads on the “news” to do one thing.  Shut.  the hell.  up.

Really now, these people shouldn’t even be allowed to speak about issues.  You lost your rights when you voted for George Bush.  TWICE!  This is like getting driving erratically and crashing your car, only to tell the ambulance driver to be more careful as he’s taking you to the hospital.  No.  You can’t say anything right now.  Just sit in the back and let the adults try to fix the problems you created.

If your beliefs and policies have brought America to its knees, I refuse to sit there and let you talk about what ANYONE should be doing.  Do you let Shaq coach your free throw technique?  Do you let Soulja Boy help you with your bars?  Do you let Chris Webber handle your clock management down the stretch in a NCAA Championship game (still bitter)?  NO! So why listen to former Bush sycophants whine about what we should do to fix any of the myriad of problems they helped create.  Like George himself said:

Don’t get fooled.  These people have no ground to stand on.

And now back to your regularly scheduled blog…