The Audacity of Dope

The longtime homies, Inverse, just got their second well deserved feature on MySpace. This time, along with being on the front of the “Music” section, they also got placement on the main login page. So when you sign in to listen to horrible musicians trying to befriend you and sell you crap stay up to date with your friends, look out for Toby and Tunji. You can also download their ridiculously dope So Far (The Collection) project off their page for free, so go get that if you’re sleeping. These guys are destined for big things people…get on the bandwagon now.

And if you’re thinking “Tunji…that name sounds familiar,” that’s cause you’ve been hearing this at 10:45 PM every Sunday night on KUBE 93.3 before we start our show:

Tunji – “Sunday Night Sound Session Intro”

Be sure to check out their blog regularly too!

Here’s the playlist and download links for last night’s edition of Sunday Night Sound Session. The music was crazy, if I do say so myself. There’s so much great music out right now, it’s a privilege to play these joints over the airwaves. Check it out if you missed it:

Show #159 (6-8-08)

1. The Roots ft. Mos Def & Styles P – “Rising Down”
2. Nas ft. Johnny Polygon – “Black President”
3. Nappy Roots – “No Static”
4. Common Market – “Bonanza” (Local Artist)
5. Freddie Joachim ft. Othello – “Wake Up”
6. Dwele ft. Slum Village – “I’m Cheatin’ (Remix)”
7. Elzhi (of Slum Village) – “The Know”
8. Reks – “Say Goodnight”
9. N.E.R.D. – “Yeah You”
10. Robin Thicke – “Magic”
11. Kidz In The Hall ft. Estelle – “Love Hangover”
12. El Prez ft. U-N-I & Dale Danja – “UAintUpOnThis!”
13. Blu – “The Classy Man”
14. Tanya Morgan – “We Doin’ Our…”
15. Grieves & Type – “Dame Dreamin’” (Local Artist)
16. Saigon ft. Red 5ive – “Believe It”
17. Joker The Bailbondsman – “She Was Like” (Local Artist)
18. 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)”
19. Giant Panda – “Speakers Funk”
20. Common ft. Pharrell – “U.M.C. (Universal Mind Control)”
21. Big L – “Unexpected Flava”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WN593WXZ

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.

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.

Read more »

(“said i was a nerd, but i ain’t a punk” – Skateboard)

Chyea. I’ve been looking forward to the new N.E.R.D. album, Seeing Sounds, for a while and it’s finally here. In Search Of… is a personal classic to me, and while Fly or Die didn’t hit me as hard, it’s still real dope. The day before the Glow In The Dark Tour kicked off here in Seattle, Pharrell, Chad, and Shae came through Sound Session for a little listening party for material off this album (what up Blaze!). Ish sounded dope then, and it’s even better now. It drops this coming Tuesday, June 10th, and if you have any sense in you, you’ll cop this over Wayne’s Carter III disaster. Support good music from artists who put their hearts and souls into their art, painstakingly analyzing every frequency and note they create…not someone who wastes his talent by getting trashed off every drug imaginable, mumbling his way through disjointed rhymes, and slapping the auto-tune effect on it. Hmm, perhaps that was a bit much. Maybe I am a hater. [Mavado] Anywaaaaaaaaay [/Mavado]

Since I interviewed N.E.R.D. right before I launched this blog, here’s a clip of Pharrell explaining the meaning behind the album’s title in case you missed it. Be sure to download the full version of the interview as well, right here.

And a hilarious bonus clip of Pharrell pushing this kid off the stage that’s been all over the net this week. The dap + shove move is clutch.

Remember: Cop the N.E.R.D. album on Tuesday!

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!

Thanks to the Seattle stop of the DunkXChange, I got to kick it with the homies Y-O and Thurzday of U-N-I all weekend. I DJ’d for their performance on Saturday afternoon at Chop Suey (working on getting some video of that), then hit the international soccer match between Brazil and Canada later that night. We ended the weekend by having them come through Sound Session, where they talked about their upcoming Love Supreme EP, exploring their sound, the talent in the Los Angeles scene, and more. Plus, they even gave us a live performance of “Beautiful Day,” one of the tracks off last year’s ridiculously dope street album, Fried Chicken & Watermelon. Cop that if you haven’t already!

Here’s a clip of part of the interview, including the performance of “Beautiful Day,” and then links to download the audio of the radio show:

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**

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.zshare.net/audio/129792161e0fcd50/

Link to download just the parts with U-N-I – http://www.zshare.net/audio/1298032143091515/

Link to download the FULL, EXTENDED version of the 88 Keys interview – http://www.zshare.net/audio/129584146c5a9c55/