The Audacity of Dope

The Roots and Erykah Badu came to Seattle last Thursday to perform at Marymoor Park. While there, J. Moore and I had a chance to hop aboard the Roots’ (dope as hell) tour bus and talk to their drummer/ringleader, the legendary ?uestlove. We recorded the whole interview (shout to Caitlin on the Flip Cam) for y’all to check out. It’s 5 parts on YouTube, but the conversation was so dope and extensive, I didn’t want to just put up clips.

?uest spoke about all sorts of topics, including their new Rising Down project, the lost Roots album, volunteering for Barack Obama’s campaign, working on albums from Al Green and Marvin Gaye, why Black Thought is continually underrated, the rumor of a sequel to Dave Chappelle’s Block Party, and more!

Check out the first video here, and the rest after the jump.

Part 1 of 5

Also, if you can’t watch the videos and just want to peep the audio, you can do that right here (ZShare link available here). Warning: the audio only quality is a bit janky…the Flip Cam’s microphone + a running tour bus = an audiophile’s nightmare.  I suggest watching the videos if you can.

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Every now and then, I think I’m gonna post up some older songs that y’all may have forgotten, or missed altogether. First up for The Throwback is “The Invitation” from Crossrhodes, a really dope soul/funk/R&B/hip-hop hybrid crew spearheaded by Raheem DeVaughn, Wes Felton, and Bilal Salaam back in the early 2000’s. This joint was the title track for their second project, and to this day, it’s still the JAM. Exactly the kind of cut I wish more DJ’s would spin at clubs and lounges. A smooth beat, hilariously blunt sexually charged lyrics, and an ill guest verse from Asheru…what else could you want?

As a little bonus for all the Raheem fans, here’s an exclusive clip of him singing an a capella preview of “Bulletproof” off his album due out later this year. This happened during my interview with him back in February, but the video never really made its way around the net. Now that The Audacity of Dope is up and running, figured I’d drop it:

Download the full interview with Raheem DeVaughn right here.

As I mentioned in the U-N-I performance post, here’s the playlist and download links for the last Sunday Night Sound Session:

Show #158 (6-1-08)

1. Crooked I ft. Akon – “Dream Big”
2. Reks – “Say Goodnight”
3. Self Scientific – “Of Our Own”
4. Wale ft. Skyzoo – “The Hacksaw Jim Duggan”
5. Elzhi ft. Phat Kat – “The Reason”
6. Common Market – “Black Patch War” (Local Artist)
7. **INTERVIEW WITH U-N-I, PT. 1**
8. U-N-I – “Love Supreme”
9. Kidz In The Hall ft. Camp Lo – “Snob Hop”
10. **INTERVIEW WITH U-N-I, PT. 2**
11. Common ft. Pharrell – “U.M.C. – Universal Mind Control”
12. Kenna ft. Lupe Fiasco – “Say Goodbye To Love (Remix)”
13. Busta Rhymes ft. Reek Da Villain, Spliff Star, The Game, Lil’ Wayne, Nas, & Big Daddy Kane – “Don’t Touch Me (Throw Da Water On ‘Em) (Remix)”
14. King Reign ft. Pharoahe Monch – “One More Time”
15. Nappy Roots – “Good Day”
16. Raekwon ft. Ghostface Killah – “The Jihad”
17. **INTERVIEW WITH U-N-I, PT. 3**
18. **U-N-I – “Beautiful Day (LIVE PERFORMANCE)”**
19. Saigon ft. Red 5ive – “Believe It”
20. Joker The Bailbondsman – “She Was Like” (Local Artist)
21. Grieves & Type – “My Girlfriend Beats Me” (Local Artist)
22. **INTERVIEW WITH 88 KEYS, PT. 1**
23. 88 Keys ft. Tanya Morgan – “Cuddle Bums”
24. **INTERVIEW WITH 88 KEYS, PT. 2**
25. **INTERVIEW WITH U-N-I, PT. 4**

Streaming / Download link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/129792161e0fcd50/

Full, extended version of the 88 Keys interview – http://www.zshare.net/audio/129584146c5a9c55/

Just the parts with U-N-I – http://www.zshare.net/audio/1298032143091515/ )

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.

Enjoy!