With Africa on My Sleeve
You might have caught your favorite rappers fondly recall his formative years, and linger over about battles and cyphers on corner blocks or high school lunch rooms. Heck, if you’re like me, you may have some of your own stories as well. There’s an unmistakable effervescence to these kind of gatherings. On rare occasions, that...Continue reading
I didn’t foresee going almost a year before revisiting this concept! The good news is that we’re two away from making it a segment on its own. The greater news is that the fourth edition is weeks away. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves — especially when I laced something special in my opinion....Continue reading
I feel like this playlist is best represented by the song “Magnificent” by JD Era, the third track here. It’s clear, concise lyricism over beats that complement by matching the intensity of the rhyme slayers. These songs made me pay attention to what was being said; the slick shit, the witty lines, capped with either...Continue reading
You look good, you feel good, u feel good, u play good, u play good, they pay good – Deion Sanders
We conclude our playlist series of 2019 faves here. It should be clear by now that there was a lot of music to take in. Collectively, it was also a good way to get an idea of the major tides last year. Indeed, the songs we liked reflected the continuous shift towards a more (genre)...Continue reading
Welcome back to another session of ‘Smoke x Mirrors‘. And indulge me as I share a bit of introspection. Going back through the past editions, and considering the excellent project that have been coming out as of late, I felt like I might not have shone a brighter light on our homegrown talents. So here...Continue reading
I don’t know if you got my hint earlier, but this is the companion playlist to my previous submission. That’s because I had a few more projects I needed to gush about. I wrote about how surprised I was with Sy’s joint opus with Paxquiao, and I was just as pleasantly astonished with the Berner...Continue reading
I trust that you enjoyed my all-hip-hop ‘Smoke x Mirrors‘ a little while ago. (I promised this one right afterwards so really my bad 🙈🙈🙈.) The feedback that I’ve received was amazing (and I look forward to another go at it at some other point this year). Here we’re back to our regular dose of...Continue reading
Product placement in music videos isn’t a new idea. In fact, the practice is so pervasive and embedded within the video treatment that the casual person barely notices. It’s a lucrative by-product of music promotion so you can rest assured that it’s not going anywhere. If anything, the branding powers that be will find more...Continue reading
I start off with “Stay”, one of my favorite songs off my favorite Mac Miller album, The Divine Feminine. (I had a couple more joints off the album on earlier playlists.) There was a way to kill two birds with one stone so I took a shot. What do I mean? I have a bit...Continue reading