843Shows
26,814Spins
Thursday, Feb 9 2023, 5AM
Birthday love going out to singer-songwriter-musician Carole King - born on this day in 1942!
Live 2017 performance of her timeless song "You've Got a Friend" (from Welcome To My Living Room):
youtu.be
Carole King composed the music for Aretha Franklin's 1967 classic anthem "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman".
Aretha in a live 2016 performance of "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" from the Kennedy Center in Washington DC:
youtu.be
Seattle talent - Choklate and producer Jake One - collaborate with Minneapolis artist Brother Ali in 2012.
Check out Brother Ali's 2012 KEXP in-studio:
youtu.be
Album-versary! 30 years ago today, Brooklyn-based trio Digable Planets - Seattle's own Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler, Mariana "Ladybug Mecca" Vieira, and Craig "Doodlebug" Irving - released their debut album 'Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space)' - revolutionizing rap and changing lives!
Rolling Stone considers the album's influence:
www.rollingstone.com
In their 1993 song "Where I'm From", Digable Planets sampled KC and the Sunshine Band's 1975 song "Ain't Nothing Wrong".
Shad, in turn, sampled Digable Planets 1993 song "Where I'm From" in his 2010 track "A Good Name".
KEXP's song of the day last month:
www.kexp.org
Check out Little Simz's 2021 Live on KEXP at Home session - conversation with Gabriel and an exclusive live performance:
youtu.be
www.littlesimz.com
NEW MUSIC!! The Brooklyn artist's new 6-song EP drops March 24!
"'Exodus the North Star' is my most vulnerable work to date. This is how I see joy and love in the world and what I aspire to feel and be. I have become an expert at turning my pain and grief as a black woman into music. Black people have a masterful way of telling our stories and sharing pain, but we are also masters of joy and imagination. We have always been in a global conversation about how to alchemize our experiences and reimagine our circumstances. From the ties between Lovers Rock and R&B to Gospel and House. Our joy is a collective effort."
Video!!
youtu.be
yayabey.bandcamp.com
Virginia Beach-born singer-songwriter-composer Shaolinn is just 20 years old. "Cherish" is a reinterpretation of Sade's track "Cherish the Day".
www.artofshaolinn.com
On his third album release, the 29-year-old UK artist, Stormzy wrote a message to listeners:
“I pray you listen to this album with an open heart and if you hate it after, I promise to God I’m perfectly fine with that, I’m just grateful you listened with openness.”
stormzy.bandcamp.com
Sending Love and healing out to Seattle artist Falon Sierra - who was the victim of a horrible knife attack Sunday. If you want to help provide support to Falon in her healing process:
www.gofundme.com
Support her music:
falonsierra.bandcamp.com
www.falonsierra.com
Watch Seattle's own Falon Sierra performing "Fight The Numb" live in the KEXP studio in 2018!
youtu.be
New Music! Cameroon-born / Montreal-based singer/songwriter Clerel talked to the CBC about his grandmother's influence in his music:
"She was absolutely the reason I started singing. Because when I was a kid, when I went back to Cameroon, we were staying with her and we'd have this little ritual, she and I, where she had this big book of French nursery rhymes that she knew and she would just teach them to me every night, you know? And so that kind of really was our little thing."
bit.ly
jeanclerel.com
clerel.bandcamp.com
After almost five years, SZA dropped a new album, her second full length, released in December. This song features the late Ol' Dirty Bastard, a sample of Björk's "Hidden Place", and production from hip-hop/R&B great Darkchild.
SZA will play Climate Pledge Arena on March 16th.
www.szasos.com
2018 collaboration between Ali Shaheed Muhammad (A Tribe Called Quest) and Adrian Younge! - with vocals from Digable Planets' Ladybug Mecca. Get the track here:
themidnighthour.bandcamp.com
The two have continued their collaboration with the Jazz is Dead series - currently in volume 17. Under Jazz Is Dead, younger artists are elaborating upon conversations started decades ago; jazz icons are utilizing vintage equipment to create new masters with Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad; the same equipment that recorded their coveted catalogs. The vitality embedded in the new masters epitomizes our quest for new life in music: Jazz Is Dead.
jazzisdead.bandcamp.com
Digable Planets won a Grammy for “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)” in 1994. In their acceptance speech, Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler made a statement:
“On behalf of my crew, we accept this award on behalf of hip-hop music and Black culture in general. We want everyone to think about the people outside this door that’s homeless as we’re sitting in these $900 seats. They’re out there not eating at all.”
Watch that moment, hear Ish's full message:
youtu.be
New Music! Oddisee's new album 'To What End' was released last month!
oddisee.bandcamp.com
Back in 2020, Oddisee, the great DC-raised and Brooklyn-based rapper and producer, sat in conversation with Gabriel and shared an exclusive set on KEXP Live at Home. Check it out!
youtu.be
New Music!!! New album 'GLOW' due out next week!
"I’d been thinking and re-evaluating things and the song put a lot in perspective for me. It’s a journey of liberation, and I found myself questioning and understanding my own feelings about the turbulence of life itself. The video is the most minimalist I’ve directed but also the most poignant, with each scene existing as a visual metaphor and the focus throughout being on feeling and expression."
Video!
youtu.be
wesleyjoseph.bandcamp.com
“This Year” was written by King and her longtime collaborator/recording partner Jeremy Most. The artist says,
“I wrote ‘This Year’ last New Year’s Eve after realizing I’d spent most of my time vying for the attention of someone who couldn’t love me back."
See the lyric video:
youtu.be
Nia Archives new single, “Conveniency” -the third track from her forthcoming EP, 'Sunrise Bang Ur Head Against Tha Wall' which drops March 10th!
www.niaarchives.com
New music from White Center's own, Taylar Elizza Beth and Seattle producer, WD4D!
taylarelizzabeth.bandcamp.com
wd4d.bandcamp.com
The final track on 'Natural Brown Prom Queen' “#513” is the area code for the Cincinnati home town the L.A.-based artist left behind. She told NPR's Ayesha Rascoe:
"Since the first song was about opening up my home and letting people come into my life in L.A., and how it feels, finally it's coming together, I knew that the last song was going to be about my real home, where I'm from. I just wanted to talk about how I've got a really good balance going on of mixing the roots together and becoming this person I am now."
n.pr
sudanarchives.com
sudanarchives.bandcamp.com
"If you want to be free, the undergrounds the only place to be"
Performing "Cold War" at the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway, Monáe introduces the song as a gift of empowerment for young Black girls:
youtu.be
Official music video: youtu.be
www.jmonae.com
Iranian singer Shervin Hajipour won a Grammy for Best Song For Social Change For "Baraye." "Baraye" was posted on Hajipour's Instagram and was seen more than 40 million times in less than two days.
"He was arrested but this song continues to resonate around the world for its powerful theme: women, life, freedom" said First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, who presented the award.
bit.ly
IG: @shervinine
"A woman without freedom is like a flower without soil. With freedom, she blooms. Without it, she withers."
From Iranian-Dutch musician Sevdaliza - an anthem in support of women in Iran amidst ongoing protests sparked by the murder of Mahsa Amini. The song's title draws from chants by protestors.
Video:
youtu.be
sevdaliza.com
"Iran's authorities must immediately and unconditionally release #TomajSalehi, a dissident rap artist detained solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression. In his songs, he spoke out against repression, corruption, poverty and impunity & called for accountability." - Amnesty Iran
"Shallagh" ("Whip") video - with English lyrics:
youtu.be
www.rferl.org
In 2020, Saba Zameni was arrested in Iran for being a female singer. Today, she lives in Canada where she is adding her voice to the growing protest against the Islamic regime.
IG: Saba Zameni
"La Femme Fétal" Digable Planets 1993 song in support of abortion rights. Looking back on 30 years of influence of their debut album the three commented in Rolling Stone:
bit.ly
“It’s like the music and the group exists outside of us, almost. It’s also like I feel responsible. Who could ever imagine that 30 years from now, I will be able to go and do a Digable Planets show without constantly cultivating new music? So, the luck of that, the fortune of it — it’s not even about whether I want to or not. It’s that I get to, you know what I’m saying? I’m lucky enough to be able to do something.” Ishmael Butler
“Can’t believe people are still talking about it. Just living in the moment at that time, we just had fun doing what we love to do. Never thought it would have such a legacy where younger people know about us and actually come to the shows, listening to the music. Never imagined that, and that’s a beautiful thing.” - Doodlebug
“I was reflecting back on that recently and thinking how I was 19 years old when [Reachin’] came out. It really is a blessing, and it’s kind of ill to think how long it’s been. Time has just flown by, and people are still discovering it every day.” - Mecca
Coco Peila's song about reproductive justice and American politics, her goal was to use a “big bullhorn and say, ‘Yo, something is happening over here! Y'all need to stop what you’re doing and get folks to pay attention!’”
Read about hip hop's history in the abortion rights movement: bit.ly
www.cocopeila.com
www.blackgoldmovement.org