About Artist: Kali Uchis is a Colombian-American singer who hit is big with her debit album “Isolation” (2018). Her genre blending latin ne0-soul sound is hers alone and has gained her a loyal following.
About Song: This song “Not Too Late” is off of Kali’s third album “Red Moon in Venus” (2023). This album is sooooo good and deserves a full listen. I chose to put this song up but other tracks like “Endlessly”, “Moonlight”, and “Blue” are equally good.
Favorite Part: This song is just an interlude so it’s more about the vibes. I really like the little harmonies in the vocals and of course the little verse in spanish.
About Artist: Aminé is an American Ethiopian Eritrean rapper from Portland Oregon. Aminé was a member of XXL Freshman Class 2017 and had a lot of success with his first album “Good for You” (2017) specifically the single “Caroline”.
About Song: This song is the first track off of Aminé’s second album “Limbo” (2020). I like to boom bap feel with the laid back bars. Make me feel like a cruisin with the top down on a Sunday afternoon.
Favorite Part: “And to top it off, my best friend had a baby
We twenty-five, I told that nigga, “Boy, you fuckin’ crazy”
Maybe I’m the one who really need the Lord to save me
The last time I went to church was in the fckin’ 80s” (2:02)
About Artist: B.o.B has been one of my favorites since 2008. Despite the fact that he is a well documented “free thinking” conspiracy theorist he is a great songwriter, musician, rapper and he definitely has blazed his own trail.
About Song: This song is off of B.o.B’s 7th album “Better than Drugs” (2022). I got to see him at a small venue in Tucson in late 2022 and got a shout out from B.o.B when he saw my “B.o.b. vs Bobby Ray” t-shirt.
Favorite Part: “It’s a thousand of the same faces I can’t differentiate, apеs, I disintegrate. You be playing bеstie with her, I do chest to chest-ie with her” (0:28)
“My whole clique, outside of the norm.
Ain’t no uniform, we do not conform” (0:43)
“Gotta be able to gas yourself, it’s called self esteem.
Don’t let these n****s sell your ass a dream” (1:29)
About Artist: Koffee is a 23 year old reggae pop artist from Jamaica. She is the youngest, and only female, artist to win the grammy for best reggae album. Koffee has a ton of really great songs including Ragamuffin, and Cyanide (remix).
About Song: This song is the first single off of Koffee’s 2019 EP “Rapture”.I love the chorus. Even though the song is pretty basic, there is something about the riddim and the joyous praise god feel that I really feel
Favorite Part: “Blessings all upon me life and, me thank god for the journey the earnings are just for the plus, gratitude is a must”
Summary: All y’all thinkin bout is kissin and huggin About Artist: Samm Henshaw is a London born singer songwriter who is really gives the John Legend vibes vocally. Tobe Nwigwe is a Texas rapper known, in part, for his role in the TV show Mo.
About Song: This song is off of Samm Henshaw’s debut album Untidy Soul (2022) which I loove. The tracks Grow, Still Broke, and 8.16 are all great songs themselves and the whole album feels like a throwback to Get Lifted (2004).
Favorite Part: I love the cool, relaxed swagger of the vocals on top of that tight playful groove. The song is laid back, fun, and sexy. Walking baseline is fiiire.
Summary: I miss you always Dad. This one is for Jim Epstein, my loving dad.
About Artist: Buddy Fo was born in Honolulu in 1932 and was percussionist and vocalist for many years.
About Song: This sone is the title track from Buddy’s 1976 LP “When It’s Time to Go”. I first heard this song in 2021 just before my dad Jim Epstein fell ill. I listened a lot of Buddy Fo throughout 2021 and 2022 when I visited Oahu for the first time as an adult.
Favorite Part: I love the composition. The melancholy Hawaiian marimbas, the surf guitar, and the mournful vocals. I especially like the staccato guitar on beat 2, and the offbeat of 3 and . I love at 0:15 when that guitar pulls a little curveball.
About Artist:Nas and Lauryn Hill are two of the greatest to ever do it.
About Song: Nas’s 14th album Kings Disease II dropped last week and this song “Nobody” is just one of many smooth classics on the album. Lauryn Hill has a great verse and it’s got those illmatic vibes.
Favorite Part:
“My awareness like Keanu in The Matrix
I’m savin’ souls and y’all complainin’ ’bout my lateness
Now it’s illegal for someone to walk in greatness” (3:15)
“I’m in the secret place, I keep a sacred space
They keep showin’ their hands, but keep hidin’ their face
If I’m a messenger, you block me then you block the message
So aggressive, the world you made is what you’re left with
Pride and ego over love and truth is fucking reckless
Y’all … got a death wish, the stupid leaves me breathless” (3:50)
About Artist: Back in 2018 a student asked me if I’d heard of Ryan Beatty and told me they thought I would like them. It was true. His 2018 album Boy in Jeans was an album I fell deeply in love with. Ryan Beatty is an extremely talented vocalist and musician. His albums are cohesive and beautifully stitched together.
About Song: This track is just one of my favorites from his debut album Boy in Jeans. The album tells the story of his experiences of being gay in high school. I have so many favorite songs from this album, you really have to listen to the album all the way through to understand his genius. Ryan’s more recent sophomore album Dreaming of David is even more of a masterpiece and something I will surely post about soon.
About Artist: There are ton of artists on this song including Tropkillaz (São Paulo Brazil), J Balvin (Colombia), Anitta (Rio de Janeiro Brazil) and MC Zaac (Diadema Brazil).
About Song: This song came out in spring 2019 and was one of my summer anthems for that summer. It is followup to the smash hit Vai Malandra.
Favorite Part: I love the funk carioca vibe. Tenho saudades do Brasil.
Summary: Sometime it’s hard to tell if you are in heaven or in hell.
About Artist: Vic Mensa is from Chicago and is someone I started listening to around 2014 when he was feated on Chance the Rapper’s Cocoa Butter Kisses. Ty Dolla $ign helps sing the hook.
About Song: This song is the outro track to Vic Mensa’s debut album “The Autobiography” (2017)
Favorite Part: The chorus is really powerful. I love how this song touches on topics of sorrow, blessings, brutality, and desperation.
About Artist: Daniela Andrade is a Honduran Canadian who has gained a following online by posting her covers of popular songs on Soundcloud and YouTube.
About Song: This song is a track off of Daniela’s 2020 EP “Nothing Much Has Changed, I Don’t Feel The Same”
Favorite Part: This song had me at the drop (0:23)
About Artist: John Legend has a voice of gold and face that makes butter melt. I’ve been in love with him since 2003 when I first heard live album “Live at the Knitting Factory”. He has a come along away but he still cranks out the hits.
About Song: This song is the intro track to his recent 2020 album “Bigger Love”. I had ticket to see him in the fall of 2020 but we all know how that ended : (
Favorite Part: I like the old-timey doowap track with the deep bass drop at 0:09. I like the prechorus build and the way the chorus blossoms (0:37). And of course I just love John’s sexy sexy voice.
“You know I’m romantic,
I’d cross the Atlantic for that, Ooh-laa
I’ll wear my best tuxedo,
And you can undress me and we go, Ooh-laa” (1:08)
