Michael Jackson

I thought I'd have a lot to say considering how his music dominated the airwaves throughout the decades, but the only thought I can muster is that I feel really sorry for the guy. Otherwise, his music (that includes the music he recorded with the Jackson 5), will never get old or outdated.

Instead of throwing the MJ5 favorites out there, I decided to share his music as it was flipped for some memorable Hip Hop cuts:

Nas: "It Ain't Hard To Tell"
De La Soul: "Breakadawn"
LL Cool J: "Hey Lover"
Pete Rock & CL Smooth: "Appreciate"
Ghostface: "All That I Got Is You"
Rhymefest: "Dancin' Machine"
Naughty By Nature: "OPP"
Kanye West: "Good Life"

Gimme Summer Dat

Songs for the summer heat.

The Beach Boys-"God Only Knows": You know The Beach Boys are synonymous with summer. It's probably not the song from their catalog that someone might expect to put on a summer mixtape but this tune is the breeziest to me.

The Gap Band-"Outstanding": I'm an 80's product, shaped and molded by the music of that era. The Gap Band's "Outstanding" always held down my summers and I never tire of it. Classical summer soul. And as a bonus, Matthew Africa liberates "I Found My Baby" to throw on at your BBQ this season.

Ibrahim Ferrer-"Bruca Manigua": There's no other voice like his on this planet and this tune is a perfect summer sizzler, complete with groovy percussion, horns, violin, and background vocals. Ae!
Bonus: You have to see a live performance to really appreciate Ibrahim Ferrer's vocals.



Brother Ali-"Real As Can Be" and "Begin Here" instrumentals: Not that Brother Ali's presence on these tracks is bad. It's just that the tracks (produced by Ant) are simply two of the best produced tracks I've heard so far this year-the smoothest shit I've heard in a while.

Ghostface-"Forever": Ghost lamenting over something soulful trying to get her to understand. Summer's definitely here folks.

Krumbsnatcha-"Yesterday": What is summer without songs that reminisce and conjure memories of the good 'ol days. The meloncholy track is produced by Pete Rock and fits snug with Krumb's theme. I'm really digging the hook PR has strewn in there.

Red & Meth

Truthfully, my expectations came in low for "The Blackout 2". Not that I wasn't looking out for Redman and Method Man material. Sequels seldom hit the mark, especially in Hip-Hop music. "Blackout 2" has probably 2 really strong tracks that I'd take with me and the lead single "Ay Yo", produced by Pete Rock, is one of them. The other, "Dangerous MC's" produced by Erick Sermon, is the other. Lyrically, Red and Meth are always going to impress. It's the scattered and anemic production that makes this album such a wash.

I forgot to mention the Cookin Soul Remix of "Dangerous MCs" is RIDICULOUSLY good.

Check Your Heads

The Beastie Boys were on Jimmy Fallon last night. His show airs way too late for me to check but here's their performance of "So Whatcha Want", backed by the incomparable Roots crew.

M-Def The Flavorous

Mos Def - "Casa Bey" - The Ecstatic - 6.9.09

What record is that!?

...anyone?

Noisemakers

Peter Rosenberg chops it up with Q-Tip. Q-Tip's Busta Rhymes impression is priceless.

In this segment, Q-Tip talks about Dilla. The sad thing is when you think about the potential of the Ummah and what we will never get to hear because of Dilla's passing. Everbody lights up whenever they have a J-Dilla story to tell...