The Audacity of Dope

As I’ve mentioned numerous times, I’m a sucker for flashing lights.  It’s a good thing I’m not prone to epileptic seizures, since this video is clearly going to cause a few of those.  This is an epic anthem and ‘Ye’s partnership with the NBA for All-Star Weekend is working flawlessly.

Best artist alive.

My favorite record off Cudi’s new album gets the video treatment from Jason Goldwatch’s short film, “The Journey of Mr. Rager,” which comes packaged with the deluxe edition of Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager.  Don’t do drugs kids.

I could write an essay on Kanye’s Runaway film, and the ensuing debates it sparked, but what’s the point?  There will be a million analytical pieces by Monday, and none of them will be any more “right” than the others.  It’s art…and I’m really not looking forward to hearing other people tell me how to consume it.

Personally, I’m satisfied with an interesting concept, some beautiful shots & colors, and some really dope music.  The intro scene with “Dark Fantasy” and the “Devil In A New Dress” segment were flawless, though part of me wishes this was the first time I ever heard any of these songs.  That’s always been one of my least favorite aspects of the internet age and I may have to revert back to avoiding music from my favorite artists until it’s officially presented.  Even with all the live performances, interviews, and song/artwork leaks spoiling much of Runaway, I thoroughly enjoyed the film.

Regardless of how you felt about it, you have to agree: no mainstream MC puts more effort and care into his music than Kanye.  Sure, it can come off pretentious at times (ok, much of the time), but he’s really trying to express something in his art and take it to new places.  He doesn’t always hit the mark, but musically, he’s never disappointed me.

A toast to Yeezy.

Some of my hip-hop buddies dislike this song because it’s…well, for lack of a better term…quite ’emo’, but I’d much rather listen to heartfelt topics than some generic, stereotypical gangster ish.  Jason Goldwatch did a great job on the direction for this one too.

I’m not quite sure how I had a 3-day weekend and yet I’m still scrambling to catch up coming into the work week…hmm.  Oh wait, sure I do.  BUMBERSHOOT.

Long story short, Seattle hosted our annual Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival this weekend and despite the rain sneaking in here and there, it was a smashing success.  Along with countless dope indie rock cats, we saw some great performances from folks like De La Soul, The Knux, Mayer Hawthorne, Janelle Monae, many of our favorite local artists, and more.  Even the Black Eyed Peas rocked it, no lie.

I had the special pleasure of DJ’ing for the homies U-N-I during their set and we’ll be posting up some footage of that soon on the blog.  Shout to Y-O and Thurz for putting on a great performance and also getting some hoops in on their trip.  The last game may or may not have ended with your truly draining a 3 pointer in Thurz’ eye.  I’m not sure.  My memory is a bit fuzzy.  Ask about me.

Peep this week’s show for all sorts of great music, plus a snippet of our interview with Kid Cudi.  The full interview will be posted up soon, but if you’re dying for Cudi Content, chew on this.  We also had A. Uno of Steelo come through to give away tickets for the Sneaker Pimps show on Thursday (performances by the Clipse, Slick Rick, Steelo, They Live, GMK, Fresh Espresso, future ABDC champs the Massive Monkees, and more!) plus Nightclubber Lang (aka Karim of Myx Music) dropped in as well for some updates on the burgeoning hip-hop empire that is Myx.  What a weekend…

Show #223 (9-6-09)

1. Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys – “Empire State Of Mind”
2. Dynas ft. DJ Jazzy Jeff – “The Future”
3. A.R.M. ft. Brother Ali – “Heaven Only Knows”
4. D. Black ft. Marissa – “Yesterday” (Local Music)
5. **INTERVIEW WITH NIGHTCLUBBER LANG (KARIM OF MYX MUSIC), PT. 1**
6. Jern Eye ft. Mistah F.A.B. & Zion I – “Get Right”
7. Rashid Hadee – “Set In Stone”
8. Fresh Daily – “Video Gaming”
9. **INTERVIEW WITH NIGHTCLUBBER LANG (KARIM OF MYX MUSIC), PT. 2**
10. Mayer Hawthorne – “The Ills”
11. **INTERVIEW WITH KID CUDI (SNIPPET)**
12. Kid Cudi – “Soundtrack 2 My Life”
13. Drake – “Fear”
14. Sean Price ft. Skyzoo & Torae – “Duck Down”
15. KRS-One & Buckshot ft. Mary J. Blige – “The Way I Live”
16. **INTERVIEW WITH A. UNO (OF STEELO)**
17. Pac Div – “Whiplash”
18. Blue Scholars ft. Shad – “Dawn’s Song” (Local Music)
19. Macklemore – “The Town” (Local Music)
20. Raekwon ft. Lyfe Jennings – “Catalina”
21. BK-One ft. Phonte, Brother Ali, & The Grouch – “Here I Am”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?hcyt25ngjmz
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/65294337ab35170c/ )

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.

(4:32 FTW)

I like how I’m so busy/tired these days that I upload my own footage and forget to post it on TAOD until I see it on other blogs.  Whoopsidoodle.

Much like the Asher Roth footage I posted last week, here’s a medley documenting Cudi’s performance in front of 15K people at our Summer Jam from the end of last month.  After coming out to his intro, he ran through joints like “Dat New New,” “Is There Any Love,” “Sky High,” “Make Her Say,” and “Day N Nite.”  I’ll have more SJ footage soon, plus interviews with Cudi and Asher as well.  Stay tuned…

When we caught up with DJ A-Trak this past weekend, we talked about how this track came together, since it’s kind of an interesting story.  It’s not every day that a joint originates as a fun mixtape track, only to turn into an official single (and a follow up to a smash record) just a few months later.  I bet Lady GaGa is enjoying any $$ she makes off this…

Cudi will be at our Summer Jam this weekend, so if you have any questions you’d like us to ask him, email me – DJHyphen@gmail.com

Even though “Day N Nite” is about 2 years old now, the mainstream is still getting to know Cudi.  Further, even those in the know still aren’t that familiar with the track’s producer, Dot Da Genius.  The homies at Ruby Hornet put together this dope clip with Dot, shining some light on a producer that won’t be overlooked for much longer…

Yeah, Cudi’s on the hook on this too, along with Hudson…not sure why nobody ever credits him…

Anyway, here’s the long awaited video for Kanye’s “Paranoid,” one of my favorite songs from the past year.  Unfortunately, this video doesn’t really do a lot for me, mainly cause I don’t think Aneesa from the Road Rules/Real World Challenge Rihanna is that hot.  Sue me.  Song is still the JAM though.

“A few new stations, put me in rotation/
They’ve embraced the martian, congratulations”

Well, more than a few stations are finally on board with the Kid Cudi movement and “Day N Nite” is skyrocketing up the chart.  Aside from ‘Ye and the always ill Miss Janelle Monae, Cudi was pretty much the star of SXSW, getting mobbed everywhere and packing out show after show.  Let’s just say there were plenty of Cudi Buddies ready and willing for the man.

Hit the jump to see Cons and Cudi perform this track live at ‘Ye’s showcase in Austin.

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