So my laptop got stolen for a minute. My bad.
Since I've been M.I.A. (no "Paper Planes") for a lil' while, I just wanna throw up a crazy nice collabo joint that you should prolly already have in your collection. If you aren't already a huge fan of one of the dudes on this track, then you don't like anybody. And I don't know about you, but I just really like this song.
XV - Mirror's Edge (Benzi Remix feat. Mike Posner, Bun B, & GLC)
... but do take my word for it.
Showing posts with label IJRLTS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IJRLTS. Show all posts
Monday, September 28, 2009
Runnin' on Walls
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Kwelity
Talib Kweli jumped on the Novel wagon super quick. And I'm crazy disappointed this man hasn't blown up in the public conscious since releasing stuff all the way back in 2002. Just goes to show you that life ain't fair ... cuz this man has more talent and vocal ability than Omarion, Mario, Mario Winans, Marques Houston, Jeremih, Lloyd, and Day 26 rolled into one nasally pop&blues act. But, regardless, I just really like this song. And it's produced by Dilla back when he was still around to hear the final product.
Talib Kweli - Stand to the Side (feat. Novel & Vinia Mojica)
... but do take my word for it.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Soundz of Spirit
One of my favorite and most rewarding things I've ever bought was this DVD I randomly found in a Wal-Mart or something called Soundz of Spirit. It was right when I was heavy getting into hip hop and pretty much all I knew was that Andre 3000 and Cee-Lo were my heroes. Now guess who two of the folks on the cover of this DVD are ...
This DVD was a documentary of the inspiration and creative process behind the music writing, poetry, and other forms of art by urban artists. And it may actually have been the initial seed that sprouted me into my full fledged writing. I certainly have nothing specific to directly reroute it to prior to when I watched this documentary the first three times. In addition to 3000 & Mr. Green, the film featured my first iteration I'd heard of KRS-One's infamous "MC vs. rapper" speech. I absolutely loved how he dissected it then, but the 27th song/sermon/interview where I heard him explain it is another story. Sprinkle in some absolutely gorgeous singing by the likes of Goapele, Hope Shorter, and Jennifer Johns along with all the mental hip hop exploration of emcees such as Common, Talib Kweli, Del, and the Nappy Roots crew and I had an hour full of defining soul moments.
Another amazing aspect of the DVD was that it came with a soundtrack that infused many new faces into my budding music collection. While even the little known Cee-Lo cut called "Beautiful Fool" would have made my heart content, I also was introduced to groups such as Dilated Peoples and Blackalicious. But just for the sake of this post, one of the heavy hitting tracks on this collection that I wanted to link up is Hope Shorter's "Rain Don't Last". It's simple and elegant and powerful and I just really like this song.
Hope Shorter - Rain Don't Last
... but do take my word for it.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
We Run This
I know I'm like a week late on this joint, but I just gotta say that if I'm ever stranded on a desert island without my iPod, this is the type of song that I wanna hear on the sandy radio provided to me.
Obviously, this song was intended to be single material. But it's respectable, though. And that's rare. While Jay almost comes off sounding a lil' uninspired, he still kills it with that trademark Hova presence that has built his legendary persona over the years. Rihanna's voice is perpetually boring, but I've gotten used to it. If you've put up with "S.O.S." or "Shut Up and Drive" or "Don't Stop the Music" over all these years, then you can definitely manage this one. It's very anthemic. And then there's the Kanye factor. Production-wise, he pulls the same trick that he did for the Twista track "Alright" and throws down a choppy super-repetitive and dull vocal loop. Yet, somehow, it comes off catchy and not the least bit as annoying as it should be given the adjectives I just used to describe it. The icing on the cake is how hard Kanye lays down his verse. The man has straight been on a hip hop mission since 808s dropped. I keep saying it over and over again. He musta got pissed that someone called him soft for singing a bunch of autotuned R&B joints, so then he came back with like 25 of his old school (un)writtens to kick those accusing hip hop heads down a notch. I just really like this song. And I hope it runs as a radio staple til the rest of Blueprint 3 drops. But only if I can't have my iPod plugged up, of course.
Bonuses -
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Pretty Wangs
So I gotta say I have no idea who Maxwell is. But I love the one song I've heard from him. Guess I'm not as up on '90s R&B as I should be. Should I be up on '90s R&B?
Obviously I should be if his old stuff sounded like this. The songwriting touches my soul on some whole other level. Like to the HNL (for my madTV-ers). It's really weird, but from this song alone he's leapfrogged all the other R&B dudes out right now for me. His voice does everything on this song over disgusting gorgeous love production. This music is love. That's the only way I can describe it. Man. I've been waiting for this song my whole life and I still don't even know who this dude is. I even made a beat off of this song this morning. Prolly a III: Laptopical track to-be.
I just really like this song.
Maxwell - Pretty Wings
... put 'em both together and you got yourself a super spork.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
If You Catch Me Dreaming ...
Anthony Hamilton has always been the master of heavy-hearted tracks that really connect. His voice is perfectly suited for the soft power needed to emotionally hit the soul. Whenever I'm straight down on anything in my life, I tend to pull his name up on the iTunes. May sound corny, but I swear I do. I just really like this song.
This letter to the only One who knows what's actually going on absolutely moves me like something else. I could listen to the piano on this track looped forever. It's that nice. Then there's just perfectly placed accentuations with rain-like injections, off-branching melodies, tambourine jingles, and drum pattern changes. And then the choir comes in? Man!
I really need that song after pulling a 60 on my second Chem II test. I mean, like, that combined with UK losing to GEORGIA yesterday ... please hide all medication from me for a little while. I ain't quite on a roll as of late. But Mr. Hamilton serves as a pleasant whisper in the moment that I want to scream at the top of my lungs.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Exxx-Girlfriends
Straight dirty, so don't download if you have sensitive ears, but I just really like this song.
This beat is something I'd kill to have. The gentle acoustics come off so hauntingly awesome. Joey dominates the chorus, though. Not sure if I could one up that. I really like the 9 or so songs I've heard from Padded Room, but it, as all albums (I digress), has gotten terrible reviews by heads as a 6 year late sophomore effort. But it got great reviews by mainstream mediums that only hit audiences who wouldn't buy a Budden album anyways. I'm definitely gonna cop it at some point, though, when we cross paths.
What could never get a negative nod is if a Slaughterhouse record actually pops up at some point. That would be a straight miracle.
Lumberjacks
The lost child of the Dungeon Family collective to me is the Livin' Life as Lumberjacks album. Not sure if it was just my copy, but the album had one of those queer copyright imbed codes on it to where you couldn't even play the CD on anything that wasn't strictly a CD player. That meant no copying to your iPod or even registering on a computer at all. Needless to say, the Khujo & T-Mo half of Goodie Mob effort wasn't the most successful from the DF.
But it still has some definite gems on it. Unfortunately at its release, Cee-Lo was completely out of the picture, OutKast was on hiatus, and Big Rube was poetically missing. Witchdoctor and Gipp lent some assistance, but the Lumberjacks themselves carried the bulk of the album. And that means aggressive choruses over some straight Dirty South production and lots of history and fightin' words. You'll definitely come out with some knowledge. My favorite incarnation was the more laid-back "Superfriends", a 3-piece Goodie joint with a really nice vibe. The rest of the album's still got quality, but this lane-changer really stood out to me in that ... I just really like this song.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Liiiiiiiifetiiime
Off the much-maligned, oft-ignored, and conspicuously-packaged True Magic. I just really like this song.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Blank
I've been dookie on updating this since I've gotten home for the semester. Truth be told it's cuz I was sleeping. And watching the Lakers send the Celtics into a dismal spurt. Hahahaha. Been waiting since June for that one.
But I can make it better.
Today [January 1, 2009] will be my day of music making. For all intensive purposes, I'm spending the entire day over at Shtee's house and we're making clash-of-the-musically-inclined-minds "compos". (c) brandUn DeShay
Everybody's been so cool to me when they hear about the lil' deal, and that's prolly given me more motivation to make the best collection of sound I can over the next two months. I want every millisecond of these songs to be a hundred times better than anything on any of my mixtapes. I want to be able to listen to my own stuff for the first time because I'm funneling it from God instead of me, and I'm very willing to listen to Him. I don't wanna disappoint me or my A&R or anybody who would actually get hyped at the potential of hearing me on wax. I've always had my words, and now I just gotta find brand new beats for them to nestle into.
Shout outs to brandUn DeShay, Charlie Hilton, Praverb, and other open-minded and well-intended musicians. You all make yourselves better every day as well as the people around you. And, not to ruin one of my inevitable 2008 lists, thanks to Charles Hamilton who achieved becoming my favorite rapper this last year. Kind of a big deal.
I just really like this song. It's my corny "ring in the new year" song I decided to choose as I rolled through my 17,423 iTunes songs.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
On Another Tip
While I just got all my emotional BS off my chest over on my decrepit MySpace blog, here's where you can always find unconditional love. Everybody says music if their life, but music is my wife. It's no I Used to Love H.E.R., it's an I Renew My Vows Every Single Day cuz Women Pale in Comparison to the Real Love that Music Gives. I think the second one might actually as a song title ...
So for the people that don't know, I signed an indie deal with Deka Records recently. So I gotta make some real stuff. Of course I'll keep pushing all my free music out, but now I'mma have to put together an all-original collection that's gonna be up for sale. And yeah, there will prolly be a girl song on there, but I could pretty much not care any less about them at the moment. Is it weird that I currently only care about music, UK basketball home games, and the Lakers? And I mean like only. Forget everything else.
Look out for my top albums of the year list once New Years comes a'runnin' around. But until then, I just really like this song. Even though it connotatively means absolutely nothing to me. Ha. And there emerges my inner love atheist. But these two girls have amazing voices that somehow blend perfect in this fake-made duet.
Buy my album when it comes out or I might just stare at you weird for the rest of your life. And that's a threat and a promise.
Monday, December 8, 2008
I Just Really Like This Song
So this is my new lil' series I'll be doing when I ain't got nothing else to write at the moment. If you don't ever cop any other tracks I post, which you completely should for the betterment of your life, make sure and get these. It's not that these are all-time pivotal tracks in the development of hip hop as we know it. I just really like this song.
This is one of those chill up your spine songs. I don't know what it samples over Ne-Yo's singing, but it makes me look forward to my wedding if that's in the cards. You know I worry 'bout that already on the daily.
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