The Audacity of Dope

Tunji just shot over this footage of Talib joining Mos for a little impromptu Blackstar performance at the House of Blues from last night down in Los Angeles.  Is it strange that hearing “Respiration” drop still gives me goosebumps a decade after it first came out?

Peep more over at the Year of the Blacksmith.

He’s back!  Thanks to literally one of the only good things Bush ever did, John Forte has been pardoned and is already back in the studio.  Here’s a quick little video of John and Talib rocking over Kanye’s “Homecoming.”  People may think of John’s verse on “We’re Tryin’ To Stay Alive” and forget his other stuff, but this dude could really rhyme.  I hope he picks up right where he left off.  Welcome home.

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.

The downside of being able to work from home due to the Seattle snow is that I’ve been firmly planted at the computer for the last 12 hours.  So when the homies are about their business and provide perfect descriptions for stuff to post, it makes one happy Hyphen.  Take it away fellas:

Follow a night in the life of new supergroup Idle Warship (Talib Kweli + Res + Graph Nobel) as they travel through NYC, hit the studio to record, DJ a set at a club, perform, and generally talk sh*t. You can also preview new songs from the group’s forthcoming mixtape and album. Shot/Edited by Court Dunn for Restless Films. Second camera Andrew Baxter.

Shout to young Tunj for sending this through and peace to the entire Blacksmith fam.  As a bonus, Tunj included the song featured heavily in this clip:

Idle Warship – “Steady”

Now all that said, minus 10K points for making me hear “Pop Champagne” at the end of the clip.  Blech.

If you’ve been sleeping on Idle Warship, it’s a new group consisting of Talib Kweli, Res, and Graph Nobel.  They’ve put out a few tracks already, but here’s a video for their newest joint, “Black Snake Moan.”  Peep their web clip for “Fall Back” from the primary season and then catch up with Talib through my recent interview with him if you missed it.

Shout to Tunji and the whole Blacksmith crew!

Ever have one of those times where everything is going great, and then something completely random goes wrong and tries to pull you down?  That’s pretty much how my weekend went.  Aside from my 6th grade basketball team crashing out of our tournament with the quickness, everything was busy, but still dope…until I drove in to the station for this week’s Sound Session and my car decided to blow up.  It took all day today to get things back up and running, but I swear, those Prius jawns look better by the minute.

Thankfully, this week’s show provided a little therapy through an hour and a half of good music and good people.  We ran a ton of great tracks and played two short snippets of our recent interview with Talib Kweli.  Be sure to check out the full version of that interview (and watch the video in HD) below.  Also, shout to the homegirl Jessica from Spectre for coming through to kick it!

Show #182 (11-23-08)

1. Alchemist ft. Evidence, Blu, & Kid Cudi – “Therapy”
2. Keelay & Zaire ft. Blu, Fortilive, & Nino Moschella – “The Times”
3. B.o.B. – “Left Field Lovely”
4. Grynch ft. Geologic (of Blue Scholars) & Thig Natural (of the Physics) – “I’m A Dreamer” (Local Artist)
5. Q-Tip – “Fever”
6. Black Milk – “Hold It Down”
7. Colin Munroe ft. Wale – “Will I Stay (Remix)”
8. Reef The Lost Cauze – “Home”
9. Ludacris ft. Nas & Jay-Z – “I Do It For Hip-Hop”
10. **INTERVIEW WITH TALIB KWELI #04 (SNIPPETS)**
11. Self Scientific ft. Talib Kweli & the Game – “Everywhere I Go”
12. Evidence – “Rain Or Shine”
13. GLC ft. Kanye West – “Big Screen”
14. Kanye West ft. Mr. Hudson & Kid Cudi – “Paranoid”
15. Foreign Exchange – “I Wanna Know”
16. 88 Keys ft. Phonte (of Little Brother) – “Close Call”
17. Fresh Espresso (Rik Rude & P-Smoov) – “Diamond Pistols” (Local Artist)
18. **INTERVIEW WITH JESSICA WEBER (of SPECTRE)**
19. Json – “M.O.B.” (Local Artist)
20. Statik Selektah ft. Jon Hope, Torae, & Sha Stimuli – “Destined To Shine (Obama Mix)”
21. Now On – “Unwind”
22. B-Real ft. Young De – “Don’t Ya Dare Laugh”

Link to download the mp3 of the show – http://www.mediafire.com/?koggndwnmqw
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/5182069911de45aa/ )

Link to download the full interview with Talib Kweli – http://www.mediafire.com/?2dmzymzi3jt
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/515797634df69ac9/ )

(watch in HD on HyphenTV)

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 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.

As I’ve said before on this site, virtually anything involving Transformers will be posted…especially when it also involves two of my favorite MC’s, Jean Grae and Talib Kweli.  Shout to Corey Smyth and the whole Blacksmith family.  Cop Jean’s long awaited album with 9th Wonder, Jeanius, today!

Bonus: Talib’s last appearance on Sound Session (his 3rd overall) from Aug. ’07 – http://www.mediafire.com/?crtec4xn5zy

Swiped from OKP.