Quick note - This is a little later than I anticipated putting this together, but I had a friend come into town last week unexpectedly, so this piece got bumped a bit.
For the fourth consecutive year, I put together two different mix CD's just before the holidays to mail to some good friends, and also for myself. The idea behind them is to put together mixes that give the best representation of the year possible, according to my tastes. They also serve as my version of a "best of the year" list. One of the mixes is the Underground Mix, and is made up almost entirely of underground hip-hop songs. Once in awhile, one of them will blow up and become a big hit. The best example of that is in 2007, when I included M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" two months before it showed up in the trailer for Pineapple Express. At the end of the underground mix, I add a bonus holiday song or two. While I send this mix to everyone, I make it mostly for myself. I only know a couple of people who like underground hip-hop as much as I do. Most people like the second mix better. It's what I call the "Aboveground Mix." As in, the exact opposite of the Underground Mix. Whereas with the Underground Mix I look to include songs that were not chart toppers at all, the Aboveground Mix has evolved to become a mix that only includes songs that charted on the Billboard Hot 100, or a like-list if the song is British or Hispanic, etc. In this way they really become a good representation of the year in music, and while I started the mixes on a whim, now I spend a ton of time on them each year and try to do the best job I can. Outside of this basic framework, I have some simple guidelines:
1. Make sure the songs flow together. At this point in time, I realize most people I send these to are just uploading them into iTunes and don't listen to them in the order I lay them out in the CD, but some people, including myself, listen to them in their car, so I want to make sure that the CD flows properly.
2. Don't go too heavy on more than one-two artists. I like spreading the love around and giving a broad mix, but sometimes one or two (or three) people just have an outstanding year and deserve that recognition.
3. Try to lead off with a bang. I like to try and work in up-tempo songs at the start of each mix and get people in the groove early. I guess that's just the DJ in me, I'm always trying to get the party started! If I don't lead off with a bang, I try to start with a statement/tribute song.
4. On the underground mix, I try to find as obscure songs as I possibly can.
5. All of the songs had to be released for sale during 2009. I'm kind of a stickler about that, and end up leaving some songs off as a result. One example from this year would be Lady GaGa's "Just Dance," which was very popular in 2009 but was actually released in 2008.
The first three guidelines are guidelines that I try to use with any mix I make, and I make a lot of mix CD's, but they are heightened for the holiday mixes.
For the 2009 Aboveground Mix, I knew right off the bat that I was going to lead off with a Michael Jackson song. He was/is my favorite artist of all-time, and I thought that would be a nice tribute. Overall though, the Aboveground Mix was a bit tougher this year because of the presence of the Black Eyed Peas. Anyone that knows my music tastes know that I can't stand the Black Eyed Peas because of how callously and shallowly they transformed themselves. When people talk about selling out, they can look to the Black Eyed Peas as the textbook definition. And since they had the number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 for 26 straight weeks from April 18 to October 10, I had to work a little harder to find songs I liked. Here's the lineup, with Hot 100 rankings as of early December when I made the mix:
1. Michael Jackson and The Jacksons - This Is It (N/A)
2. Lady GaGa - Bad Romance - (9)
3. La Roux - Bulletproof (UK Singles Chart: 1)
4. Ke$ha - TiK ToK (10)
5. Jay-Z - Run This Town f/ Kanye West & Rihanna (2)
6. Kid Cudi - Day 'n' Nite (3)
7. Alicia Keys - Doesn't Mean Anything (60)
8. Lily Allen - The Fear (80)
9. Mariah Carey - Obsessed (7)
10. Kelly Clarkson - I Do Not Hook Up (20)
11. Don Omar - Virtual Diva (U.S. Billboard Hot Latin Songs: 10)
12. Eminem - Crack A Bottle f/ Dr. Dre & 50 Cent (1)
13. Miley Cyrus - Party In The USA (2)
14. Rihanna - Russian Roulette (9)
15. Shakira - She Wolf (11)
16. Keri Hilson - Knock You Down f/ Kanye West & Ne-Yo (3)
17. Drake - Best I Ever Had (2)
18. The Fray - You Found Me (7)
19. Jay-Z & Alicia Keys - Empire State of Mind (1)
I started with more of a statement/tribute than starting with the bang. When the King of Pop passes away, it's really the right thing to do. The song itself didn't chart on the Hot 100, but the album hit #1 the first week it was out, and since it's MJ, I made the exception. I "started" with a bang on track two. Not only does this song pop the top off the adrenaline lid, but Lady GaGa is definitely in that Michael Jackson/Madonna mode of the outlandish pop star from who we have come to expect the unexpected, and it seemed only fitting that she would follow Michael. And while "Paparazzi" may have shown the artistic side to Lady GaGa and proved she was a serious artist, I'll be honest - I just want to dance. Along with GaGa, there were several other newcomers who made the cut - La Roux, Ke$ha, Kid Cudi, Keri Hilson and Drake. They combined with mainstays like Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey, Shakira and Rihanna to make a delicious mix. You may notice that I have the tendency to favor songs sung by women, and when it comes to popular music, that is definitely true. Guys like Flo Rida, Sean Kingston, Kevin Rudolf and Pitbull didn't ultimately do it for me. I would have included a Kings of Leon song, but technically "Use Somebody" was released in 2008, and guys like Akon and Linkin Park put out singles in 2009 that sounded remarkably like singles they put out in 2008 or 2007. That aside, it was an uncommonly good year for the ladies. Mariah had maybe the last good auto-tune song ever, "Russian Roulette" was Rihanna's defiant cry, "Party in the USA" showed that Miley Cyrus is more than just the cute kid from Hannah Montana and "She Wolf" is Shakira at her finest - witty but popular. "Feeling a little abused like a coffee machine in an office," might be the line of the year, and something I would expect to hear in a rap song, not a slinky pop song where the star dances inside an animal cage. The mix ends beautifully with the song that capped the year, "Empire State of Mind." It is about New York, but it's still an incredible anthem.
2009 Underground Mix:
1. Fresh Daily - Video Gamin'
2. Raekwon - House of Flying Daggers f/ Ghostface Killah, Method Man & Inspectah Deck
3. Capone 'n' Noreaga - Wobble f/ Mobb Deep
4. Dead Prez - Summertime
5. Superstar Quamallah - California Dreamin'
6. D-Block - Get That Paper
7. Edo G. & Masta Ace - Little Young
8. DJ JS-1 - Like This f/ Large Professor
9. Raekwon - Legacy f/ Xzibit & Murs
10. Jadakiss - Kiss My @$$
11. Dela - Long Life f/ Talib Kweli
12. Nas - If I Ruled The World '09 f/ Marsha Ambrosius
13. Wale - Shades f/ Chrisette Michelle
14. Clipse - Popular Demand (Popeyes) f/ Cam'ron & Pharrell
15. Q-Tip - Renaissance Rap Remix f/ Busta Rhymes & Raekwon
16. Mos Def - Supermagic
17. Ghostface Killah - Guest House f/ Fabolous
18. Method Man & Red Man - City Lights f/ Bun B
19. BeKay - Brooklyn Bride f/ Masta Ace
20. Reflection Eternal - Back Again
21. Cage - I Never Knew You
22. BONUS CHRISTMAS TRACK: Keyshia Cole - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Quick aside: A long time ago, I started listening to acts like Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince, A Tribe Called Quest, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and the Notorious B.I.G. My father questioned these music selections, so as any good Christian boy would do, I sought the counsel of my priest. He told me that as long as I was treating the music as entertainment, the same way we treat movies like Goodfellas as entertainment, and not as a way to live my life then it was okay. I mean, I loved Goodfellas, but that didn't mean I wanted to join the mob and rob Lufthansa airlines after I saw it. The same goes for hip-hop.
I absolutely loved Video Gamin'. There have been many songs to incorporate video game sounds, but this one does so seamlessly, it never feels forced or gimmicky. And with the Biggie sample for the chorus, it's gold Jerry, pure gold! Though i started with Fresh Daily, 2009 was really Raekwon's year. His comeback album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...Pt. II, dominated the underground scene, and though I only included one track off that album, I included two other hard-to-find cuts with the Chef on it. The first, "Legacy," was a cut off the Ninja Assassin soundtrack, a movie destined to move onto my list of "songs I liked from movies I've never seen" along with movies like Bulworth, Ghost Dog, High School High, Panther and Ride. Then there was "Renaissance Rap Remix," which is presumably a remix from Q-Tip's The Renaissance album, though there wasn't actually a track on it called "The Renaissance." Some of my other favorite cuts off this mix were the delightfully saracastic "Little Young," "Kiss My @$$" and "Popular Demand," as well as the creepy, melancholy "I Never Knew You," which really showed off Cage's maturity as an artist. It's still as haunting as his early work, but in this track he paints a vivid story rather than just dropping anecdotes (not that I don't love me a good anecdote). Finally, there is "Shades." There have been many deep songs about race, even by Wale himself (last year's "The Kramer"), but this one really touches on something that can go unnoticed by someone such as myself. Elsewhere, the album was choc full of mainstays like CNN, NaS (with a delightful remake of "If I Ruled The World" that was released only by Smirnoff in a half-baked attempt to seem cool), Method Man & Redman and Mos Def, who proved with The Ecstatic that he's still got his fastball (thank goodness). And newcomer BeKay had what I like to think of as the underground version of "Empire State of Mind" with his "Brooklyn Bridge" track.
Overall, I thought both mixes came out great, and as usual I got a lot of compliments on them. I can't wait to see what 2010 brings!
For the fourth consecutive year, I put together two different mix CD's just before the holidays to mail to some good friends, and also for myself. The idea behind them is to put together mixes that give the best representation of the year possible, according to my tastes. They also serve as my version of a "best of the year" list. One of the mixes is the Underground Mix, and is made up almost entirely of underground hip-hop songs. Once in awhile, one of them will blow up and become a big hit. The best example of that is in 2007, when I included M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" two months before it showed up in the trailer for Pineapple Express. At the end of the underground mix, I add a bonus holiday song or two. While I send this mix to everyone, I make it mostly for myself. I only know a couple of people who like underground hip-hop as much as I do. Most people like the second mix better. It's what I call the "Aboveground Mix." As in, the exact opposite of the Underground Mix. Whereas with the Underground Mix I look to include songs that were not chart toppers at all, the Aboveground Mix has evolved to become a mix that only includes songs that charted on the Billboard Hot 100, or a like-list if the song is British or Hispanic, etc. In this way they really become a good representation of the year in music, and while I started the mixes on a whim, now I spend a ton of time on them each year and try to do the best job I can. Outside of this basic framework, I have some simple guidelines:
1. Make sure the songs flow together. At this point in time, I realize most people I send these to are just uploading them into iTunes and don't listen to them in the order I lay them out in the CD, but some people, including myself, listen to them in their car, so I want to make sure that the CD flows properly.
2. Don't go too heavy on more than one-two artists. I like spreading the love around and giving a broad mix, but sometimes one or two (or three) people just have an outstanding year and deserve that recognition.
3. Try to lead off with a bang. I like to try and work in up-tempo songs at the start of each mix and get people in the groove early. I guess that's just the DJ in me, I'm always trying to get the party started! If I don't lead off with a bang, I try to start with a statement/tribute song.
4. On the underground mix, I try to find as obscure songs as I possibly can.
5. All of the songs had to be released for sale during 2009. I'm kind of a stickler about that, and end up leaving some songs off as a result. One example from this year would be Lady GaGa's "Just Dance," which was very popular in 2009 but was actually released in 2008.
The first three guidelines are guidelines that I try to use with any mix I make, and I make a lot of mix CD's, but they are heightened for the holiday mixes.
For the 2009 Aboveground Mix, I knew right off the bat that I was going to lead off with a Michael Jackson song. He was/is my favorite artist of all-time, and I thought that would be a nice tribute. Overall though, the Aboveground Mix was a bit tougher this year because of the presence of the Black Eyed Peas. Anyone that knows my music tastes know that I can't stand the Black Eyed Peas because of how callously and shallowly they transformed themselves. When people talk about selling out, they can look to the Black Eyed Peas as the textbook definition. And since they had the number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 for 26 straight weeks from April 18 to October 10, I had to work a little harder to find songs I liked. Here's the lineup, with Hot 100 rankings as of early December when I made the mix:
1. Michael Jackson and The Jacksons - This Is It (N/A)
2. Lady GaGa - Bad Romance - (9)
3. La Roux - Bulletproof (UK Singles Chart: 1)
4. Ke$ha - TiK ToK (10)
5. Jay-Z - Run This Town f/ Kanye West & Rihanna (2)
6. Kid Cudi - Day 'n' Nite (3)
7. Alicia Keys - Doesn't Mean Anything (60)
8. Lily Allen - The Fear (80)
9. Mariah Carey - Obsessed (7)
10. Kelly Clarkson - I Do Not Hook Up (20)
11. Don Omar - Virtual Diva (U.S. Billboard Hot Latin Songs: 10)
12. Eminem - Crack A Bottle f/ Dr. Dre & 50 Cent (1)
13. Miley Cyrus - Party In The USA (2)
14. Rihanna - Russian Roulette (9)
15. Shakira - She Wolf (11)
16. Keri Hilson - Knock You Down f/ Kanye West & Ne-Yo (3)
17. Drake - Best I Ever Had (2)
18. The Fray - You Found Me (7)
19. Jay-Z & Alicia Keys - Empire State of Mind (1)
I started with more of a statement/tribute than starting with the bang. When the King of Pop passes away, it's really the right thing to do. The song itself didn't chart on the Hot 100, but the album hit #1 the first week it was out, and since it's MJ, I made the exception. I "started" with a bang on track two. Not only does this song pop the top off the adrenaline lid, but Lady GaGa is definitely in that Michael Jackson/Madonna mode of the outlandish pop star from who we have come to expect the unexpected, and it seemed only fitting that she would follow Michael. And while "Paparazzi" may have shown the artistic side to Lady GaGa and proved she was a serious artist, I'll be honest - I just want to dance. Along with GaGa, there were several other newcomers who made the cut - La Roux, Ke$ha, Kid Cudi, Keri Hilson and Drake. They combined with mainstays like Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey, Shakira and Rihanna to make a delicious mix. You may notice that I have the tendency to favor songs sung by women, and when it comes to popular music, that is definitely true. Guys like Flo Rida, Sean Kingston, Kevin Rudolf and Pitbull didn't ultimately do it for me. I would have included a Kings of Leon song, but technically "Use Somebody" was released in 2008, and guys like Akon and Linkin Park put out singles in 2009 that sounded remarkably like singles they put out in 2008 or 2007. That aside, it was an uncommonly good year for the ladies. Mariah had maybe the last good auto-tune song ever, "Russian Roulette" was Rihanna's defiant cry, "Party in the USA" showed that Miley Cyrus is more than just the cute kid from Hannah Montana and "She Wolf" is Shakira at her finest - witty but popular. "Feeling a little abused like a coffee machine in an office," might be the line of the year, and something I would expect to hear in a rap song, not a slinky pop song where the star dances inside an animal cage. The mix ends beautifully with the song that capped the year, "Empire State of Mind." It is about New York, but it's still an incredible anthem.
2009 Underground Mix:
1. Fresh Daily - Video Gamin'
2. Raekwon - House of Flying Daggers f/ Ghostface Killah, Method Man & Inspectah Deck
3. Capone 'n' Noreaga - Wobble f/ Mobb Deep
4. Dead Prez - Summertime
5. Superstar Quamallah - California Dreamin'
6. D-Block - Get That Paper
7. Edo G. & Masta Ace - Little Young
8. DJ JS-1 - Like This f/ Large Professor
9. Raekwon - Legacy f/ Xzibit & Murs
10. Jadakiss - Kiss My @$$
11. Dela - Long Life f/ Talib Kweli
12. Nas - If I Ruled The World '09 f/ Marsha Ambrosius
13. Wale - Shades f/ Chrisette Michelle
14. Clipse - Popular Demand (Popeyes) f/ Cam'ron & Pharrell
15. Q-Tip - Renaissance Rap Remix f/ Busta Rhymes & Raekwon
16. Mos Def - Supermagic
17. Ghostface Killah - Guest House f/ Fabolous
18. Method Man & Red Man - City Lights f/ Bun B
19. BeKay - Brooklyn Bride f/ Masta Ace
20. Reflection Eternal - Back Again
21. Cage - I Never Knew You
22. BONUS CHRISTMAS TRACK: Keyshia Cole - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Quick aside: A long time ago, I started listening to acts like Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince, A Tribe Called Quest, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and the Notorious B.I.G. My father questioned these music selections, so as any good Christian boy would do, I sought the counsel of my priest. He told me that as long as I was treating the music as entertainment, the same way we treat movies like Goodfellas as entertainment, and not as a way to live my life then it was okay. I mean, I loved Goodfellas, but that didn't mean I wanted to join the mob and rob Lufthansa airlines after I saw it. The same goes for hip-hop.
I absolutely loved Video Gamin'. There have been many songs to incorporate video game sounds, but this one does so seamlessly, it never feels forced or gimmicky. And with the Biggie sample for the chorus, it's gold Jerry, pure gold! Though i started with Fresh Daily, 2009 was really Raekwon's year. His comeback album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...Pt. II, dominated the underground scene, and though I only included one track off that album, I included two other hard-to-find cuts with the Chef on it. The first, "Legacy," was a cut off the Ninja Assassin soundtrack, a movie destined to move onto my list of "songs I liked from movies I've never seen" along with movies like Bulworth, Ghost Dog, High School High, Panther and Ride. Then there was "Renaissance Rap Remix," which is presumably a remix from Q-Tip's The Renaissance album, though there wasn't actually a track on it called "The Renaissance." Some of my other favorite cuts off this mix were the delightfully saracastic "Little Young," "Kiss My @$$" and "Popular Demand," as well as the creepy, melancholy "I Never Knew You," which really showed off Cage's maturity as an artist. It's still as haunting as his early work, but in this track he paints a vivid story rather than just dropping anecdotes (not that I don't love me a good anecdote). Finally, there is "Shades." There have been many deep songs about race, even by Wale himself (last year's "The Kramer"), but this one really touches on something that can go unnoticed by someone such as myself. Elsewhere, the album was choc full of mainstays like CNN, NaS (with a delightful remake of "If I Ruled The World" that was released only by Smirnoff in a half-baked attempt to seem cool), Method Man & Redman and Mos Def, who proved with The Ecstatic that he's still got his fastball (thank goodness). And newcomer BeKay had what I like to think of as the underground version of "Empire State of Mind" with his "Brooklyn Bridge" track.
Overall, I thought both mixes came out great, and as usual I got a lot of compliments on them. I can't wait to see what 2010 brings!
1 comment:
I'm driving to nyc and listening to my copies today. I have a feeling I won't make it through the aboveground mix- but looking forward to some stuff I haven't heard on the other one.
Post a Comment