Brown Sugar (2002) “I reminisced out the sentimental songs I enjoyed when I was a teenager…. I realized they were written in a language I did not yet speak.” Frank Ocean -Tumblr Letter (2012) There is no better way to capture the emotions and feelings of someone you care for with music. Always, I’ve struggled … Continue reading Sharing Music With Love
Top 25 Albums & Songs of 2022
Yes, it's that time of the year again. Music lists are a great organizer for learning what others have been listening to over the past year. In the first major year with pandemic-free restrictions, it has been great getting out there to see concerts, festivals, and DJ Sets with others. As the music industry has … Continue reading Top 25 Albums & Songs of 2022
Favorite Things 2022
Running list of music and music-adjacent things I came across this year. Channel 5 O Block Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPnQbKgotOw&ab_channel=Channel5withAndrewCallaghan Love Andrew Callaghan's videos with Channel 5 and formerly All Gas No Breaks. Sheads a differnet light on Chicago's O block formally know as Parkway Gardens when the rap subgenre drill music got its start with musicians … Continue reading Favorite Things 2022
‘Owbum’ to Maturity
Chance's newest album represents how artistic growth and creativity is a laborious and fraught process.
We are Going to ‘Make It Thru’: Fred Again & Danceable Introspection
Source DJ Mag “If you don’t know, don't worry.” “I have been lost for a while; but I’m really trying.” “Find someone that loves you for your weirdness, not someone who tries to make you normal.” There are times when I am late to the party in discovering an artist or band. I try to … Continue reading We are Going to ‘Make It Thru’: Fred Again & Danceable Introspection
Best Music: 2023
Sharing my favorite music from this year. Below is the shortlist. You can view the longer write-up here. Youtube & Spotify Playlists: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0k0MkdEllbjR9HaAeHKoypLjMeBRZl_q https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5YZZYtqsMa0i80MuAhXBij?si=99a9a70b912c4fc6 Best Songs 2023 Cleo Sol - Only Love Can Wait Zach Bryan - East Side of Sorrow Victoria Monet - Cadalliac (A Pimp’s Anthem) Navy Blue & Budgie - To Fall … Continue reading Best Music: 2023
Best Songs & Albums 2023
There are many ways one can define music from this year. Whether you attended major concerts such as Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Drake or Ed Sheeran, Lollapalooza, or local concerts, we are definitely in an era where the superfans have more say than the critics on deciding what gets played. This is not necessarily a bad … Continue reading Best Songs & Albums 2023
50 Years of Hip-Hop: Generations, Genres, and Life Lessons
Hip-Hop Artists and Songs Come and Go, but The Message always remains. (Image Source: Pitchfork) It’s a fool's errand to write in-depth about what hip-hop means to me over a span of 50 years. I could write about the prose and how hip-hop is used as a piece of social resistance in the US and … Continue reading 50 Years of Hip-Hop: Generations, Genres, and Life Lessons
Be Like Kurt Rambis
“What we have is much more then they can see.” - Jeffery Osborne/L.T.D. – Love Ballad The above quote is from a great 1970s soul song that I discovered in the twilight of my undergraduate life in the middle of the Illinois cornfields. This is a love song. The line above plays until the song … Continue reading Be Like Kurt Rambis
The Typecaster 