The Audacity of Dope

Seattle: On Sunday, May 15th, I expect to see you all at the Croc to check out some of the illest (and criminally underrated) artists out there: The CunninLynguists, Tonedeff, and Homeboy Sandman.  You should be familiar with all of them by now, especially if you listen to Sound Session since we play them all quite often, but if not, come see them in person and learn something.  You’ll also get to see Blue Sky, Black Death, who make some incredible beats, and local music from the Knowmads.

Be there!

You’d think that if I took an extra day to archive this week’s SNSS, I would have an enthralling, lengthy write up detailing what went down on the show.  Well, if you thought that, you’d be wrong.

I will say this much though: last week, we discussed microfinancing higher education for students in 3rd world countries through a local non-profit organization called Vittana.  Read the details here.  I’m happy, and humbled, to report that since helping spread the word on our last show, over 60 new lenders have contributed loans to Vittana.  Say it with me: #swag.

Together, we’re making a difference with this music, this culture, this community, and this world.  Let’s keep going y’all.  Thank you!

Show #308 (4-24-11)

1. Dom Kennedy – “On The Way Home”
2. DJ Quik ft. Jon B – “Real Women”
3. Theophilus London ft. Devonte Hynes – “Century Girl”
4. Kenna – “Chains”
5. Childish Gambino – “Be Alone”
6. Aleon Craft ft. G-Wiz & Heavy Slim – “On The Air”
7. Rapper Big Pooh – “Zone Out”
8. The Physics – “These Moments” (Local Music)
9. J. Pinder ft. Royce The Choice, Eighty4 Fly, & Clemm Rishad – “The Opus” (Local Music)
10. Kendrick Lamar – “Hiii Power”
11. Big K.R.I.T. – “The Vent”
12. Kanye West – “Jesus Walks” (Throwback of the Week)
13. Curren$y ft. Freddie Gibbs – “Scottie Pippen”
14. Random Axe – “The Hex”
15. Elzhi – “Detroit State Of Mind”
16. Shane Eli ft. Playboy Tre & Rittz – “Let’s Ride”
17. Dice – “Things I Couldn’t Say” (Local Music)
18. Estelle ft. Rick Ross – “Break My Heart”
19. Frank Ocean – “Nature Feels”
20. Little Dragon – “NightLight”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?bdp7hgrp762sosy
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/894799390f57d113/)
(2nd back up – http://www.usershare.net/xrgvzud7fbre/DJ Hyphen and J. Moore – Sunday Night Sound Session, Show 308, 4-24-11.mp3)

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.

This past week, J. Moore and I were joined in studio by the legendary Raphael Saadiq. While we thoroughly enjoy breaking new artists and conducting interviews with up and coming musicians, there’s always something special about chopping it up with someone of Saadiq’s stature. The man has been one of the brightest starts in R&B for over 20 years and yet couldn’t be a nicer, more down to earth dude.

In the first part of the interview above, we spoke about his new Stone Rollin’ album, the “neo” & “retro” soul tags heaped on his recent work, his creative process, his collaboration with Little Dragon, and more.

In the second half of the interview, Saadiq spoke about his fondest memories of the Tony! Toni! Toné! and Lucy Pearl days, his proudest moment in music, his advice for young artists, and even playing basketball with Prince.

If you prefer to listen to the audio instead, you can grab it below:

Raphael Saadiq on Sound Session – http://www.mediafire.com/?97cxf19frx4o7r7
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/891679810db2ee03/)

During our discussion, I mistakenly stated that Stone Rollin’ was in stores now (mp3’s have sadly rendered release dates somewhat moot…for listeners at least), when in actuality, the album will be released May 10th.  My bad.  Go support it when it drops!

So yeah, it’s tax time.  Almost forgot about that, word to Wesley Snipes.  No write up this week, gotta crunch some numbers.  Enjoy the show!

Show #306 (4-10-11)

1. Beastie Boys – “Make Some Noise”
2. Snoop Dogg ft. Too Short, Daz, & Kokane – “Take U Home”
3. Donnis – “Ford Mustang”
4. Big K.R.I.T. ft. Ludacris & Bun B – “Country Sh*t (Remix)”
5. Curren$y – “Ventilation”
6. Dom Kennedy – “Goodbye”
7. Fly.Union – “Hard Sell”
8. Raphael Saadiq – “Good Man”
9. Charlie Smarts – “The Skin”
10. **INTERVIEW WITH J. BRE”
11. J. Bre ft. Grynch – “All Around The World” (Local Music)
12. David Dallas ft. Freddie Gibbs – “Caught In A Daze”
13. Tyler, The Creator – “Yonkers”
14. Shyne ft. Barrington Levy – “Bad Boyz” (Throwback of the Week)
15. Recess – “The Gentleman”
16. **INTERVIEW WITH TYPE (OF WUF TIX)**
17. Wuf Tix ft. Jonny October – “Nobody Wants To Hear Your Stupid Theories” (Local Music)
18. Pharoahe Monch – “Evolve”
19. Elzhi – “Verbal Intercourse, Pt. 2”
20. The Weeknd – “House Of Balloons / Glass Table Girls”
21. Steelo ft. Izreal – “My Queen” (Local Music)
22. Apollo Brown ft. Oddisee – “The Times”
23. Jhene Aiko – “Stranger”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?bhxa0byot515td6
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/88902815f61479e1/)
(2nd back up – http://www.usershare.net/u397bxq2psc0/DJ Hyphen and J. Moore – Sunday Night Sound Session, Show 306, 4-10-11.mp3)

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.

Every now and then, GMail likes to bounce back our weekly newsletter and we’re unable to blast out the playlist and download links.  If you missed our show last week when Google hated like Silky Johnson, you can always check it out in the archives.  Here’s this week’s info as well:

Show #304 (3-27-11)

1. Pusha T ft. Kevin Cossom – “Feeling Myself”
2. Dom Kennedy – “Playa’s Punch”
3. MED ft. Kurupt & Aloe Blacc – “Where I’m From (Remix)”
4. Pac Div – “Let Loose”
5. Wiz Khalifa – “The Race”
6. Jhene Aiko ft. Miguel & Gucci Mane – “Hoe”
7. Frank Ocean – “Songs For Women”
8. Tyler, The Creator – “Yonkers”
9. Self Scientific – “God’s Language”
10. CunninLynguists ft. Tunji & BJ The Chicago Kid – “Dreams”
11. J. Bre ft. Grynch – “All Around The World” (Local Music)
12. Phil Ade – “The Letter”
13. Dela ft. Blu – “What U Wanna”
14. The Weeknd – “Wicked Games”
15. **INTERVIEW WITH GEORGIO BROWN, PT. 1**
16. State of The Artist – “I Think I Love You” (Local Music)
17. Recess – “Emperor Strikes Back”
18. Action Bronson ft. Maffew Ragazino – “Jerk Chicken”
19. Childish Gambino – “Freaks and Geeks”
20. The Knux – “She’s So Up”
21. A Tribe Called Quest – “Find A Way” (Throwback of the Week)
22. **INTERVIEW WITH GEORGIO BROWN, PT. 2**
23. Steelo ft. Izreal – “My Queen” (Local Music)
24. Big K.R.I.T. – “American Rapstar”
25. Lupe Fiasco – “All Black Everything”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?rpy36npdrek283i
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/883766283b5e920c/)
(2nd back up – http://www.usershare.net/7odxwc6emo91/DJ Hyphen and J. Moore – Sunday Night Sound Session, Show 304, 3-27-11.mp3)

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.

Mitch: The homie Logics just dropped his first video off of his #Problematic EP which you can download here if you haven’t already. Video directed by Altrac Productions, enjoy.

Hyphen: Did they film this at Fort Lewis?  Swag.

Honestly, I never really know how to wrap up SXSW.  For those of you who went, you already know how ridiculous it is.  For those who haven’t been to one, it’s everything you read about…but louder.

I’ve been to the last three, but I admit that 2010 was a bit of a bust for me.  I over-planned and tried to hit every event I was interested in, plus I met up with a TON of industry folks and had way too many meetings.  It resulted in an exhausting experience (even more than an average SXSW trip) and I wasn’t really looking forward to going back.  With that on my mind, I treated this year more like a vacation and took things 100x slower.  I still met with lots of people and enjoyed countless performances, but without a doubt, the highlight was just hanging out with friends old and new…and enjoying the 80 degree weather.  I’ll post up some footage on the blog soon.

Shout to everyone we ran into and especially all the other Seattle people that made the trek.  Special thanks to John Gotty from The Smoking Section for organizing the incredibly dope “HoopxHang” basketball tournament (your boy Hyph knocked down a few game winners but we were ousted in the semis to the eventual champions) and also my lodging pals, Shad, T-Lo, and G…the coolest homies you could ask for.  Also, thanks to JJ at Foundation, Jessica at Co-Sign, Jasmin at Cashmere, Ter’rece at MTV, and everyone at Decon, all of whom showed extra hospitality to a Hyphey.  Oh…and Zoe Kravitz…for the hug.  Second year in a row son, WHAT!

Show #303 (3-20-11)

1. Eminem ft. Slaughterhouse & Yelawolf – “2.0 Boys”
2. Thurzday – “Rodney King”
3. Fashawn ft. J. Cole – “Nothin’ For The Radio”
4. Pusha T ft. 50 Cent & Pharrell – “Raid”
5. XV ft. Pusha T – “Awesome (Remix)”
6. Grynch – “So Long” (Local Music)
7. Jean Grae – “You Don’t Like It (So What)”
8. Travis Barker ft. Lupe Fiasco & Pharrell – “If You Want To”
9. Nate Dogg ft. Warren G – “Nobody Does It Better” (Throwback of the Week)
10. Dom Kennedy – “Can’t Let Go”
11. The Weeknd – “What You Need”
12. Frank Ocean – “Novacane”
13. Childish Gambino – “Be Alone”
14. State Of The Artist – “I Think I Love You” (Local Music)
15. The Physics – “Fix You” (Local Music)
16. Big K.R.I.T. – “American Rapstar”
17. 80 Blocks From Tiffany’s (Camp Lo & Pete Rock) – “Mic Check”
18. Add-2 – “Chicago Blues”
19. Nitty Scott, MC – “Work (Grustlin’) (J. Period Remix)”
20. David Dallas – “Big Time”
21. Shad – “Rock 2.0 It”
22. CunninLynguists ft. Freddie Gibbs – “Hard As They Come (Act I)”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?kod4ow0z9zp0d0w
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/88099630dd4b8e93/)
(2nd back up – http://www.usershare.net/58x63g316frr/DJ Hyphen and J. Moore – Sunday Night Sound Session, Show 303, 3-20-11.mp3)

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.

After 300 consecutive weeks of SNSS, we experienced some massive technical problems in our new studio that prevented us from broadcasting over the airwaves for Show #301.  Amazingly, our first show in the new studio went off without a hitch last week, but apparently that was simply fool’s gold.  Despite our engineer’s best efforts, we were resigned to playing songs out of the station’s database (of course we selected dope records though) and couldn’t play any of the tracks we planned on debuting.  Also, since our mics weren’t working, we couldn’t interview our guests, Maseo of the legendary De La Soul and Mowii, Pee W33, and Bounc3 from a new Los Angeles group called The Rej3ctz.  Shout to those folks for coming through and hanging out despite the tech issues.

Since SNSS is here for the people, I just didn’t feel right leaving you all without anything to listen to this week.  I joked in the studio during the crisis that I would “fix it all in post,” then it hit me: why not?  With that in mind, I tossed together a quick collection of the records we wanted to play and put it up for y’all as if everything went down as usual.  I present to you…the Lost Episode of SNSS:

Show #301 (3-6-11)
**The Lost Episode of SNSS**

1. Shad – “The One In Front Of The Garage”
2. Fashawn ft. J. Cole – “Nothin’ For The Radio”
3. Lupe Fiasco ft. Matt Mahaffey – “State Run Radio”
4. Serge Severe ft. Braille – “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop” (Local Music)
5. David Dallas – “Big Time”
6. Nas – “Memory Lane (Sittin’ In Da Park)” (Throwback of the Week)
7. Raekwon ft. Nas – “Rich and Black”
8. Big K.R.I.T. – “Dreamin’”
9. CunninLynguists ft. Freddie Gibbs – “Hard As They Come (Act I)”
10. Rittz ft. 8Ball – “Pie”
11. Eminem ft. Slaughterhouse & Yelawolf – “2.0 Boys”
12. Pusha T – “Cook It Down”
13. CyHi Da Prynce – “Sideways”
14. Rick Ross ft. Meek Mill – “Perfectionist”
15. Pharoahe Monch ft. Styles P & Phonte – “Black Hand Side”
16. Havi Blaze – “Don’t Worry” (Local Music)
17. J*Davey – “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
18. Frank Ocean – “Novacane”
19. The Physics – “Fix You” (Local Music)
20. Obie Trice – “Making Dough”
21. The Rej3ctz – “I’m Fitted”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?e4e92mmlm1p5hnm
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/875267663e9db361/)
(2nd back up – http://www.usershare.net/762sj8msgheb/DJ Hyphen and J. Moore – Sunday Night Sound Session, Show 301, 3-6-11, The Lost Episode.mp3)

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.

Good friend of Sound Session, Lace Cadence, returns with his 2nd video from the mixtape J. Moore & I hosted a few months back, Launchpad (download here).  Strictly for the grown and sexy.  Shouts to Atuanya for his directorial debut!

Shout to the homey Scribes, who has my vote for most underrated MC in Seattle, for coming through SNSS a few weeks back.  Here’s a little video recap of his visit in case you want the behind the scenes look.  You can check out the full show too.

Download his album NOW right here.