The Audacity of Dope

This is easily one of my favorite records of 2010, though I much prefer Drake’s original version (download below).  I wonder if he has any regrets over giving it to Jamie…though I suppose it depends on the success the single has.  Chance are, it’ll be tough to catch on with radio or TV since it’s such a slow, brooding record, but I hope it works.

Drake – “Fall For Your Type (Same Mistakes)”

…take you anywhere you wanna go, let you meet my friends / so they can lecture me again, about how reckless I have been…

After coming through the Sound Session studios for the web chat with fans that I posted a few days ago, J. Cole took to the main stage at the Bumbershoot Festival to perform alongside Drake and Mary J. Blige.  J. Moore and I hosted the show, so I grabbed some footage from the stage as Cole battled the rain and performed songs like “Blow Up,” “Who Dat,” “Lights Please,” “Grown Simba,” “A Star Is Born,” and more.

I’ll be posting up the interview we did soon as well, but enjoy the live show for now.  You gotta love the girls in the front row going crazy for Cole and also how hard the crowd rocked when “Grown Simba” dropped (at 8:27).  “Bitch, I’m about to blow up!”

As I mentioned last week, we had some big events here in Seattle over the past few days.  First off, shout to Nottz, DJ Toomp, and all the competitors in the Seattle stop of the Red Bull Big Tune.  Well…all the producers…except one.  If you were there, you already know.  If not, enjoy the awkwardness.  But on the real, congrats to Rising Son and Trox for repping the NW nicely.  See y’all in the finals fellas…

Secondly, many thanks to everyone who came through Seattle’s Bumbershoot Festival over the holiday weekend.  By all accounts, the festival was a smashing success and J. Moore and I enjoyed hosting the main stage on Monday night to wrap up the show.  J. Cole, Drake, and Mary J. Blige combined to close out the weekend and pretty much killed it.  I didn’t hear a single account from someone who didn’t enjoy the concert and from where we watched, it certainly looked like the audience loved it.

Special shout to J. Cole and his crew for coming through KUBE for an interview and hopping in a live web chat with almost a thousand fans.  If you missed it, you can check out the archived video right here.  We’ll air the formal interview shortly…

Lastly, thanks to Thee Satisfaction and Angela Yee (shout to her artist, Jay Electronica too) for dropping by Sound Session live on Sunday night to co-host with us.  If you missed the lovely ladies of Thee Satisfaction performing at the festival, you definitely missed one of the highlights.  And if you aren’t familiar with Angela’s work on Sirius XM’s Shade 45, you’re sleeping.  She’s a cool, hilarious, cultured hip-hop head…can you say wifey material?  Well, depending on how you view her Lip Service show haaaa…but I digress…enjoy SNSS!

Show #275 (9-5-10)

1. Lupe Fiasco – “Go To Sleep”
2. Aleon Craft ft. Hollyweerd – “Wonderland (Remix)”
3. Freddie Gibbs – “Personal O.G.”
4. Nottz Raw & Asher Roth – “Enforce The Law”
5. Skyzoo & Illmind – “Speakers On Blast”
6. Black Milk ft. Royce Da 5’9” & Elzhi – “Deadly Medley”
7. **INTERVIEW WITH THEE SATISFACTION**
8. The Physics – “I Just Wanna Beat” (Local Music)
9. The Foreign Exchange – “Maybe She’ll Dream Of Me”
10. J. Cole – “Blow Up”
11. Vandalyzm – “Get Dough”
12. Jay Electronica – “Exhibit C”
13. **INTERVIEW WITH ANGELA YEE, PT. 1**
14. Kanye West – “Devil In A New Dress”
15. Drake ft. Nicki Minaj – “Up All Night”
16. Choklate ft. Drake – “Overdose” (Local Music)
17. Faith Evans ft. Raekwon – “Everyday Struggle”
18. Diggy Simmons ft. Lupe Fiasco & Pharrell – “Oh Yeah!”
19. Eminem ft. Nate Dogg – “Till I Collapse” (Throwback of the Week)
20. Language Arts – “Fast Life” (Local Music)
21. Spragga Benz ft. Nas – “This Is The Way”
22. **INTERVIEW WITH ANGELA YEE, PT. 2**

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?ozl594ogfdqj6me
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/801871347feb0778/)
(2nd back up – http://usershare.net/e0ka63h0vh27)

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.

Check out this week’s edition of SNSS to hear brand new music from the likes of Slum Village, Black Milk, Kanye West, Vandalyzm, Cee-Lo, Aloe Blacc, Lupe Fiasco, Fresh Daily, Nas, J. Cole, Drake, Nottz, and more.  Speaking of those last 3, there are 2 events this week that all our fellow Pacific NW’ers should come to Seattle for:

• Thursday, Sept. 2nd – Red Bull Big Tune at Neumos.  You already know what it is since J. Moore is one of the founding members of the Red Bull Big Tune, but if you’re sleeping for some reason, peep the site for more info.  This year’s Seattle stop goes down on Thursday and along with a plethora of talented producers from around the NW, Nottz and DJ Toomp will be on hand as the featured guests.  To top it all off, it’s FREE.  You have no excuse not to be there…unless you’re agoraphobic, I suppose.

• Saturday, Sept. 4th – Monday, Sept. 6th – Bumbershoot: Seattle’s Music & Arts Festival at the Seattle Center.  That’s right, the world famous Bumbershoot Festival is back for it’s 40th year, complete with all sorts of incredible musicians.  Seriously, the lineup is packed across all genres.  Check it out here.  Be sure to peep the main stage on Monday evening to catch J. Cole and Drake perform at the same concert for the first time.  You’ll also be treated to Mary J. Blige closing out the show that night, plus J. Moore and myself will be hosting.  I think this is the 5th year J and I have hosted the main stage and it’s always a blast.  Last year, I was fortunate enough to DJ for the U-N-I homies (footage if you missed it) and this year we get J. Cole and Drizzy.  Doesn’t get much better…

Show #274 (8-29-10)

1. Drake ft. Young Jeezy – “Unforgettable”
2. Slum Village ft. Little Brother – “Where Do We Go From Here”
3. Black Milk ft. Royce Da 5’9” & Elzhi – “Deadly Medley”
4. Kanye West ft. Rick Ross, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj, & Bon Iver – “Monster”
5. Vandalyzm – “Get Dough”
6. 2 Hungry Bros. & 8thW1 – “Stupid Face”
7. **INTERVIEW WITH KD CUTZ**
8. J. Pinder – “Upside Down” (Local Music)
9. Cee-Lo – “Forget You”
10. Aloe Blacc – “Loving You Is Killing Me”
11. Choklate ft. Drake – “Overdose” (Local Music)
12. Lupe Fiasco – “Go To Sleep”
13. Fresh Daily – “All Black (Menelik)”
14. Shad – “Rose Garden”
15. J. Cole – “Blow Up”
16. Nas – “Power, Paper, & P***y”
17. DMX – “The Convo” (Throwback of the Week)
18. Nottz ft. Alchemist – “The 1ne”
19. Lace Cadence – “Moonlight” (Local Music)
20. Seu Jorge & Almaz – “Rock With You”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?f7jjrv62afeboo8
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/79907186c6c8c10a/)
(2nd back up – http://usershare.net/am5jdeh6o2e2)

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.

Much like that De La Soul footage I posted recently, I’ve been meaning to get some of this footage out for months.  Here’s a quick montage of Drake’s performance at our Summer Jam from June.  If you missed out, he’ll be back in Seattle next Monday with J. Cole and Mary J. Blige for Bumbershoot.  Holler @ a Hyphey when you see me there.

Shout to mind of i on the editing.

I love that Drizzy took a straight “9th Wonder from 2005” inspired beat and made it a radio record.  Underground wins.

Side note, Wayne’s verse on this joint is up there with hilariously half-wack-half-dope verses from So Far Gone.  “Uggggggggggh dat’s nasty…”

They homey Sol has quickly become not only of my favorite artists in Seattle, but one of my favorite people in the local scene.  He’s humble, driven, focused, and above all, talented.  He knows where he wants to go with music and he has all the tools to get there.  Aside from the obvious (rhymes, catchy hooks, good ear for beats, song structure, etc.), almost every track seems to be a very genuine look into his state of mind.  Isn’t that what artistic expression should be?

“Dear Friends” is a prime example and much like J. Pinder’s recent video, it’s brought to life nicely by Jon Augustavo’s direction.  This hook is ridiculous and when it combines with the melodic, semi-ambient beat, it should instantly recall your favorite moments of Drake’s So Far Gone.  Just like Drizzy, the strength of Sol’s music lies in his ability to evoke particular moods in the listener.  While based on his specific life experiences, they’re topics and emotions that are universal to us all.

Off Dear Friends, Vol. 2 – download here.

Greatness.

Greatness.  Tim Westwood is possibly the funniest character in this entire high school musical that is the hip-hop industry.

UPDATE:  I suppose I should include the original for those who haven’t seen it yet…

If you’re like me, you’ve been listening to Drake’s Thank Me Later album quite heavily the past few weeks, so you’ll probably also enjoy this interview with Semtex.  While they don’t break down every song on the album (I would have been particularly interested to hear the story behind “Karaoke”), there’s a lot of good info in here.  I did laugh at the “sounds like your parents played a big role in your life” question though.  Generally speaking, that’s pretty much what they tend to do.

You can also check out footage of Drake murdering our Summer Jam last night over on the KUBE site.  It was impressive to watch, thinking back to when we played him over 3 years ago on Sound Session.  I never would have anticipated his success to be this great, but it’s really ill to have the hottest rapper of the moment actually be dope.  Novel concept, I know.