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Wednesday, Feb 1 2023, 5AM
Mystic's song "Here, Alive (Spirits High)" was chosen by Gabriel as Song of the Day back in August: kexp.org
Watch more from Mystic 's journey to release her new album, 'Dreaming in Cursive: The Girl Who Loved Sparklers':
youtu.be
Akua Naru is hip-hop's spectacular global, poetic, intellectual, spiritual, political, female balance. Naru's musical and poetic gifts have been appreciated among hip hop circles and are amplified within live performance. She is the founder of theKEEPERS Project - a global Black womxn-led collective of artists, activists, and scholars building the FIRST comprehensive digital archive to focus on the artistic work of womxn and girls throughout 5 decades of Hip Hop music & culture.
www.followthekeepers.com
Check out a live spoken word performance from Naru: youtu.be
akuanaru.bandcamp.com
New York based singer, songwriter and producer Amber Mark released "My People," a cover of "My People…Hold On" by Eddie Kendricks, lead singer of The Temptations. Marks said about the song:
"It’s so amazing to see the world learning, growing and most importantly helping one another. We cannot let go of this feeling or this moment. We should use this positive mentality as the everlasting force driving humankind as a whole to greatness not just for the future of yourself but for the future of everyone around you.
This cover and really any song I’ve made is dedicated to all of the people doing this. We have had enough, it’s time to bring more positive force into this world... To all the people speaking out on behalf of purely loving one another no matter the minuscule .1% differences in our DNA. Hold on to that love and know YOU, no matter where your homo sapiens ancestors migrated to, are and always will be MY people."
Read her whole statement, and watch the "My People" video:
youtu.be
www.ambermarkmusic.com
Late-90s Seattle hip hop trio - D-Uneek, E-Wreck, & Poetry - part of the Tribal Productions hip hop collective.
The 1995 Tribal compilation 'Do the Math' was primarily compiled and produced by Vitamin D.
triballegacy.bandcamp.com
The Seattle-based crew Source of Labor were an integral part of the Pacific Northwest hip-hop scene from their first release in 1995 until the group disbanded in 2004. Source of Labor gained their share of underground respect. The group was formed by Jonathan "Wordsayer" Moore, the Mayor of Seattle HipHop. along with fellow MC Blahzay Blah, plus producers Negus 1 and DJ Kamikaze.
Representing Seattle’s South End, The Physics are one of the region’s most critically-celebrated hip hop crews. Real-deal brothers Thig Nat and Monk Wordsmith and Justo have been making music since their days at O’Dea High School.
thephysics.bandcamp.com
thephysics.tumblr.com
The Physics' sound has been synonymous with "Seattle summers," for many, due to its hyperlocal lyrics and laid back, upbeat vibe. "You could hardly imagine better ambassadors of our deep, watery homegrown flow," wrote The Stranger's Larry Mizell Jr. (now KEXP Afternoon Show host!) in a 2012 review.
See "Coronas on Madrona" live in the KEXP studio in 2014:
youtu.be
thephysics.bandcamp.com
In 2018, Yirim Seck gave a deep interview with KEXP on Black History Month. Kick off Black History month with his thoughts:
www.kexp.org
Birthday shout out to South Seattle's own Khingz - an influential force in the Seattle hip hop scene!
The song comes from Khingz’ 2022 full-length - his first in 13 years, 'Over the World', released in May 2022.
khingz.bandcamp.com
Check out another track from the album - a KEXP song-of-the-day back in July! www.kexp.org
New Music from Khingz! - with Mic Flont and featuring Glendal Tautua.
otowgang.bandcamp.com
A powerful collaborator, Khingz has worked with Geologic of Blue Scholars, Macklemore, and KEXP’s own Gabriel Teodros in the hip-hop supergroup Good Medicine, with B-Flat and Crispy of Godspeed as the trio Hi-Life Soundsystem, and, once again, with Teodros as well as rapper Nam under the project The Livin Yard.
New Music! Khingz & Mic Flont with Larisa Marie on vocals and Abjo!
otowgang.bandcamp.com
Larisa Marie is a member of the "5 piece femme powered Hip Hop group" Naduh out of Vancouver BC.
@its.naduh
www.itsnaduh.com
@larisasanders
Jamila Woods 2016 debut! With the assistance of fellow Chicagoans Chance the Rapper, Saba, and Kweku Collins, R&B artist Jamila Woods makes vital, resonant protest music that sounds like a children’s playground. Pitchfork review: bit.ly
Jamila Woods performed live in the KEXP studio in 2020 - check it out!
youtu.be
The ninth studio album produced primarily by band members Black Thought, Questlove, Dice Raw, and Rick Friedrich, "How I Got Over" features a subtle, somber sound and lyrics highlighting themes of self-determination, existentialism, and Black middle-class angst.
theroots.com
2016 sophomore release from Isaiah Rashad, The album was recorded during a period in which Rashad experienced struggles with depression and addiction, and features a reflective and conscious tone with hip hop, trap, trip hop, soul, and jazz influences. It features guest appearances from SiR, Zacari, Kendrick Lamar, Deacon Blues, Kari Faux, Syd tha Kyd, Hugh Augustine, Jay Rock and SZA.
otowgang.bandcamp.com
"I'm from White Center.” That’s usually how I introduce myself. Growing up, my family and I had it rough. In 2006 We lost two of our boys in the same month to gun violence. I was there to witness the death of one of our brothers and it changed me forever. Every year after that seemed to present new struggles and it was like we could never catch a break
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I was this scrubby kid who wore the same clothes to school everyday even tho my many mothers were workin day in and day out to take care of us. Shit wasn’t easy. But again, I’m from White Center, when has anything been easy?
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In the Samoan culture we tell stories. Our history and traditions are passed down orally. We take pride in our descriptive and beautiful language and I too wanted to tell stories. My story.
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So that’s what @modeledminority and I decided to do through music. We wanted every song, every visual and every word to paint a picture of my reality (really it was both of our realities just with different cultural nuances).
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When I look back at pictures of myself as a teenager all I want to do is go back in time, hug myself and say “I promise you everything will be alright.” That’s what this album has allowed me to do. It gave me an outlet and took me on a journey. Back to all my trauma, pain, and suffering so that I could hug 12 year old Glendal and say “I’m proud of you. Everything is fine, and it will always be fine because YOU NEVER GAVE UP.”
-Glendal Tautua
Another track from Khingz's 2022 release 'Over the World'!
Keep up with the Seattle artist after today's show:
khingz.bandcamp.com www.facebook.com
IG: @khingztow
'1st Born Second' is the 2001 debut album by Philly-born singer-songwriter Bilal. Bilal recorded the album at Electric Lady Studios in New York; producers included Aaron Comess, Dr. Dre, Mike City, Megahertz, Raphael Saadiq, and J Dilla.
Bilal performed live in the KEXP studio back in 2019 - check it out! youtu.be
bilal.bandcamp.com
Francisco Haye "Cisco Swank" is a multi-instrumentalist, producer, and vocalist from Brooklyn. His 2022 release 'Some Things Take Time' is described as:
One-part beat tape, one-part Blue Note jazz session. 'Some Things Take Time' is a series of evolving vignettes with their constituent parts transported seamlessly from both the traditionalist past and the unwritten future. Eleven tracks glued together by caffeinated off-kilter beats, holy chord progressions, dusty bebop motifs, and a palette of revealed sonic flourishes.
ciscoswank.bandcamp.com
Seattle hip-hop veteran Khingz teams up with Canadian artist Ujjy on this moody, touching track, written in the early pandemic during a dark time. Khingz states on his Bandcamp, he "wrote this when I did not know when I would see my son again and the world was heavy on my shoulders."
A song-of-the-day in 2021 - download now over on the KEXP website:
www.kexp.org
khingz.bandcamp.com
Birthday shout out to Big Boi!!
This collab between Atlanta artists is featured on the soundtrack for the 1997 film "Soul Food," which also had contributions from Boyz II Men, En Vogue, BLACKstreet, Usher, and many others. It became a 2x platinum selling album by 1998.
"In Due Time" video!
youtu.be
2012 Khingz project 'Langston Hugh Hefner...Love, Weed & Other Vices'.
"At a time when Seattle’s explosive hip-hop scene continues to expand in various directions, there’s a highly animated new music group that’s eager to push those boundaries even further. Hi-Life Soundsystem, comprised of talented emcees Khingz and B-Flat, are two of Seattle’s hardest working, yet often under appreciated rap figures, that have banded together to create 15 clever songs"
hilifesoundsystem.bandcamp.com
Celebrating birthdays of Big Boi - Khingz - and Langston Hughes!
hilifesoundsystem.bandcamp.com
2022 single from JusMoni "tender in practice"
KEXP's "Fresh Off The Spaceship" podcast featured JusMoni on this episode: kexp.org
jusmoni.bandcamp.com
Released last year, Tacoma native LIVt collaborating with Seattle's own Dave B!
Check out LIVt's April Live on KEXP session with Gabriel!
youtu.be
livt.bandcamp.com