The Audacity of Dope

Ok, when the snow first started this winter here in Seattle, it was pretty dope because we don’t get scenes like this too often. Then when it stuck around for the week after and forced J. Moore and I to miss an episode of Sound Session due to the madness on the roads, it started to really get on our nerves. Now that a random blizzard decided to hit the city out of nowhere (thanks for the “light rain/snow mix moving into rain all night” forecasts weather dudes), I’m officially over this weather.

Unfortunately, due to the latest round of snow, J and I were unable to get to KUBE for the first SNSS of the new year. Just like when this happened 2 weeks ago, I’ve decided to put together the songs we would have played in a .rar file for y’all (again, please say you use WinRar for all your zipping/extracting needs), all sequenced and ready to go for you. So consider this our (semi) official 2009 jumpoff…yaaaaay. Hopefully we’ll be back to normal next week, but in the meantime, if you have any trouble, just contact me through any of the methods on the right sidebar –>

Show #188 (1-4-09)
**Online Only Edition**

1. Skillz – “2008 Rap Up”
2. Shad – “I Don’t Like To”
3. DJ Cadik ft. Phat Kat & Elzhi – “Keep It Real”
4. Super Smoky Soul ft. Guilty Simpson – “Knockout Kings”
5. People Under The Stairs – “The Wiz”
6. Grieves & Budo – “Guenevieve” (Local Artist)
7. Adele ft. Naledge (of Kidz In The Hall) – “First Love (Remot Remix)”
8. Jadakiss ft. Faith Evans – “Letter To B.I.G.”
9. **Inverse ft. Substantial – “Spark My Soul” (WORLD PREMIERE)**
10. Butta Verses – “INTL”
11. Colin Munroe ft. Joell Ortiz – “Piano Lessons”
12. Termanology ft. Sheek, Joell Ortiz, Bun B, Freeway, & Saigon – “Say It”
13. Statik Selektah ft. Bun B & Cory Mo – “Get Out The Way”
14. Snowgoons ft. Boom Bap Project – “The Storm” (Local Artist)
15. Big Pooh – “The Comeback”
16. Wale ft. Brother Ali – “2nd Time”
17. Evidence ft. Defari – “Don’t Hate”
18. Josh Martinez ft. Devin The Dude – “Hurricane Jane” (Local Artist)
19. Common – “Gladiator”
20. Kenna ft. The Cool Kids – “Loose Wires (Remix)”
21. 88 Keys – “Morning Wood”
22. Asher Roth – “I Love College”
23. Little Dragon – “Constant Surprises”
24. Robin Thicke – “Dreamworld”
25. Johnson&Jonson – “Hold On John”

Link to download the mp3’s – http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VEW9GCRL
(back up link – http://www.zshare.net/download/538391387729daed/ )

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.

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.

Cause if you do, you might be videotaped and clowned.

Big shout to Eclipse and Stretch of The Parker Brothaz, one of the dopest up and coming groups in hip-hop and some of the nicest talent we have here in the Pacific Northwest. When you’re on the grind like they are though, sometimes you get a little tired. Hopefully you don’t pass out on the air like Eclipse did on when they dropped by Sound Session recently on Episode #181.

And just so y’all don’t think I did the homies dirty, Stretch hooked up the video and gave me the go ahead.  Hahahaha, sorry Clipse!

But on the real, don’t sleep on these dudes…no pun.  Y’all heard the remix to their “Text Me” joint with Big Pooh, Naledge, and Talib Kweli?  Smoooooooooth.

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'”

(watch part one in HD on HyphenTV)

J. Moore and I recently got the chance to have one of our favorite artists in the game, the one and only Murs, come through Sound Session and kick it with us.  Back when I used to do college radio down in Los Angeles (KSPC what up!), I used to joke about how many people would call in to request Living Legends music.  Seriously, I’d get one every 15 minutes…it was crazy.  They have such an ill following in Cali (and worldwide), and it’s been great to watch Murs build upon that to take his career and brand to a new level.

When we sat down with him, we talked all about his new Murs For President album, why he decided to sign to a major label, his love for No Limit & Cash Money records from the late 90’s, life on the road, politics, and much more.  Be sure to watch both parts of the interview to see why he’s the most authentic rapper you’ll ever find.

(watch part two in HD on HyphenTV)

If you need the audio for your mp3 player, here you go:

Murs on Sound Session – http://www.mediafire.com/?zwmqjo3htnj
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/529083346101e751/ )

If there are any problems with the links or videos, just let me know.  Enjoy!

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.

Here’s the Sound Session playlist and download links from Sunday night.  As usual, we had a ball playing the best new music around, plus we were joined in the studio by the homey Geologic from the Blue Scholars.  Along with laughing at our crazy callers, Geo was in the building to talk about the upcoming Blue Scholars and Common Market shows at the end of the week here in Seattle.  If you’re in the town, you better be coming through Neumo’s Thursday, Friday, and/or Saturday night to see two of our most talented groups tear it down like they always do.  Shout to the entire Massline family.

We also had a quick appearance from two of our Cali friends, Glasses Malone and Mistah F.A.B., who dropped in before performing at the Star Bar.  First off, you haven’t lived until you’ve heard these two cap on each other.  I wish y’all could have heard the off-air convo…hilarious.  Secondly, be on the lookout for Glasses’ major label debut, Beach Cruiser, coming in March of ’09.  Dude has been putting in work in the Cali underground for years so it’s good to see him on the verge of such big success.

Do what you do and peep the entire show below:

Show #185 (12-14-08)
**Co-Hosted by Geologic (of Blue Scholars)**

1. 88 Keys ft. Bilal – “M.I.L.F.”
2. Alchemist ft. Evidence, Blu, & Kid Cudi – “Therapy”
3. Freeway – “Look Around”
4. Ghostface Killah – “Slept On Tony”
5. Blue Scholars – “Joe Metro” (Local Artist)
6. Q-Tip ft. D’Angelo – “I Believe”
7. Black Milk – “Hold It Down”
8. **INTERVIEW WITH GLASSES MALONE & MISTAH F.A.B., PT. 1**
9. Glasses Malone ft. Lil’ Wayne & Birdman – “Haterz”
10. **INTERVIEW WITH GLASSES MALONE & MISTAH F.A.B., PT. 2**
11. Souls of Mischief – “Tour Stories”
12. Evidence ft. Elzhi & Aloe Blacc – “To Be Determined”
13. 6th Sense ft. Adele – “Bringing 1988 Back” (WORLD PREMIERE)
14. K’Naan ft. Chubb Rock – “ABC’s”
15. Common ft. Martina Topley-Bird – “Everywhere”
16. N.A.S.A. ft. Kanye West, Santogold, & Lykke Li – “Gifted”
17. He Say She Say – “Crash Dummie”
18. U-N-I – “Hollywood Hiatus”
19. Clockwork – “Same As Me” (Local Artist)
20. Joe Budden ft. the Game – “The Future”
21. Fresh Espresso (Rik Rude & P-Smoov) – “Elegant” (Local Artist)
22. Sene – “Whateva, Wheneva”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?ymzmtolw3lz
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/52807805c886e2c9/ )

Link to download the parts with Glasses Malone & Mistah F.A.B. – http://www.mediafire.com/?rejomlz2njm
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/52808768b3ac3185/ )

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.

(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!