WARMER MIXTAPES #829 | by Aaron Nash [AbJo]
1. Flying Lotus | Getting There (feat. Niki Randa)
This track... This Sound is why I got into Beat Making. Rather, this track reminds me of when I first heard FlyLo's Music, after having been introduced to Dilla and Madlib back when I was in Grade School. That whole Time for me, discovering their Music along with a slew of other slept on and Underground acts, prefaced my decision to make Music for a Living, specifically Making Beats. Every time I listen to this song, I'm kinda transported back, all the while proud to call myself a Fan...
2. Slum Village | Untitled/Fantastic (Instrumental Produced by J Dilla) (Played by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson & The Suite For Ma Dukes Orchestra)
Spike Lee. This track reminds me of the Scores, the Soundtracks for all of Spike Lee's Seminal Films. He Loved Orchestration, and so do I. The fact, too, that this is a Slum Village cover, arranged by one of my New Favorite Musicians, just sells it for me. It's really Nostalgic somehow for me. I listen to it once and it's in my head all day. I met Miguel once in my part of town, a very casual situation that involved a goofy ass photo of me and him that happened candidly before we officially met. He had just performed, and my people had put the show, so we got to kick it backstage with him, so to speak. Real cool dude, we talked about Violins and how we looked a bit Awkward playing them since we were pretty giant dudes (I've been a certified, albeit, out of commission Violinist for over 13 years now, and we're both over 6'4"). I told him we were gonna meet and maybe work together in the Future, a completely Facetious and Uncharacteristic thing for me to do, to which he seemingly sincerely conceded to and walked off. I'm still waiting for that to happen...
3. Kendrick Lamar | Sing About Me, I'm Dying Of Thirst
Everything about this track is Perfect to me. I'll admit, even though I dig the hell out of Kendrick and the TDE Crew's Music, I don't praise every bit of work they've done, maybe only a handful of it sticks out for me. But they do awesome work nonetheless, and this track is one example of said awesome work. I relate and identify with each and every part of this song, Plain and Simple. Keisha and her sister's plight even remind me of some of my own relatives and folks that I once knew, and Kendrick's Introspection on his verse is on point. I listen to this religiously and wonder one day if people will sing about me as well...
4. Mos Def | Priority
I'm a big Mos Def fan. Moreso, a Black Star fan, but Mos Def was/is my favorite of the two (no dis to Kweli, Reflection Eternal is one of my top ten!)... But, yeah, this one? The Motto for my Life. Peace before Everything, God before Anything, Home before Any Place... Everything about this one, speaks AbJo. Also another track I listen to religiously. The Ecstatic got to me around the time I was at a turning point in my career. I was finally finding Myself, Creatively, Musically, and Spiritually. This is still one of the few albums I feel I can listen to beginning to end without skipping. Plays Perfectly. I was falling out School when this album came out, too busy Making Beats and Drinking like Crazy in the middle of the Night with Strangers around the College Area, making the proverbial stamp as the Big Man on Campus. Good times, good times... So it wasn't entirely a Spiritual Journey, haha!
5. Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek (Reflection Eternal) | The Blast (feat. Vinia Mojica)
Speaking of Reflection Eternal, this is my favorite track off the album. I'm pretty sure it's Everyone's Favorite Track off the Album, for the most part, but the reason why this is my favorite is because it's one of my Favorite Songs of All Time, at least from my Adolescence; it's also my one of my Favorite Beats of All Time. I identify with the track now more than ever, too, which just adds my bias towards it. Anyone still needing to be introduced to Hip Hop, can start right here with this track, this album...
6. Yellowjackets | It's Almost Gone
A bit of a Diversion from the rest of the list, huh? This is one of my favorite Jazz Fusion joints, the Piano in the beginning is just... Killer. No, Stellar, Truly Stellar. I grew up on This Kind of Music, before I really became acquainted with Hip Hop in my pre-Teen years, and now it plays a part as Inspiration for my Own Music. Dig the hell out of this one...
7. OutKast | Reset (feat. Khujo Goodie & Cee-Lo)
Another song I listen to repeatedly. OutKast is truly a Legendary Group, and with Khujo and Cee-Lo on this joint? Yo... My entire stint of Listening just to Music from the South consisted entirely of two parts: Listening to Little Brother after skimming through the total junk that played on the airwaves, and listening to Old OutKast Music and anything Dungeon Family related when I wasn't into a little more East Coast. But this track right here is Seminal to me, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below came out before I could fully comprehend the significance of the album, or its content. Reset itself, though, always had a special place in my heart Musically; it represents to me what I think really dignifies the Southern Sound that Hip Hop deserves, which is truly Musical, Whimsical, but more Importantly, Availably Orchestrated when Allowed to Prevail over the Synthesized Boom of the 808's and Synth Leads. When I think Top-Notch Southern Hip Hop, I think Live Horns, Guitars and Keyboards, Tight Drum Kits, and Quick, Witty, Uniquely Rhythmic Rhymes and such. Just my opinion, though, I'm still Partial to the Sound of the Boom, my formative years were filled with it, as well as the sounds of OutKast, and specifically, the Beat and Vocal Melody of this song. It immediately takes me back to my Teenage years, when I listened to this song to Try and literally Reset Myself...
8. The Roots | Make My (feat. Big K.R.I.T. & Dice Raw)
First of all, this whole album really deserves its own explanation here, rather than just this song. I have another favorite on Undun, but this track is so Perfect. It represents to me the Journey of Progression Tariq and ?uest have made with their Legendary Roots Crew, in my opinion. It took me a minute to really dig into this joint, actually, something so Serene and Hypnotic, you think I'd be attracted to it immediately. Happier Sounding songs turn me off normally, and Lyrics always take a minute for me to process, so I was just so not into the track from the get go. A couple more listens, though, and the Genius of the song, as well as the Arrangement, made all the Sense in the World. Maybe I'm up-playing them and this track a bit, but so you know, The Roots have been my Favorite Act of All Time since I was barely in Grade School. They were one of my Official Introductions into Hip Hop, fitting, since I was more into Jazz and R&B as a kid than I was anything else and they themselves were a really Jazzy kinda act back then. I was a Weird kid, too, dug the Toys and Action Figures, playing in the Streets with the Neighborhood kids, but more than anything, I was in the House, blasting the SoundSystem my dad and I put together in the house and Air-Playing instruments, Wording all the Lyrics to Earth, Wind & Fire, and playing The Pharcyde, Lauryn Hill and the Roots like crazy when I had the chance...
9. The Five Corners Quintet | Three Corners
I can't imagine anyone I know would ever know who the Five Corners Quintet is or what song this is, but it has been played on my iPod and iTunes more times than I can possibly count. I would go so far as to say, it's my Most Played Song, even my Most Favorite Song, of All Time. Arguably, at least. Like I said, Jazz Music was my First Love before anything else, and when a good one like this comes on, Fuck Everything Else. I become either the coolest person in the room, or the gushiest, since I damn near swoon when I hear a good Miles, Brubeck or Getz tune plays. These guys, though, a Modern Day Quintet, Play, Arrange and Compose some Real Good Ass Jazz Music, and it's Rare for me to dig anything made these days under the genre (which goes to say for Hip Hop in General for me). That being said, this joint stands out for me as Unequivocally, the Dopest Tune I have had the Pleasure of Hearing, and it is the only one I had a hard time truly Sampling, at that. Love the fuck out of this song; look it up, put it on, light a joint or pour a drink and sip to it, and trust me: the Most Interesting Man in the World couldn't be Cooler than you.
10. Pat Metheny Group | The Way Up (Part One)
Yeah. I like Pat Metheny. Not the Extra Smooth Jazzy Mawfucka that everyone that isn't fucking cool like me knows. The Dude that Murders everyone Guitar-wise and Composition-wise, Ever, that I know and dig the hell out of. He's one of my Main Inspirations when it comes to Composing Productions; not Beats, Actual Thought Out, Detailed Productions, though I have sampled him for just good ol' looped beats. I digress; this has got to be one of the Finest Displays of his Musicianship that I've Seen. In his Music, I see a lot of me, in that he's capable of making Something Intense and Exciting without having to make it Gruesome and Raw and In Your Face. It's Grandiose, like a lot of his work, but this one takes the cake for Grandiosity, and so does the whole The Way Up album. It's not Realistic, but I want all my Music to Sound and Feel like this, because there's so much to it when I hear it, I could really listen to this all day. The Chord Progressions, the Marimba Melodies, the Fucking Guitar. The Fucking Guitar, man. All of them. Paint me a Stan, I guess. Of all the Music I remember growing up listening to, his is most Apparent and Memorable, and brings me back the most to my Childhood, aside from the Roots and the Pharcyde, two of my other Top Favorite Acts. My pops is a fan, though, and he made me one, too. Aside from Steve Reich, he's one of the only guys whose Music I wouldn't think twice about putting on my playlist alongside the Doom's, Little Dragon's and Mellowhype's of the World...
