The Audacity of Dope

I’m a little mad that they dropped this video in October, but I suppose when you’re filming in SoCal, it’s always a long hot summer.  I love the way Hi-Tek worked in one of his classic “vocal sample that isn’t really a vocal sample” effect.  If you want to hear more about how this record, and every song on Revolutions Per Minute, was created, check out our in-depth interview with Talib & Tek right here.

While on tour with Reflection Eternal (check our interview here) and U-N-I, one of the nicest up and coming MC’s in the game, Laws, stopped by the Sound Session studio to chop it up.  We talked all about his background, linking up with the J.U.S.T.I.CE. League production team, his 4:57 mixtape with Don Cannon, his upcoming Yesterday’s Future project, and more.  Check out the links below for the full interview!

Laws on Sound Session – http://www.mediafire.com/?mz1yu3znh20
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/772049093f61ac06/)

If you haven’t downloaded 4:57 yet, grab it right here.

(Part One in HD on HyphenTV)

As I mentioned in the post with just the audio, Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek came through Sound Session two weeks ago to talk all about their new album.  Here’s the entire in-depth interview with these two legendary hip-hop figures, and more importantly, just two all around good dudes.  Support them by copping Revolutions Per Minute and for the youngins who never bought Train of Thought, you better get that too!

Part 1: “RPM’s,” “City Playgrounds,” and “Back Again.”

(Part Two in HD on HyphenTV)

Part 2: Affion Crockett/Russell Simmons skits, being considered “conscious,” the marketing of “neo soul,” “Strangers” featuring Bun B, “In This World,” sampling Jay-Z’s classic lyric, “Got Work,” and more.

(Part Three in HD on HyphenTV)

Part 3: “Midnight Hour” featuring Estelle, “Lifting Off,” the war on drugs, “In The Red,” and more.

(Part Four in HD on HyphenTV)

Part 4: “Ballad Of The Black Gold,” energy consumption, live instrumentation vs. samples, “Just Begun” with Jay Electronica, J. Cole, and Mos Def, and more.

(Part 5 in HD on HyphenTV)

Part 5: “Long Hot Summer,” working as a group, “Get Loose” with Chester French, “So Good” and the return of MC Hi-Tek, the absence of Dion on the album, and more.

(Part 6 in HD on HyphenTV)

Part 6: “Ends” featuring Bilal, the pursuit of money, music piracy, the autobiographical outro of “My Life,” the future of Reflection Eternal, and more.

Enjoy!

Pardon the delay in archiving the last 2 episodes of Sound Session, but I wanted to make sure I gave you guys every option for checking out our in depth interview with Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek, collectively known as Reflection Eternal.  In celebration of their new album, Revolutions Per Minute, Talib and Tek came through to talk about every song on the project and the inspirations behind them all.  Consider this an “Inside The Rapper’s Studio” style interview, not for the faint of heart.  Oh…and BUY THE ALBUM!!!!

Note – the interview played on air was not the full discussion.  If you’d like to check out the entire interview, please view the videos through the link below.

Show #261 (5-30-10)

1. **INTERVIEW WITH REFLECTION ETERNAL, PT. 1**
2. Reflection Eternal – “RPM’s”
3. Reflection Eternal – “City Playgrounds”
4. **INTERVIEW WITH REFLECTION ETERNAL, PT. 2**
5. Reflection Eternal ft. Res – “Back Again”
6. **INTERVIEW WITH REFLECTION ETERNAL, PT. 3**
7. Reflection Eternal ft. Bun B – “Strangers (Paranoid)”
8. Reflection Eternal – “In This World”
9. **INTERVIEW WITH REFLECTION ETERNAL, PT. 4**
10. Reflection Eternal – “Got Work”
11. **INTERVIEW WITH REFLECTION ETERNAL, PT. 5**
12. Reflection Eternal ft. Estelle – “Midnight Hour”
13. Reflection Eternal – “Lifting Off”
14. **INTERVIEW WITH REFLECTION ETERNAL, PT. 6**
15. Reflection Eternal – “In The Red”
16. **INTERVIEW WITH REFLECTION ETERNAL, PT. 7**
17. Reflection Eternal – “Ballad Of The Black Gold”
18. **INTERVIEW WITH REFLECTION ETERNAL, PT. 8**
19. Reflection Eternal ft. Jay Electronica, J. Cole, & Mos Def – “Just Begun”
20. Reflection Eternal – “Long Hot Summer”
21. **INTERVIEW WITH REFLECTION ETERNAL, PT. 9**
22. Reflection Eternal ft. Chester French – “Get Loose”
23. Reflection Eternal – “So Good”
24. **INTERVIEW WITH REFLECTION ETERNAL, PT. 10**
25. Reflection Eternal ft. Bilal – “Ends”
26. **INTERVIEW WITH REFLECTION ETERNAL, PT. 11**
27. Reflection Eternal – “My Life”
28. **INTERVIEW WITH REFLECTION ETERNAL, PT. 12**

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?yweowynmtqk
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/76743509fd03f5b6/)
(2nd back up – http://usershare.net/bdytv0q0rr07)

Link to download just the interview breaks – http://www.mediafire.com/?l4wommmmwyn
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/7674405781126bf1/)
(2nd back up – http://usershare.net/y65gnbvwms07)

Watch video of the interview – https://www.theaudacityofdope.com/2010/06/08/reflection-eternal-on-sound-session/

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.

If you caught Sound Session last night, you know we ran through the entire Revolutions Per Minute album from Kweli and Hi-Tek.  While I decide how much of the video I want to let loose, the homies say what up…

On Saturday, May 29th, Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek will be making the Seattle stop on their Revolutions Per Minute Tour at the Showbox Market.  We’ve been giving away tickets on the air through Sound Session, but now we’re extending a special offer to our loyal readers on The Audacity of Dope and KUBE93.com.

We’ll be interviewing the duo at 2pm on Saturday and if you would like to join us to meet and hang out with Reflection Eternal, email me – DJHyphen@gmail.com – these 3 things:

1. Name Talib’s business partner for their label, Blacksmith Music.
2. Name 3 guests from Reflection Eternal’s Train Of Thought album.
3. Name the first video released from their new album, Revolutions Per Minute.

I’ll pick 2 winners and you’ll each be allowed to bring a guest to the interview.  It’s just that simple.  What are you waiting for?  Go!

Contest ends Thursday, May 27th, at 3pm Pacific Time.

Talib, Hi-Tek, and Estelle make an old school inspired video for their new single off Revolutions Per Minute, which drops on the 18th.  I just got word that the homies U-N-I will be joining Reflection Eternal on the RPM Tour.  See my Seattle folk at the Showbox Market on the 29th…

New visuals from Talib and Hi-Tek for another track off their upcoming Reflection Eternal reunion album.  On first listen, I think I prefer “Just Begun,” but this is dope as well.  The video effects are ill…Punit Dhesi and Steven Tapia did a great job here.

Since my day job works with music videos, I often get a sneak peak at clips before they get released.  We got this one in last week and since I’ve always loved the track (the beat is banoodles), I was hoping the visuals would live up to it.  Thankfully, Todd Angkasuwan, one of the illest up and coming directors in the game, did the song justice and killed it with the one take approach.

Shout to Talib, Corey, Tunji, S.A.S., and the whole Blacksmith fam.  Cop “Back Again” on iTunes right here.

(watch it in HD on HyphenTV right here)

A few weeks ago, the big homies Talib Kweli and Corey Smyth stopped by KUBE to make their 4th appearance on Sound Session.  It’s always great to meet and interview people for the first time, but it’s even better once you get to know them and your ‘interviews’ just turn in to catching up with old friends.  It probably could have been under better circumstances though, cause right before we got up, this happened.  It shows you how cool Talib is that despite just finding out about the theft, he still took time for us before trying to find the laptop.  Booooooooo @ that “fan” who took Kwa’s MacBook.  Shame on you.

Anyway, if you missed any of the previous discussions, you can check ’em out on our podcast page right here.

This time around, we talked all about his current projects, including updates on the next Reflection Eternal album with Hi-Tek, his Idle Warship group with Res & Graph Nobel, and all things Blacksmith. We also discussed what it’s like to operate his own label, how new media has affected his career, a little politics, and more.  Be sure to watch it in high-def on the HyphenTV Vimeo page, or if you only want the audio, grab it below:

Talib Kweli on Sound Session – http://www.mediafire.com/?2dmzymzi3jt
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/515797634df69ac9/ )

Blacksmith is the movement.