In Our Headphones

Khingz (Over The World) x Ujjy - "Rainy Morning," a 2021 self-released single. Seattle hip-hop veteran Khingz teams up with Canadian artist Ujjy on this touching track, written 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."  Khingz broke out as a battle emcee in the early 2000s, named "Best MC Of The Year" in 2009 by the Seattle Weekly readers poll. In 2001, he formed Abyssinian Creole with EARLY host Gabriel Teodros! Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Felicia Douglass - "Continuation," a 2021 self-released single. Felicia Douglass's voice is all around us: not only is she a solo artist, she's also a member of Ava Luna, Gemma, and Dirty Projectors; and she has lent her gorgeous vocals to Lushlife, BAILE, Toro y Moi, Helado Negro, and others. "There was a point a few years ago where I was like, 'Okay, I feel like I'm in too many bands,'" the Brooklyn-based artist jokingly told GARAGE last year.  Thanks to her home studio set-up, Douglass has been able to continue working remotely. ("Casio keyboards are good clutter," she quips.) Today's Song of the Day is one of those at-home creations, released last October.  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

King Khazm - "Superpowerz (feat. Kane Smego & Jessica Care Moore)" from the 2021 album Pangea: Hip Hop Heals on MADK Productions. King Khazm has a long history as an emcee, artist, and community organizer in Seattle's underground hip-hop scene, and with the compilation Pangea: Hip Hop Heals, he gathers 50 emcees, producers, DJs, and artists representing 17 countries to share their perspectives on the coronavirus pandemic. Today's Song of the Day features National Poetry Slam finalist Kane Smego and renowned Detroit-based poet Jessica Care Moore, with additional vocals by A. Billie Free, and production by Moppy.  King Khazm states Pangea: Hip Hop Heals "aims to spread awareness of the larger connection we share," he states on his website. "The project speaks directly to how artists from around the world are coping and banding together in unique and innovative ways to connect. The music carries themes of commonality and how we are all going through similar experiences, demonstrating resilience and optimism through music and art. The core values of Hip Hop is peace, unity, love and overcoming the negative to the positive. There is an undeniable power in storytelling and sharing experiences, and this project seeks to embrace the best in humanity." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Farhot - "Yak Sher" from the 2021 album Kabul Fire Vol. 2 on Kabul Fire Records. “This is one of my goals,” hip-hop producer Farhot (real name: Farhad Samadzada) told Acclaim, “to help make Afghanistan a little bit more seen.” It's been seven years since the release of Kabul Fire Vol. 1, and with the follow-up, he wanted to continue to celebrate his birthplace. "When it was time for Vol 2, I had to do some homework. I was thinking of the title Kabul Fire, and I thought, ‘I need to make a connection to the country’, I watched films and listened to the music and checked out art from Afghanistan, and what I found was just incredible to me and very inspiring, so I dug deeper.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bad Colours - “Feelin' Like (feat. Jarv Dee)” from the 2021 album Pink on Bastard Jazz Recordings. London-born, Maryland-raised, Brooklyn-based DJ, songwriter, producer, and instrumentalist Ibe Soliman (aka Bad Colours) was inspired by lockdown to record a debut album, using rough ideas and samples that friends sent him to spur on new ideas. One of the samples he used was from Seattle's own Jarv Dee. Today's Song of the Day began with a sampled vocal hook, and then after the first draft, Jarv Dee added some original lyrics on Black Power. “Dancey stuff with a message,” Soliman described it in a press release.  PINK will be released digitally and on vinyl on February 26th, and is available for pre-order over at Bandcamp, right now. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jeff Parker - "Build a Nest (feat. Ruby Parker)" from the 2020 album Suite for Max Brown on International Anthem. With his 2016 album The New Breed, guitarist Jeff Parker paid tribute to his Dad, who passed away while he was recording it. With his latest release, Suite For Max Brown, he wanted to dedicate something to his Mom while she was still alive to hear it. "Maxine Brown is her maiden name and everybody calls her Max," Parker explained in a press statement. "The picture on the cover is her when she was 19." Today's Song of the Day makes it a family affair as it features guest vocals from Parker's daughter, Ruby. Parker has shown his dexterity as a member of experimental post-rock bands Tortoise and Isotope 217. With Suite For Max Brown, he utilizes a mix of digital and analog instruments. He explains: I used to deejay a lot when I lived in Chicago. I was spinning records one night and for about 10 minutes I was able to perfectly synch up a Nobukazu Takemura record with the first movement of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme and it had this free jazz, abstract jazz thing going on with a sequenced beat underneath. It sounded so good. That’s what I’m trying to do with Suite For Max Brown. It’s got a sequenced beat and there are musicians improvising on top or beneath the sequenced drum pattern. That’s what I was going for. Man vs. machine. It’s a lot of experimenting, a lot of trial and error. I like to pursue situations that take me outside myself, where the things I come up with are things I didn’t really know I could do. I always look at this process as patchwork quilting. You take this stuff and stitch it together until a tapestry forms. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Madison McFerrin - "Hindsight," a 2020 single on Mexican Summer. Brooklyn-based artist Madison McFerrin says she wrote today's Song of the Day as “a love letter to Bernie Sanders.” She explained the inspiration for the track to Afropunk.com: It was back in May when it was clear that both A) this pandemic wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and B) Bernie Sanders, the only Democratic Presidential candidate advocating for Medicare for All (something that seems beyond important in the middle of a global pandemic), had officially dropped out of the race. I was feeling like the possibility for true progress had, once again, slipped through our fingers. That’s what’s behind the refrain of “coulda said we went for it.” Regardless, we have to move on and move forward with conviction. The single was released as part of Mexican Summer’s Looking Glass series, a project they launched as a response to the pandemic where all proceeds from the digital singles on Bandcamp are given straight back to the artist or the charity of their choice.  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Navy Blue - "224" from the 2020 album Song of Sage: Post Panic! on Freedom Sounds. Skateboarder/graphic designer/streetwear model Sage Elsesser explores his musical side under the alias Navy Blue. Last year's full-length, Àdá Irin, was a confident debut (read KEXP's Martin Douglas' review here), and less than a year later, he returned with his sophomore album, Song of Sage: Post Panic!, another collection of introspective hip-hop. As Martin describes it in the February edition of In Our Headphones, it's "an illuminating tapestry of meditations on self-harm, colonization and ancestral weight, gentrification, anxiety attacks, the grief we carry throughout our lives, and the ties that bind Black people together."  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gary Bartz, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Adrian Younge - "Spiritual Ideation" from the 2020 album Gary Bartz JID006 on Jazz is Dead. Last year, Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (of A Tribe Called Quest) launched the label and series Jazz Is Dead, where the duo pair up with a legendary jazz musician, recording new music using the vintage studio equipment that artist originally used in their discography. So far, they've collaborated with Roy Ayers, Marcos Valle, Azymuth, and several others, and for the label's first release of 2021, they've recruited legendary saxophonist Gary Bartz.  Bartz just turned 80 years old last year, and Gary Bartz JID006 is his first new album in eight years, to be released April 2 via Jazz is Dead. “Working with Gary Bartz epitomizes the ethos behind Jazz Is Dead,” says Younge via a statement. “He’s a luminary that has contributed so much to music culture, for decades. His musical ability is expanding with age and we’re honored to be a part of his world.” (In fact, Bartz's 1975 album The Shadow Do and his 1977 album Music Is My Sanctuary were produced by the Mizell Brothers, our DJ's Dad and Uncle!)  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dark Time Sunshine - "Familiars" from the 2021 album LORE on Fake Four Inc. Dark Time Sunshine combines the talents of Seattle's own Onry Ozzborn (of Grayskul and Oldominion) and Chicago producer Zavala. It's been nine years since their last album, ANX, but they return this month with Lore.  While the lyrics on the new album mostly reflect on trauma and recovery, today's Song of the Day looks at resilience. In a track-by-track with Flood Magazine, the duo describe the meaning behind today's Song of the Day, stating simply, "ignore the negative voices in your head, and outside of it." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.