I feel like I have a lot of blogging to catch up on - updating my favorite movies list, looking at how I did with my NFL regular season picks, discussing my annual post-Christmas music shopping spree, talking baseball and probably some other stuff. But I need to get the holiday mixes off my chest.
For the fifth consecutive year, I made a double disc holiday mix collection for some close friends and family. I do it for two reasons. First, as far back as I can remember, I've loved making mix tapes; compiling the best of what I've been listening to into one handy tape or cd. And I've always loved sharing these mixes with other people, and people seem to enjoy them, which is nice. Second, as I get older, I have less and less time to devote to music. So doing these holiday mixes is kind of like a year-in-review for me. I can dive in in late November, figure out what have been my favorite, and/or the best tracks of the year. I split the mixes into "Underground," which is mostly underground hip-hop, and what I call "Aboveground," which is popular music. On the underground disc it's anything goes, though I try to use actual singles, rather than just picking random tracks I like. On the aboveground mix though, I try to keep it to records that went gold (500k sold) and/or were on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at some point during the year. I'd say I stick to those guidelines about 95% of the time. My only other rule, which I am a fantastic stickler about, is that the song had to come out in 2010. So many songs become popular the year after they are released, and I don't like to include those. If you weren't good enough to get popular right when it came out, well, them's the brakes.
This year, the aboveground mix was pretty hip-hop heavy. Drake and Nicki Minaj were everywhere, and had to be represented. Drake gets on three tracks and Nicki on two, one of their own, with the others being guest shots. Even though he's from Pittsburgh, and the song is about Pittsburgh colors, I loved Wiz Khalifa's "Black & Yellow" for two reasons. One, it's awesome when people pen songs like that about their city, it'd be nice if someone could make a track half as good about Boston ("Dirty Water" is great and all, but it'd be nice to have a newer anthem for the city). Second, black and yellow are the colors of the Boys & Girls Club branch I volunteer at, and all the kids there love the song, which it makes it a little more special to me. One late addition to the mix ended up being a great one - Cali Swag District's "Teach Me How To Dougie." It's easy to discount this as a party jam, but the lyrics on it are actually pretty good. We'll have to see how they follow it up. Another last minute add was Dr. Dre's "Kush," featuring Snoop Dogg and Akon. Let's hope this is the year that Detox finally gets released.
The mix isn't all hip-hop though. I led the mix off with Shakira's "Waka Waka," the World Cup theme song. I figure that we are going to remember this year for the riveting World Cup, and it's such a good song, so it deserved to lead off. Elsewhere, Rihanna made the cut once again with "What's My Name," the fourth straight year she is on the mix - tied for longest streak ever with Jay-Z and Kanye West. I also had to tip my hat to Taylor Swift and throw "Mine" in the mix, something that absolutely shocked my wife. And you know I had to place her song right before Kanye's!
Speaking of Mr. West, he once again scored a song, with "Monster." Kanye is the all-time leader in the aboveground mix, with a total of seven songs. I also considered "Power," "All of the Lights" and "Runaway" for this slot, but "Power" just doesn't have the X-factor, "All of the Lights" wasn't yet a single, and "Runaway" is just too long. Plus, the unanimous verse of the year was Nicki Minaj's verse on "Monster," so I had to have it on there.
Some songs that just missed the cut were Flo Rida's "Club Can't Handle Me," Michael Jackson & Akon's "Hold My Hand," Enrique Iglesias' "I Like It," Trey Songz' "Bottoms Up" and The Roots & John Legend's "Wake Up Everybody." The only tough decision was Flo Rida, and after I saw him perform on New Year's Eve at MTV, I was glad I left him off. He's really just not good. I give him another year or two, tops. MJ I left off because while the song came out in 2010, it was obviously recorded a few years ago. It just didn't feel right to include it.
Here's the track listing for the "Aboveground Mix:"
1. Shakira - Waka Waka
2. B.O.B. - Airplanes f/ Hayley Williams
3. Katy Perry - California Gurls f/ Snoop Dogg
4. Wiz Khalifa - Black & Yellow
5. Waka Flocka Flame - No Hands f/ Wale & Roscoe Dash
6. Cali Swag District - Teach Me How To Dougie
7. Taylor Swift - Mine
8. Kanye West - Monster f/ Rick Ross, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver
9. Rihanna - What's My Name f/ Drake
10. Far East Movement - Like A G6
11. Big Boi - Shutterbugg f/ Cutty
12. Cee-Lo - F**k You
13. Drake - Find Your Love
14. Nicki Minaj - Right Thru Me
15. Janelle Monae - Tightrope f/ Big Boi
16. Pitbull - Hey Baby (Drop It To The Floor) f/ T-Pain
17. Lloyd Banks - Beamer, Benz or Bentley f/ Juelz Santana
18. Lil' Wayne - Right Above It f/ Drake
19. Dr. Dre - Kush f/ Snoop Dogg & Akon
20. Eminem - Not Afraid
The underground mix can sometimes be a grind for me. Back in the day, I'd just go to Hip Zepi if I was in Boston, or Fat Beats if I was in New York, I would ask the man behind the counter what's hot, drop $20-$80, and I'd have all the latest and greatest on the underground circuit. Easy. Now, you have to comb the internet to really distinguish between what's good and what isn't. I trust a few sites to guide me - Pitchfork and HipHopDX more than any others. But while it can sometimes be a painstaking process, this was not one of those times. I actually had a much easier time of it this year than usual. Maybe I kept up better this year, who knows.
Over the years, I have included about 40% more artists on the underground mix as on the aboveground mix, which makes sense. The people that dominate the pop charts simply don't turn over as quickly. But the mainstays on the underground have been the Wu-Tang. Raekwon has been on the mix every year, and a mix-topping eight times overall. Ghostface Killah has been on six times, good for second-highest, and Method Man a respectable four times as well. They all get on on the same track this year, their group effort "Our Dreams," which was produced by The RZA and featured a Michael Jackson sample.
The mix leads off with Aloe Blacc's "I Need A Dollar," which was the theme song to HBO's summer hit "How To Make It In America." Next up was J. Cole, who we should hear a lot more from in 2011 now that he is signed to Def Jam, with "Who Dat," the one song he currently has that is available for purchase. Next was Lil' Kim's "Black Friday," a diss record referring to Nicki Minaj's LP "Pink Friday." This may have been Nicki's year, but Nicki definitely fed her hype through her beef with Kim, and Kim absolutely slays her on this track. Hopefully this will be a good (but non-violent) beef for awhile.
Overall, the mix had two different vibes. On the one hand, there are three tributes to Keith Elam, better known as Guru from Gangstarr, who passed away this year. That was terrible, and since he's a Bostonian, I had to represent a little bit extra for him. On the other hand, there were several uplifting/lighthearted songs, such as the Wu-Tang track, Maino's "Hold On," Cypress Hill's "Armada Latina," and Statik Selektah's & Termanology's "Wedding Bells." That Massachusetts duo dropped hard in 2010, and hopefully there will be more good things to come from them. Another favorite Mass duo - 7L & Esoteric - finally returned this year, and they did so with Inspectah Deck, who helped bless their first LP nearly ten years ago. Their track, "12th Chamber," is lovely. One more Bostonian who made the cut was newcomer Dutch ReBelle, whose LP also is slated to drop in 2011. I'm excited for that one.
I always try to get one really good transfer on the underground mix, which is difficult when you're just burning these mixes in iTunes, as opposed to using real recording equipment. But in any case, I think I pulled off a good one with the transfer from Wale's "The War" to Kno's "Spread Your Wings." The first time I heard that, I knew it was seamless.
As always, the mix closes with a bonus Christmas track. Since Christmas music usually sucks and is also timeless, I waive the 2010-only rule for this song only. I've already heard rave reviews about this year's track, Tha Dogg Pound's "Santa Claus Goes Straight To The Ghetto." It's just a whole lot of awesomeness, if you've never heard it, you should check it out.
Here's the track listing for the underground mix:
1. Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar
2. J. Cole - Who Dat
3. Lil' Kim - Black Friday
4. Jay Electronica - The Ghost of Christopher Wallace f/ Diddy
5. Freddie Gibbs - National Anthem (F**k The World)
6. Fat Joe - I'm Gone
7. Celph Titled & Buckwild - There Will Be Blood f/ Sadat X, Grand Puba, AG, OC & Diamond D
8. Maino - Hold On f/ Mya
9. Method Man, Raekwon & Ghostface Killah - Our Dreams
10. Cypress Hill - Armada Latina f/ Pitbull & Marc Anthony
11. Statik Selektah & Termanology - Wedding Bells f/ Jared Evan
12. 7L & Esoteric - 12th Chamber f/ Inspectah Deck
13. NaS - Snitch Alibi
14. Dutch ReBelle - I'm Ill Remix
15. Curren$y - Michael Knight
16. Wale - The War
17. Kno - Spread Your Wings f/ Deacon The Villain
18. Group Home - G.U.R.U. f/ Jeru Tha Damaga
19. DJ Premier - The Gangstar Bus f/ Freddie Foxx
20. BONUS CHRISTMAS TRACK Tha Dogg Pound - Santa Claus Goes Straight To The Ghetto
I can always be talked into burning a set or two, so if you'd like one, drop me a line.