The Audacity of Dope

Well, that escalated quickly.

A lot of eloquent words by folks more intelligent than I have been written this week, plus I’m burned out from the emotion of it all and traveling from Australia to New York (24 hours straight on the move is no joke), so I’ll keep it as brief as I can.  There are three points I want to stress to everyone:

1. Almost 50% of the eligible voting population sat this one out.  Voter suppression occurred both via laws (reducing early voting windows, requiring additional identification, etc.) and by killing all enthusiasm for being a part of the process.  In such a close election (where the Electoral College has failed the will of the people for the second time in my life), every vote is crucial and we simply couldn’t afford so many people to stay at home.  Shameful, in my opinion, especially with local races and propositions on the ballot too.  It’s interesting watching this happen while I’ve been in Australia, where voting is required by law.  Sure, that gets abused too, but it definitely looks like a better system to me.  The Republicans have decided not to update their platform to move with the changing world, so they know their best chance to win is to have as few people vote as possible.  Credit to them, it worked this time around.  It’s on us to ensure more people, from all parties, get out to the 2018 midterms.
2. Trump won just 25% of the vote.  I would hope that the hardcore racism, sexism, homophobia, and xenophobia he based his campaign on is only embraced by a small percentage of that group, say up to 10%.  Perhaps we’ll never be able to reach those people.  Maybe they’re just stuck in their ways.  But the rest of his voters amazingly decided that all of this nonsense was NOT a deal-breaker, which, at best, tells all the targeted people, “I don’t hate you…but I don’t care about you.”  These are the people we need to have conversations with, to ensure they understand that they have just emboldened and validated this rhetoric by putting him in the White House.  Those values are NOT shared by the vast majority of America and we cannot let a small few hijack the narrative in attempts to normalize this.  Speak up and stay vocal, shouting this down at every turn.
3. We gon’ be alright (c) Kendrick.  Sound Session has been here during the Bush years, the Obama years, and we’ll be here during the Trump years too.  So will you.  You are valued.  You matter.  You are loved.  Be the change you want to see at the local level and control what you can control.  Progress is not a straight line and we’re going to continue on our path to a more perfect union, one day at a time.

And now, some music for your soul:

Show #576 (11/13/16)

1. ASAP Mob ft. ASAP Nast & Onyx – “Nasty’s World”
2. Common ft. Bilal – “Home”
3. The Game – “Grew Up On Wu-Tang”
4. Like – “Diamond”
5. Mibbs ft. Blu – “Tell Me ‘Bout It”
6. Notorious B.I.G. ft. 112 – “Sky’s The Limit” (Throwback of the Week)
7. Meek Mill – “Blue Notes”
8. Khalid – “Hopeless”
9. Alicia Keys – “More Than We Know”
10. Mickey Factz & Nottz ft. Phonte – “Treat You Right”
11. Jay Prince – “Smile Good”
12. Dame D.O.L.L.A. ft. Lil Wayne – “Loyal To The Soil” (Local Music)
13. TYuS – “Shapes and Sizes” (Local Music)
14. Jalen Santoy – “Foreplay”
15. Big Sean – “No More Interviews”
16. Mayer Hawthorne – “A New Love”
17. JAHKOY – “Don’t Beg”
18. Solange ft. Sampha – “Don’t Touch My Hair”
19. Ray BLK – “5050”
20. All-Star Opera ft. Warm Gun – “Lifeline” (Local Music)
21. starRo ft. Masego – “Yams”
22. Childish Gambino – “Me and Your Mama”
23. Daniel Caesar ft. Kali Uchis – “Get You”
24. Nas – “I Can” (Throwback of the Week)
25. A Tribe Called Quest ft. Andre 3000 – “Kids”

Link to download – https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B72U-rgJjvmWaFdjcjJNQTV3Q2M

If you’d like to be added to our weekly email list to receive the playlist and stream/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.

Even though this song is about 2 years old (I even put it on Vol. 6 of my old mixtapes, download it!), it’s just as relevant on the day of the final presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain.  What it all boils down to is ridiculously simple.

The policies and beliefs that George Bush and the Republicans put forth the last 8 years have brought this country to its lowest point in any of our lifetimes.  We’re fighting 2 unwinnable wars, witnessing an economic meltdown, feeling the effects of environmental destruction, adding an extra digit on to the National Debt Clock, and leaving millions of children behind in our educational system.  LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL @ anyone who voted for Bush.  I hope you’re proud of what you helped accomplish.  Can anyone honestly take pride in voting for the worst president of all-time?

Don’t make the same mistake again.  John McCain wants to continue Bush’s work, but it’s time for a change.  Watch the debate this evening and vote Obama on November 4th.  “For our kids’ kids.”

I’ve been having friendly debates with people recently about this upcoming monumental election, and the better ones have evolved into discussions about why you believe what you believe. I’ve found that a disappointingly large number of people will blindly support a candidate, either due to image or party affiliation. I’ve always fallen squarely on the ‘Democrat’ side of things, but that’s because the general beliefs of their party line up with mine most of the time. If you believe in the same things I do, and see the world the same way, chances are I’ll vote for you…regardless what party you schlep around in.

So with this election coming up, the most fundamental thing you can do is educate yourself. Find out what the candidates believe in, what their policies are, and what they want to do with this country. Then make your choice accordingly. Granted, you may believe that you’re choosing between “the lesser of two evils,” but that’s still an incredibly important decision…especially this time around.

?uestlove put up this little PSA to talk about a few of the reasons why he is voting for Barack Obama, and I encourage y’all to check it out. The topics he mentions are almost never discussed on any of the ‘talking heads’ news programs, but they’re all very important.

Decide what issues are most important to you in this election and then find out where the candidates stand on them. Hopefully, we’re all progressive people here and supporting Obama, but if not, it’s all good. We just disagree. But make sure we’re really disagreeing on issues and policies, not because your parents have always voted Republican…