Helluva Year

 

I was just sitting and thinking, "what would be a good song to wrap up the year?" What song could portray a good year?

"Helluva Year" by Emilio Rojas came to mind. The chorus states, "I'm just having one helluva year," but for the sake of this post I'll look back on 2010. It was a great year for me I made a lot of connections and saw new doors and opportunities open up. For 2011, let's be positive and focus on what we have to do. Leave the negativity and BS behind.

It was a pleasure sharing music and interacting with everybody who read this blog in 2010. Keep reading and commenting and have a Happy New Year!

Here But I'm Gone

"Here But I'm Gone" is a soulful song. It was one the final songs recorded by Curtis Mayfield before his death in December 1999. The song starts off with a hypnotizing snare kick which leads into Mayfield's solemn lyrics. Take a listen.


Fun fact: This was produced by Organized Noize

Be

The "Be (Intro)" from Common's Be album ranks near the top of my favorite intros of all time. I played the double bass for a couple years in elementary school, so hearing the play of the acoustic bass by Derrick Hodge really drew me into the song the first time I heard it. James Poyser on the keys and J Dilla's sample of "Mother Nature" by Albert Jones really makes this one of the best intros of the last decade.

prod. by J Dilla

No Wheaties

K.R.I.T. Wuz Here has stood the test of time. 7 months in an time when another album/mixtape is at a click of a button is an eternity, for me at least. "No Wheaties" was on one of those DASH mixtapes I posted earlier in the year and for some reason I constantly overlooked the song. It randomly popped up in my music library one day and I haven't stopped listening since. K.R.I.T. utilizes Billy Cobham's "Heather" in "No Wheaties," the same sample from Souls of Mischief "93 til Infinity." "Heather" is a nearly nine minute journey of  dreamy jazz sounds, so I didn't realize it until K.R.I.T. pointed it out on Before There Wuz Here. The song features Curren$y and Smoke DZA who complement K.R.I.T. nicely on the track and add to the laid back, "smoky" feel of the song.

Back To The D.E.C.

 

 I chose to come to North Carolina for college in 2008. I had enough of being in Atlanta for the first 18 years of my life. I was ready for a change, a new state, new city, new people, new everything. I have made a lot of connections and significant strides since my move, but as the saying goes "there's no place like home." I haven't been to Georgia in six months and it's time to go home for few weeks.. With the the Winter Break only a few hours away I get to go home and enjoy some home cooking, R & R, and some time to chill with family and friends. It ain't nothing like that red clay! "Back to the D.E.C."* is a track off of Aleon Craft's The Prologue Pt. 1, it features fellow East Atlanta native Playboy Tre. Everything about this song reminds me of home: Craft naming the streets and all the car references to Tre professing his love for Decatur. I'm coming home!

*also check out the remix on The Stargazing Soundtrack, which I posted yesterday

6 Mixtapes from 2010: That I Didn't Post (But You Should Listen To)

My apologies for the long winded title. I couldn't think of anything shorter so I went with the Cracked-like title.

It's been a long year and I've posted a lot of mixtapes. Starting with Trunk Muzik on January 1 all the way up to Jet Audio's Stand Alone Complex that I posted a couple weeks ago. There were a lot of mixtapes that I listened to that I didn't post, but I feel like you should hear. Check them out after the jump.

Break Em Down

 
I just finished listening to Young Chris' "The Re-Introduction" mixtape. It's a new sound for him and it doesn't sound bad at all. Young C recently signed with Rico Love and his Division 1 imprint. Rico Love is the writer of Diddy/Dirty Money's "Hello Good Morning and Grammy winning producer for his work on Beyonce's Sasha Fierce album. Just by checking out his track record you can see Rico Love knows the formula to success. While you might not hear the usual Philly sound from Young C the hook up seems like it's a good move.

Check out "Break Em Down," guaranteed to commit assault on any unassuaming car sound system. I know this will have my factory speakers rattling horribly.

I Just Gotta Be Me

"Gotta Be Me" is the title track off of Devin the Dude's most recent album. I wasn't really impressed with the album, it seems as if it was released just to be released. Suite 4:20 wasn't really interesting to me either, hopefully Devin gets it right on the the next album. "Gotta Be Me" samples "Free" by Deniece Williams.

Devin the Dude- Gotta Be Me