The Audacity of Dope

The snow is melted, the ice is gone, and Seattle’s back to its normal 35 degree winter climate.  That can mean only one thing: Sound Session is back.  After last week’s online only edition, it felt good to be back on the air and broadcasting some of the best new music around.  We featured dope tracks from people like Royce The 5’9″ (produced by DJ Premier), Q-Tip (w/D’Angelo), Blu, Kenna, K’Naan, Wale, Shad, and more, plus we aired a few snippets from our Universal Mind Control listening party with Common.  We also had Silent Knight call in to give us an update on his Loud.com contest and speak about his Jake One produced single & video for “Pop Culture Shock.”

All in all, another dope show.  I could go into more detail, but I’m in the process of moving places and I kiiiiiinda need to pack.  Consequently, blogging might be at a premium over the next week or so.  In the meantime, enjoy!

Show #187 (12-28-08)

1. Royce The 5’9” – “Shake This”
2. Joell Ortiz ft. Joe Budden – “Move On”
3. Kali – “Cali Kali”
4. Inverse ft. Deacon The Villain (of the CunninLynguists) – “So True”
5. Clockwork – “Laid Back” (Local Artist)
6. Q-Tip ft. D’Angelo – “I Believe”
7. DJ Cadik ft. Phat Kat & Elzhi – “Keep It Real”
8. Blu – “SpaceJive”
9. Adele – “Daydreams (nVMe Remix)”
10. Kardinal Offishall ft. Barrington Levy & Busta Rhymes – “Numba 1 (Tide Is High) (Remix)”
11. **INTERVIEW WITH COMMON #04, SNIPPET PT. 1**
12. Common – “Inhale”
13. **INTERVIEW WITH COMMON #04, SNIPPET PT. 2**
14. Kenna ft. the Cool Kids – “Loose Wires (Remix)”
15. K’Naan ft. Chubb Rock – “ABC’s”
16. Josh Martinez ft. Devin The Dude – “Hurricane Jane” (Local Artist)
17. Shad – “I Don’t Like To”
18. Sene – “Whateva, Wheneva”
19. Exile ft. Muhsinah – “Stay Tuned (Stay High) (Vocal Mix)”
20. Willie Will – “Honor You” (Local Artist)
21. **INTERVIEW WITH SILENT KNIGHT**
22. Silent Knight – “Pop Culture Shock”
23. Wale ft. Brother Ali – “2nd Time”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?zomdnmgzq3m
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/534609092e2de29d/ )

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.

(watch part one in HD on HyphenTV)

On December 13th, the legendary Common Sense made his 4th appearance on Sound Session here in Seattle. Since we just talked to Com in September (check it out here), we wanted to do something a little different instead of our traditional interviews.  With help from our good friends at Interscope/Geffen/A&M we threw a listening party for his new Universal Mind Control album with 50 lucky winners, some customized Microsoft Zunes, and other assorted goodies.

In the video recap, you can watch Com talk about the creative process for every track on the album and what it was like to work with the Neptunes, Mr. DJ, Kanye West, Cee-Lo, and more.  Be sure to watch both parts of the video and enjoy them in HD on the HyphenTV Vimeo Channel courtesy of Organic Digital Videomedia.

(watch part two in HD on HyphenTV)

Since the entire interview lasted about an hour, I’ll be posting up the full audio for all you die hard Common fans sometime in the next week.  As dope as the video clips are, there’s even more interesting tidbits about UMC‘s creation in the extended interview (the reason why the “Announcement” video was pulled, the story behind the original mix of “Punch Drunk Love,” etc.).

Stay tuned for that and hit up Com in the blogosphere over at his new site, ThinkCommon.com.  Be sure to go cop Universal Mind Control in stores now and still available at Zune.net for 99 cents!  It makes a great last minute Christmas present…

It’s about 11:30 on Sunday night, normally the time where J. Moore and I would be half way through Sound Session, but that’s clearly not happening.  If you’re in Seattle, you know why.  If not, click here.  It’s snowed virtually non-stop since last night, and I think we’re currently looking at about 8 inches of packed snow sitting on my deck.  In other words, ain’t nobody going nowhere tonight.

Some DJ’s might say ‘screw it,’ and leave y’all cold, dark, and clutching to a radio playing the latest travesty from Soulja Boy or Ron Browz.  Not I however.  Originally I was going to plug in my mic and record a little bootleg SNSS, but then I realized that the whole reason I’m on the air is to play good music, not to talk.  As a music lover, DJ’s who like to hear themselves talk has always been a pet peeve of mine.  So that said, I’ll stop ‘talking’ and get to the joints.

I’ve pulled together 25 songs that I would have played tonight on air if we weren’t all snowed in, put them in order, and zipped them together for you in one folder.  Just download the .rar file, extract/unzip the mp3’s (please say you have WinRAR by now…it’s almost 2009), and drop ’em into your mp3 player.  If you have any problems with this process, just contact me and I’ll help.  Contact info is at the top of the right sidebar –>

You may even like this option better because you’ll get the music in higher quality and separated track by track.  Plus, my fellow DJ’s who often hit me up for clean versions, you don’t even need to ask this week.  Have at it:

Show #186 (12-21-08)
**Online Only Edition**

1. Souls of Mischief – “Tour Stories”
2. K’Naan ft. Chubb Rock – “ABC’s”
3. Kali – “Cali Kali”
4. Wale ft. Brother Ali – “2nd Time”
5. Common – “Inhale”
6. Billy Danze (of M.O.P.) ft. Busta Rhymes – “Undescribable”
7. Joell Ortiz ft. Joe Budden – “Move On”
8. Josh Martinez ft. Devin The Dude – “Hurricane Jane” (Local Artist)
9. Royce The 5’9” – “Shake This”
10. DJ Cadik ft. Phat Kat & Elzhi – “Keep It Real”
11. Mikkey Halsted – “No Christmas”
12. Fashawn – “Freedom”
13. Exile ft. Muhsinah – “Stay Tuned (Stay High) (Vocal Mix)”
14. Willie Will – “Honor You” (Local Artist)
15. Q-Tip ft. D’Angelo – “I Believe”
16. Sene – “Whateva, Wheneva”
17. 88 Keys – “Nice Guys Finish Last”
18. Silent Knight – “Pop Culture Shock”
19. Fortilive – “The Come Up”
20. Clockwork – “Same As Me” (Local Artist)
21. U-N-I – “Hollywood Hiatus”
22. Black Milk ft. Colin Munroe – “Without U”
23. Adele – “Daydreams (nVMe Remix)”
24. Kanye West – “Street Lights”
25. Supastition – “Sounds of Xmas”

Link to download the mp3’s – http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ZC58LB3M
(back up link – http://www.zshare.net/download/530995513caabca2/ )

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 the weather cooperates, we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled program next week.

As I showed y’all yesterday, we’re snowed in here in Seattle and as a matter of fact, it’s even worse than it was during that video.  I think we’re up to about half a foot of packed snow on the ground, with no signs of it letting up for the next few days.  It’s really cool looking outside and fun to walk around in, but the downside is that I’ve been stuck around my house for 4 days straight now.  Wait…that’s probably not such a bad thing…I have good food, a warm place, football (and futbol!) on TV, and I’ve been able to finish up a ton of work.  I take it back, this snow thing is kinda dope.

Well, aside from the fact that I haven’t done any Christmas shopping yet and I’m suppose to be moving in 10 days.  If I have to move my couch on ice skates, I’ma be very, very upset.

Anyway, in the meantime, I’ve been getting some old projects finished.  Here’s some simple Flip Cam footage I grabbed of the homies Black Milk and Elzhi performing at the Red Bull Big Tune stop here in Seattle on 9/12/08.  If you recall, we recorded a dope interview with them the day before, which you can still check out right here.

At the show, they ran through some of their illest songs, including “Sound The Alarm,” “Motown 25,” “Hiding Place,” “1, 2,” and more.  If you’ve never seen Milk and El rock live, you’re missing out.

“Detroit in the muhf****n’ buildin'”

What can I say…I was bored and needed to get out of the house.  Seeing as how its been snowing for 10+ hours now and the roads are completely covered, I’m guessing there won’t be an episode of Sound Session tonight.  I’m hoping to have some cool stuff to post up in the next few days to make it up to y’all.  We’ll see.

In the meantime, stay warm!

(Watch in HD right here)

Yeah, I already posted up that interview we did with the big homey Jacob Wizzle, but since he was recently awarded “artist of the year” by Seattle’s Sound Magazine, I thought I’d post that up again if you missed it.  You can read more about that interview right here.

Also, be sure to head on over to Sound Mag’s site to read their ‘best of’ piece on Jake and some other great Seattle talent, though pretty much all non-hip-hop…[Jerry] not that there’s anything wrong with that [/Seinfeld].  Oh, and lots of quotes from yours truly were used in Jake’s piece.  Read all about it on page 66 in the digital edition.

Big shout to Katelyn for helping Jake get the town love he so rightly deserves.  Cop that White Van Music if you haven’t already!

As I mentioned in the last post, Glasses Malone and Mistah F.A.B., came through Sound Session this past week while in town for a concert.  We didn’t get to knock out one of our traditional “Inside the Actor’s Studio”-style interviews, where we could really go in depth, but it was fun regardless.  We talked a little about Glasses’ upcoming Beach Cruiser album, his background, how he got his name, and why F.A.B. enjoys keeping his fingernails finely manicured hahaha.  Check it out:

Glasses Malone & Mistah F.A.B. on Sound Session – http://www.mediafire.com/?rejomlz2njm
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/52808768b3ac3185/ )

As always, click the “interviews” link on the sidebar to listen to most of our recent interviews.  Get your podcast game on point too.

I’ve been meaning to post this up since I went to Braille’s “Everybody Say Ho!!!” event last week here in Seattle (Portland people, yours is this Friday, details here).  It was a real dope show and I even got to catch up with some old friends from way back in the day.  Plus, the Frosty the Snowman vs. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer battle was classic.  You think I’m jokin’.

As an added bonus, everyone who attended received this ill mixtape from Braille’s Lightheaded brethren, Ohmega Watts.  If this doesn’t get you in the mood for Christmas, stop being such a Scrooge.  Download this and bump it while you hang your stockings with care.

Hooooooooooo!

1. RUN-D.M.C. “Christmas in Hollis”
2. Dana Dane “Dana Dane is Coming to Town
3. Beastie Boys “Sure Shot”
4. Sweet Tee “Let The Jingle Bells Rock”
5. Da’rel Jr. “This Christmas”
6. Braille “Blessed Man”
7. Sojourn “Definitely Special”
8. Flying Lotus “Roberta Flack Ft. Dolly”
9. Surreal “First Chapter”
10. Poems “Love”
11. Nicolay & Kay “Tight Eyes”
12. Choclit Kennedy “On & On”
13. J Dilla “Won’t Do”
14. Othello “Silhouette”
15. James Brown “Don’t Tell It”
16. Red Astaire Ft. Caretta Bell “You Dead Wrong”
17. Theory Hazit “Grizzly”
18. Grand Puba “Amazing”
19. Charles Brown “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” (Ohmega Watts Remix)

Download here.  (right click, save as)

(or watch on HyphTube)

The homey Braille has made a few appearances on Sound Session before, but this was the first time he’s been able to make the trek up from Portland to Seattle to kick it with us live in the studio. He brought along his Lightheaded fam too, Othello and Ohmega Watts, so we caught up with them all for a minute and talked about their current projects. Braille allowed us to give a world premiere to “Fill It In,” one of the joints off his upcoming album with S1 (of Strange Fruit Project). Also, before he left, he even dropped a real freestyle (remember those?) off the dome and killed it. You can watch the freestyle above and download the audio of the full interview through either of the links below:

Braille on Sound Session – http://www.mediafire.com/?mmzmmkjwzjq
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/524711662323a585/ )

Northwest people: be sure to check out Braille’s holiday event, “Everybody Say Ho!”, on the 11th in Seattle (see flyer) or the 19th at Berbati’s Pan in Portland. It’s going to be a great time…be there!

Yes y’all, another dope edition of Sunday Night Sound Session for you to enjoy if you weren’t able to catch it live.  Or if you did, and you just want to relive the glorious night, you’re in luck.  Ok ok, perhaps it wasn’t a life changing event, but you know we had to hold you down as always with the best new music of the week.  We played great songs from artists like Black Milk, Evidence, Common, Jay-Z, Kanye West, and more, plus debuted new tracks from Nipsey Hussle, Blaq Poet, and the longtime homies, U-N-I.  Thurz & Y-O were even in town yesterday for a concert, so while they had to rock the stage while SNSS was on air, we did get a chance to record a nice interview that I’ll post up ASAP.

In the meantime, peep this episode for all that music, including a snippet of an interview we did a while back with West Coast legend Murs.  Again, I’ll post the entire interview (and video) soon.  We were also joined in studio by the local group Clockwork and some of Portland’s finest, Braille, Othello, and Ohmega Watts, collectively known as Lightheaded.  Braille even stuck around and dropped a dope (legit) freestyle off the dome to help us close the show.  You can watch it below.  Enjoy!

Show #184 (12-7-08)

1. Black Milk – “Try”
2. Evidence – “The Cold Weather”
3. Keelay & Zaire ft. Blu, Fortilive, & Nino Moschella – “The Times”
4. **INTERVIEW WITH BRAILLE, OTHELLO, & OHMEGA WATTS**
5. Braille – “Fill It In”
6. Common ft. Cee-Lo – “Make My Day”
7. Nipsey Hussle – “Hussle In The House”
8. Jay-Z ft. Santogold – “Brooklyn (We Go Hard)”
9. Grynch ft. Tunji (of Inverse) – “All Right” (Local Artist)
10. **INTERVIEW WITH MURS (SNIPPET)**
11. Murs – “Can It Be”
12. 1982 (Statik Selektah & Termanology) ft. Lil’ Fame (of M.O.P.) – “Thugathon”
13. Blaq Poet – “Ain’t Nuttin’ Changed”
14. The Knux – “Hush”
15. U-N-I – “Hollywood Hiatus”
16. Convinced – “Miss Memory”
17. **INTERVIEW WITH CLOCKWORK**
18. Clockwork – “Hold On” (Local Artist)
19. Fresh Espresso (Rik Rude & P-Smoov) – “Elegant” (Local Artist)
20. Don Cerino ft. Royce The 5’9” – “Missing Element” (WORLD PREMIERE)
21. Kid Cudi – “Dat New New”
22. **BRAILLE – LIVE FREESTYLE**
23. Kanye West – “Street Lights”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?ddyogjhymzi
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/524277280b292ccc/ )

Link to download just the parts with Braille – http://www.mediafire.com/?mmzmmkjwzjq
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/524711662323a585/ )

Braille’s freestyle:

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.