New Playlist: The Kings of Cool

Those who know me well, know I'm not from this era. I would gladly trade in tablets and paint parties (whatever those are) for a cigar and my Old Man's vinyl collection any day of the week. Unfortunately many of the kids at school don't feel the same when you show up in the 4th grade with slicked back hair and a Sony Walkman belting out Elvis Presley's, Greatest Hits.

Needless to say, classics are classics and I've stuck by them my entire life. Let's take it back to an era where these men literally ruled the world. Guys wanted to be them. Chicks wanted to be with them. And for a moment in time, music made sense to me. So go about your business and throw on this playlist (courtey of 8tracks.com). I bet you any money it'll class up even the most mundane of daily tasks. LONG LIVE BUBLÉ!

Frank Sinatra –Luck Be A Lady

Tom Jones - It's Not Unusual

Dean Martin - On An Evening in Roma

Elvis Presley - It's Now or Never

Engelbert Humperdinck - Spanish Eyes

Nat King Cole - L-O-V-E

Tom Jones - Love Me Tonight

Frank Sinatra - Strangers in the Night

Michael Bublé - Come Fly With Me

Dean Martin - Ain't That A Kick in the Head

Engelbert Humperdinck - Quando, Quando, Quando

Elvis Presley - Trouble

Robbie Williams - Beyond the Sea

Nat King Cole - Unforgettable

Michael Bublé - I've Got The World on a String

Tony Bennett - Rags to Riches

Harry Connick Jr. - We are in Love

Robbie Williams - Have You Met Miss Jones?

Matt Dusk - Fly Me To The Moon

Tony Bennett - If I Ruled The World

The Kings of Cool from ribeirja on 8tracks Radio.

Intuition & Equalibrium - Imagining

A couple of weeks ago I was on a road trip with another one of the Straight Goods writers and he asked me to put on a song. Embarrassment ensued when I was forced to admit that I actually did not own a copy of it. The reason it was embarrassing? I've had an obsession with this song since it came out.  I guess I've just been so content to watch the incredible video for this track that I didn't get around to picking up an mp3. My mistake has been corrected and I've headed over to Intuition's website to buy a copy of the song. Once you've gotten through this post you're going to want to do the same.

Imagining covers some pretty heavy subject matter. It's about the MC coping with his father's early onset Alzheimer's. Intuition's blunt portrayal of his father's gradual slip into dementia will cut right through you. I'd like to head over to my parents' place right about now and give my pops a hug.

Man I'm just sayin, I'm not angry
Nah wait, I'm angry as fuck
But I'm not angry at you, naw man I'm angry at luck
I'm angry that me and my family and you had to be stuck
Watching the man that you were get blown away like granules of dust

 Production: Equalibrium

Sample: Youth Lagoon - Seventeen

New Playlist: Vibe to this

I recently put together another playlist on 8tracks.com, which we're now featuring on the sidebar if you haven't noticed. "Vibe to this" is made up of 21 hip hop tracks - some of which have been featured here, some that we missed. Build for your entertainment after you finish up your day job and want to kick back with the crew. Playlist above, full tracklist below. Enjoy.

Thuggin Love - Asap Rocky (Hemsworth Remix)

Electric Relaxation - A Tribe Called Quest

"So What"  - Mac Miller (Feat. Wale)

Control - Big Sean (Feat. Kendrick Lamar & Jay Electronica)

Crime - Mayer Hawthorne (Feat. Kendrick Lamar)

Mr. Parker - Kardinal Offishall (featuring Nottz Raw & Shi Wisdom) 

Higher - J. Cole

The Recipe - Kendrick Lamar

Stylin (Featuring Saukrates) - Shad k

No Church In The Wild - Kanye West & Jay Z (Feat. Frank Ocean)

The Nosebleed Section - Hilltop Hoods

Cocoa Butter Kisses - Chance The Rapper

I'm Different - 2 Chainz

New Don - Shad K

Grown Up - Danny Brown

Ashes To Ashes - Rick Ross

Diamonds And Gold - Mac Miller

Can I Kick It? - A Tribe Called Quest

Winter Schemes - J. Cole & Wale

The Motion - Drake (Golden Pony Remix) 

All Falls Down - Kanye West (Feat. Syleena Johnson)

 

Uptown Downtime from Surebuds on 8tracks Radio.

Big Sean feat. Kendrick Lamar and Jay Electronica - Control

"I'm usually homeboys with the same niggas I'm rhymin' wit
But this is hip hop and them niggas should know what time it is  
And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Big KRIT, Wale
Pusha T, Meek Millz, A$AP Rocky, Drake
Big Sean, Jay Electron', Tyler, Mac Miller
I got love for you all but I'm tryna murder you niggas  
Tryna make sure your core fans never heard of you niggas  
They dont wanna hear not one more noun or verb from you niggas  
What is competition? I'm tryna raise the bar high
Who tryna jump and get it? You better off tryna skydive"

I'll keep this brief. No I.D. on the beat now let the story begin. Big Sean had a pretty average verse. Jay Electronica is almost better off being absent on the track. K Dot however delivered the Verse of the Year. All hail the new King of New York (apologies to 50 and Jay). Hall of Fame (sans this track to do sampling issues) in stores August 27th. Happy 40th Hip-Hop! Salute!

Chiddy Bang - Wonderfilled (Oreo)

Every once and a while, there’s an advertising campaign that blends creativity with just enough relevance, to relay an experience far beyond the brand could ever deliver. A company that typically wouldn’t be brought up in this context is Oreo, but with their massively successful campaign featuring Chiddy Bang, Kacey Musgraves and Owl City, they captured the emotion of “wonder” perfectly. See below for Chiddy Bang’s video for Wonderfilled, which was originally aired during an episode of AMC’s Mad Men. And these days, it’s not selling out, it’s surviving.

Shad K - Stylin (feat. Saukrates)

The one and only Shad K is back in action with his new track "Stylin". The track features a gritty Skratch Bastid back beat and fellow Canadian rhymesayer Saukrates. Shad has an abundance of sentimental value for me but regardless of his past, this track brings some excitement for the future of this educated cunning linguist.

He cleverly discusses the irrelevance of educational conversations within rap, the constant battle of networking yourself efficiently and the unfortunate societal reality of knowing someone versus working hard. Shad uses his distinct variant flow to linguistically touch on the issues he finds to define our ability to stay stylin'.  For me this is the classic politically motivated play on society that I love about him. Shad himself can be seen as a paradox in terms of rappers and he uses the fact that he is an educated drug-free Canadian rapper to metaphorically represent the issues that face many recent graduates, whose last name or familial connections are no help to their career. "Cause we don't know how to tie ties and my grandparents weren't tycoons" pretty much sums up the unfortunate reality that Shad struggles with.

Regardless of the message or how in-depth you analyze the lyrics, the beat, complementary flow of shad and artistically engaging music video make for a solid dose of entertainment. Oh and by the way I'm infinitely excited about seeing Shad in Toronto on October 19th.