Day 14 - A Song That Reminds You Of Your Girlfriend (25 Songs in 25 Days)

Algebra “At This Time”

Quiet simply, it’s the greatest love song you’ve never heard.

“My arms brag to each other about how you feel…..”

“Forgive me if my hunger conflicts what you need/ I pray for moments you would only be consumed by me/ Often times, we receive and then regret/ I havent had a reason to yet…”

“Who really cares what others may say?/ They probably missed the chance on feeling this way/ about love and what I know is true/ Give them time and it can happen to them too/ The deepest feeling that you’ve ever known/ The greatest passion that’s ever been shown/ A flame that flickers and never leaves you alone…“

Maaaaaan listen…..!

Day 13 - A Song That Reminds You Of A Former Friend (25 Songs in 25 Days)

I’mma cheat for this. 2 songs came to mind and I couldn’t decide which. Sometimes friends fall off for whatever reason. Sometimes it’s for a season, and sometimes the shit is forever. But alas, I the eternal optimist, am always hopeful so here goes nothing.

Phyllis Hyman “Old Friend”

“Old friend it’s so nice to feel you hold me again/ No, it doesn’t matter where you have been/ My heart welcomes you back home again”

De La Soul “Trying People”

“We were supposed to rid the world of danger/ These days we nod heads and small talk like polite strangers/ It’s natural to fall off/ Just land close to the tree/ I’ll be there if they need me to be…”

Day 12 - The Last Song You Heard (25 Songs in 25 Days)

Taylor Dayne “I’ll Always Love You”

People sleep on Taylor when the “Blue Eyed Soul” conversation comes up. I guess because she’s mostly known for her Pop/Dance stuff, but when you get past that and hone in on the voice…….? This was her only song to chart on the R&B charts I think but she still had some joints I could get with. This is another one that takes me back to being like 10 and sitting around listening to The Quiet Storm at night. My brother usta hate me for that lol.

Day 11 - A Song On The Soundtrack Of Your Favorite Movie (25 Songs in 25 Days)

Duke Ellington & John Coltrane “In A Sentimental Mood”

This movie. This soundtrack. This song. Need I go on?

Day 10 - A Song By Your Favorite Band (25 Songs in 25 Days)

The Roots Feat. Wadud Ahmad “False Media”

I was kinda torn here. At first I thought of going with a song by Mint Condition or Klymaxx for this one. But then I figured I’d go with the band that had the most music in my itunes and so we have The Roots. I listen to them more than any other band (as in a group of people that play instruments and shit) so it seems I went in a huge circle just to end up where I started. Anyways “False Media” is the first song on my favorite Roots album, “Game Theory”. The song is dark. Hell the album is dark and gritty for that matter. But this song is the perfect opener for such an album. It’s defiant. It’s hard-hitting. It’s in your face and you cant deny it. Listen as Black Thought starts rapping from the perspective of a man with nothing to lose, then as a soldier fighting in a war of which he knows not the origin of, and finally as Big Brother. Shit is dope. Take a listen. I gotta warn you though….it’ll make you wanna overthrow the government.

Day 9 - A Song That Makes You Hopeful (25 Songs in 25 Days)

Sweetback Feat. Amel Larrieux “You Will Rise”

Amel’s voice = Honey. The lyrics : “You will rise/ The limit is the sky/ Dontcha let nobody fill your head up with their lies…”. So on those days when you find yourself questioning yourself, play this song. It’ll take you there every single time. By the way this song is totally interchangeable with Day 3’s ‘Song That Calms You Down’.

PS. I almost used India. Arie’s “There’s Hope” for this one….for obvious reasons.

Day 8 - A Song That Reminds You Of Your First Love (25 Songs in 25 Days)

Hi-Five “I Like The Way (The Kissing Game)”

“And when we’re alone/ I know we’re in love/ ‘cause I cant get enough…..” The funny thing about Puppy Love is you can’t tell the lil pups that they aren’t really in love. And who’s to say they aren’t? Almost all of the emotions of love are there, if only on a smaller scale. Hell, if anything, the love at that age is even more pure because it’s unpolluted. Anyways whenever I hear this song it instantly takes me back to 1991 and being crazy about Dana. I can still hear my brother teasing me now.

Day 7 - A Song That Reminds You Of The Past Summer (25 Songs in 25 Days)

Lalah Hathaway ”Breathe”

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Last summer was a muthafucka for me. Plain and simple. I’d been unceremoniously fired from my cushy hotel concierge job of the last 7 yrs and I had little to no savings. I’d just started subletting a friends place and unemployment was taking FOREVER to come through. Bill collectors were on my ass. I had NO income for 2 months. It was all too much I say! *exhale* So yeah last summer was a bit stressful but this song kept me sane. In hindsight, me getting fired was the best thing for me because Lord knows I was ret ta go but sometimes when the money is good it’s hard to walk away. I’m working for myself now and happy. I wouldnt have been able to be here if it werent for last summer……and this song.

Day 6 - A Song That Reminds You Of A Best Friend (25 Songs in 25 Days)

Stevie Wonder “Think Of Me As Your Soldier”

I dont have ONE best friend. Lucky me, I have a handful of them! Shout out to (BA, Dave, Dot, Meta and Jones) I also count my lovely (former) Johnson girls amongst them too. So I cant remember if Lori dedicated this to Lesley or vice versa but I do know I love how Lesley and Lori love each other. And I do know that I’m horribly pro- anything Stevland. And I also know that this song being dedicated to a friend or a loved one is lovely declarative statement. Winefest is on deck. See you soon ladies!

Day 5 - A Song That Is Often Stuck In Your Head (25 Songs in 25 Days)

V.V. Brown “Shark In The Water”

There are a million catchy songs that periodically get stuck in my head. This one I suppose is the latest and greatest. I must give a special shoutout to my dear friend @Chickenb00 b/c she corrected me when she caught me singing “Baby there’s a snake in the garden!!” (which by the way is totally interchangeable and totally works). Then we got silly with it and made up stuff like “Baby there’s a snark in the warden…!”. Anywaydoe, if you’ve never heard it, make space in your head and youtube it….because you will sing it without warning.

Day 4 - A Song That Calms You Down (25 Songs in 25 Days)

The Winans Feat. Anita Baker “Aint No Need To Worry”

Maaaaan listen. These here words? “Aint no need to worry/ What the night is gonna bring/ It’ll be all over in the morning“…. I mean, really! What else needs to be said? And then at the very end when Anita goes Penecostal on yall…. “Everyday’s a new day/ Yesterday is dead and gone/ Just take yourself home/ and just carry yourself on/ Sun’s gonna shine on your face/ Make you feel like/ like you can run this race/ and you can be the winner/ Take the prize and go home…”. I’m pretty sure she was testifying in that recording booth because they surely had to fade her vocals out to end the song.

Day 3 - A Song That Reminds You Of One Or Both Of Your Parents (25 Songs in 25 Days)

George Benson "Turn Your Love Around"

This song reminds me of my mom. I remember her playing this a lot around the crib as a kid. I think this was possibly one of her Saturday morning clean up songs. Also it reminds me of her because I stole her Best of George Benson CD with this on it. I have it to this day as a of matter of fact. It still has a sticker with her name on it too. All is fair in Love, War, and Music Collections I suppose. *insert evil laugh*

25 Songs, 25 Days. Day 2 - A Song That Reminds You Of Your Ex

Lalah Hathaway “Forever, For Always, For Love”

Imagine breaking up with someone and the for the most part, the break-up being mostly your fault. Now imagine THIS song seemingly following you around everywhere you go and weighing you down like an 80 lb monkey on your back. Turn on the radio…it’s there! Turn on the digital music channel…it’s there! Shuffle your damn ipod…it’s there! Today, I can count this song amongst my favorites. But round about the first half of 2005?….WHOOOOOOOOO! It was ROUGH I tell you.

25 Songs, 25 Days. Day 1 - A Song From Your Childhood

Prince & The Revolution “Darling Nikki”

I begged and pleaded for the “Purple Rain” album as a 7 yr old. My mom finally relented and gave it to me for Christmas BUT I was expressly forbidden from listening to ‘Track 5’. So of course the very first moment that I could, I snuck and listened to it. I just remember sitting there with a dumbstruck look on my face like “WTF does ‘masturbating with a magazine’ mean!??!!?”

25 Songs, 25 Days

I'm going in!!!!!!

Revolution Now (A Haiku) (4/10)

Mau Mau or Drop Squad.
Pick one. I'm thinking it's time.
Revolution now.

10 Random Songs 3/4/11 (3/10)

You know what this is. I put it on "shuffle" and wrote about the first 10 songs that come up. Like to hear it? Here it go!

N.W.A. "Something Like That"
Yes they were ground-breakingly hardcore, but they were still Hip-Hop. This song is a perfect example. Dre and Ren going back and forth (and in unison!) on some ol braggadocio Run-DMC shit. I think the track coulda did without the train horn thingy but how I look telling Dr. Dre how to make beats?

Emily King "Alright"
If you're not in the know, Emily King is a singer/songwriter chick from NY. She released an album in '07 called "East Side Story" with a track that you might recoginze called "Walk In My Shoes". The remix had Lupe Fiasco on it. Anyways I've always dug singer/songwriters. Something about singing your own songs always translates to me as being more honest and soulful. This particular track is about having a shitty day, but persevering through it all. This whole album is dope.

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers "Warm-up Dialogue Between Lee & Rudy"
This is the intro to the re-issused 1958 Art Blakey album called "Moanin'". I think Lee and Rudy are members of "The Messengers". Whatever the case I guess Art liked the dialogue enough to keep it in the vaults lol. The thing about this album that always sticks out to me is how hard Blakey was going on the drums. He was like Questlove before Questlove was born! If you dig jazz this is a must have.

Rich Boy "Boy Looka Here"
I may not be able to understand every single word because of that thick Alabama accent, but Rich Boy puts his words together better than most give him credit for. I ain't accusing him of being anyone's lyricist of the year, but if you listen hard enough he says some clever shit. With that said, this song is all about the track. Straight southern marching band shit guaranteed to get you crunk whenever you hear it. Plus the chorus lends itself perfectly to having to tell someone the fuck off. "Boy Looka Here....!"

DeBarge "Rhythm Of The Night"
"Rhythm Of The Night" came out in 1985. I don't think it was until 1986 that I realized that El was a man but that's neither here nor there. I remember literally hoping that they would play this on "Friday Night Videos" every single Friday. Yall remember that show? Anyways this shit went hard. You couldn't not dance if you wanted to when this came on. Plus this was like the first real hit for the songwriter Goddess Diane Warren.

Kanye West "Can't Tell Me Nothing"
Defiant! That's the first word that comes to mind when I think of this song. This definitely goes on my "Leave Me The Fuck Alone" playlist. This was one of the first Non-Young Jeezy songs to use Jeezy's signature ad-libs (with his permission) before urban music literally ran a train on said ad-libs for the next 2 years. If there were ONE thing I'd change about this song is that 'Ye ends the 2nd verse with "Let me know if it's a problem then/ Aight man....HOLLA then!", which woulda been the PERFECT way to end the song. That shit shoulda been at the end of the 3rd verse!

Michael Jackson "We're Almost There"
From his 1975 solo album "Forever, Michael". I can't remember when I discovered this song. I think it was shortly before he passed. I do remember playing it on our tribute edition of "Superior Radio". Anyways I'm guessing it was written and sung from the perspective of a guy to a girl like "Don't give up on our relationship" but it can still be an inspirational song. His voice was still maturing on this one. Definitely not the bubblegum sound from "I Want You Back", but noooooot quite the grown up Michael voice we know and love from "Off The Wall" and on. Before Mike even breathes on the track, you cant tell me the arrangement doesn't feel like you're on a magic carpet ride. Shit is lush, yo! Shout out to Rae, Ghost & Meth for sampling this on "Our Dreams"

Mary J. Blige Feat. K-Ci Hailey "Not Looking"
Everyone knows the history with these two, right? Everyone knows how the heartbreak of this relationship fueled Mary's "My Life" album, no? Okay so it came as a HUGE surprise to all those that knew when Mary agreed to do a duet with K-Ci on her 1999 album "Mary". In my personal opinion, Mary only agreed to do this song so she could tell him the fuck off in public under the guise of music. Dont believe me? LISTEN to Mary's verses. Actually fuck the verses. Skip to the last minute of the song and listen to Mary's ADLIBS....you know the shit that WASN'T written down? Yeah, case closed.

Whitney Houston "One Of Those Days"
Clearly post -"Show me the receipts!" Whitney will never come close to pre-"SMTR!" Whitney, but I really fucking loved this song. This was her 2002 comeback song that no one really paid attention to but it knocked to me. This shit feels like springtime to me. And we can all relate to the subject matter of needing to take a day and get away. Plus the Isley Bros. sample was a nice touch I think. If you're not familiar, I encourage you to youtube it. You'll prolly dig it too.

Carole King "I Feel The Earth Move"
One of my fave classic singer/songwriter chicks from the 70's. This is the very first song on King's MONSTER album "Tapestry". I love this whole album. When the song starts with the piano riffs you get lost in it, and then she starts singing, and you sing along, but you forget that it's actually a hardcore love song. Sure must be nice to have someone make you feel like this I imagine. FYI "Tapestry" is one of the more popular albums in the history of recorded music, so if you call yourself a music fan you kinda need this in your collection to validate such a claim. I'm just saying.

Might Be (2/10)

And talk about unlikely
You like me despite me
I didn't think it likely
nor consider that one day we might be
fine tuning this thing in the right key
'Cause what tends to be is
people often hold on too tightly
and turn a beautiful thing
into something unsightly
But not we
though we might be slightly OC
in that this thing came to be so quickly
But did I mention
that we defy conventional convention
and our ship stays its course
daily and nightly
Given by the law of nature
we have a right to be, rightly
and bask in the glow of all the things
that this here situation might be
Including love.

Wants And Needs (A Haiku) 1/10

Wants and needs differ
I am back in the workforce
This is some bullshit

10 Random Songs

Totally stole this concept from the homie J. Moore (who prolly lifted it from someone else), but hey...nothing is new under the sun, right? The trick is adding a twist to make it fresh and all your own, ya dig?

The whole thing is pretty simplisitc. Take your ipod/itunes/mp3 player put it on random and write about the first 10 songs that pop up. Got it? Good. Here we go.....

Andy D "Party Werewolf (I Need A Freak)"

Honestly I dont know much about this. A couple of weeks ago I was at my dear friend Lesley's house and I uploaded as much of her cd collection as I could find. She told me I needed this album. I havent really gotten a chance to absorb this album yet, but I trust Les' ear. Im sure it's dope.

Lauryn Hill "No More Trouble" (Live In Tokyo) (Unreleased)

We all know how much Lauryn digs them Marleys. This is a cover of a (possibly) lesser known gem from the late great Bob Marley live in Tokyo. From the classic J.Period Presents....Best Of Lauryn Hill Mixtape (you can find it online for FREE.99!)

Jay-Z "Bitches & Sisters"

On this one here Jay comically "breaks down" the difference between a bitch and a sister. With examples such as "Sisters hold you down/ Bitches hold you up/ Sisters help you progress/ Bitches'll slow you up". I'm still not sure if this song was suppose to be a serious or not.

New Edition "Re-Write The Memories"

I stil aint forgave Puffy for fucking NE over on their "One Love" album. This was classic NE balladry here produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. This had 'single and video' written all over it and Puff didnt even want it on their album. He cut off the album budget before they got this and wouldnt allow it. They had to buy this song out of their own pockets. Youtube this one. If you're a NE fan, you wont be disappointed.

Nikki Giovanni "Africa II"

If you know anything about me, then you know you cant say NOTHING bad about Nikki around me!! This is off her album called "Like A Ripple On A Pond". This piece is about her tour of a Cape Coast Castle in Ghana over a track that sonically sounds like a Gamble & Huff production from '76 or shit. Extremely dope, but then again I am biased towards anything having to do with Nikki.

Prince & The New Power Generation "Gett Off"

"24 positions in a one night stand...". Everytime I think of this track that's the one part that comes to mind because who the fuck counts the number of positions? Anyways this shit was funky! This song is a testament to the fact that only Prince can get away with certain shit. Who else could say "move your big ass 'round this way so I can work on that zipper, baby" and make it work?

Eve Feat. Gwen Stefani "Let Me Blow Ya Mind"

Hypnotic track provided by one Andre Young + Non-threatening yet average lyrics + Stefani on the hook = Pop Chart Winner. Eve was on a roll by time this joint dropped. Plus all the MTV love she got back when they still played videos didnt hurt. She's always been an average lyricst to me but her delivery is rough. This track still wins though.

Jully Black "You Changed"

I've always liked this track off the Brown Sugar soundtrack. Jully and I have the exact same birthdate (11/8/77) so you KNOW she's dope! Seriously though, Jully is mad slept on. If you've never heard of her google/youtube/amazon her. She has like 5 albums. You wont be disappointed.

Ani DiFranco "Pixie"

Ani DiFranco fucking rocks! She is one of the most profilic singer-songwriters of last 20 years and if you aren't familiar please catch up! The thing I dig about Ani is she tells stories in her songs. Just random stories about everyday life, everyday people and everyday situations. Like on "Pixie" she sings "The man behind the counter looks like he's got a half dozen places he'd rather be/ And furthermore it looks like he's prepared to take it all out on me/ Buddy I dont really care what your problem is, just dont make it mine/ Come on kids, let's all hold hands and pretend we're having a good time".

Destiny's Child "Happy Face"

I'm not ashamed to speak on my affinity for this song. It's hella fast and if you dance to it you'll be winded as hell (....so I've heard). The thing I dig most about this song are the lyrics. It's basic life knowledge that we all need to keep in mind while trudging along life's journey. Google the lyrics and see if you dont agree. And for the record I've never danced to this song outside the confines of my own home and you cant prove otherwise!

I like this. I think I'll make this a weekly thing.

I Swear I Love My Blog But......

....."Having an active blog means giving a fuck on a consistent basis. I salute all who are capable." - @DiggsWayne

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd that about sums it up. Clearly I have stopped caring enough to update this thing. But I dont wanna say I'm done with it. I'm pretty sure I wont delete it or anything like that, but ummmmm yeah.

Anyone seen my blogging mojo because I cant find that bitch. Did my tumblr take it away? Things that make you go 'Hmmmmm?'

In any event, welcome to 2011. I'll be back soon.......I think.