The Audacity of Dope

These are the kinds of songs that simply put Shad on a level that few other artists can touch.  Truly next level in his message and his delivery.  Wow.

Words from the director, Justin Broadbent:

“The death of music is similar to the death of visual art. The online, numb, browsing experience has (naturally) started to effect the current state of art. We’ve become a Tumblr’d culture, over Googled, educated and bored in 4 seconds or shorter.

“I made a non-music video for Shad’s “Progress”. It’s a website. It’s a comment on the state of art and also maybe the only video that could attach to such an intensely accurate and poignant song for our generation. It is like the movie credits to now. Tumblr on.”

MNEK (and the UK) wins again.  This kid is super talented.

UK R&B is killing ours right now.  Here’s a new one from Sinead Harnett, who you may have heard on Disclosure’s album, produced by Snakehips, who are murking everything they touch right now.  Fire.

Souled Out drops Tuesday and I’m really interested to see how it performs.  I’d love to see an artist like Jhene breakthrough on the mainstream level and with the success of “The Worst,” a lot of folks are checking for her right now.  This album will likely determine if she can get up to that star level, but either way, the music continues to be dope…and that’s the most important thing.

I mentioned this on Twitter when Mac Miller’s last mixtape, Faces, dropped, but I’m kinda worried for dude.  He’s really talented (people sleep on the production skills too), but he seems to be in a pretty dark place.  You can’t go more than a few bars on the tape without hearing a drug reference and while he’s always been on that vibe, it seems excessive…and dangerous…lately.

That said, the music is still quality, as evidenced by “Diablo.”  Truthfully, I’m all in on any beat that samples “In A Sentimental Mood,” but Mac’s rhymes are on point here too.  This one line seems to sum up what may have brought Mac to this dark place though: “the industry a lie, all the promises were hollow.”

Think a female version of The Weeknd, minus the drugs and with a stronger voice. No idea how she became involved with Tyga’s label (seems random), but I really like what I’ve heard from Esty so far. Be sure to cop her EP here if you haven’t already.

British dance music or alt-R&B is probably the most enjoyable stuff coming out these days. MNEK is killing just about everything he touches.

Very 80’s…from the visuals to the Prince-esque sounds. The UK wins again.

Yes, I know I’m slacking on posting the last 2 episodes of Sound Session, plus a few interviews we’ve done, but real life is mad hectic right now.  I’m only briefly interrupting it to post the video for what’s probably my favorite song of 2014, Full Crate & Mar’s “Man x Woman.”

Dopeness.

One of the dopest MC’s in the game and one of the realest dudes in the industry, Freddie Gibbs has been one of our favorites for years on Sound Session.  We’ve ran into him numerous times but amazingly never had him in studio for a SNSS interview…until now.

Freddie came through the KUBE studios on 5/24/14 while in Seattle on tour with Tech N9ne and we chopped it up for a bit about his love for the city (its greenery and Seahawk Richard Sherman, in particular), growing up and starting his rap career in a tough environment in Indiana, and later making the move to Los Angeles to pursue music.  We also talked about his approach to the industry and how he can appeal to a wide fan base, before touching on his recent projects with Madlib and DJ Fresh.

Peep the full interview above for more and be sure to catch Freddie when he’s in your town.  Shout to Archie for coordinating and the First Ladies for shooting and editing the piece.