WARMER MIXTAPES #1417 | by Brandon E. Williams
1. Drake | November 18th
+ No Talk by River Tiber & A Place Like This by Majid Jordan... I remember walking through Downtown Manhattan for hours on end just absorbing the energies around me, while emitting a cool calm and collected (slightly swaggy) energy that these three songs gave me.
2. Joe Budden | Pray For Me
This track taught me it was OK to question what others take on Faith. This song really helped me out during a time of religious confusion and nudged me in the direction I'm moving in now.
3. City High | What Would You Do? (Life Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Up until this song most of what I heard from Hip Hop was the typical Rap records about pussy, money, weed, other than the few songs I heard from artists like Eminem which mixed Chaos/Insanity with a deeper underlying meaning. This song straight-forwardly taught me that Hip Hop can embody something deeper than the superficial. In other words, it was the first song I heard that accurately portrayed a real world problem I could relate to on an intellectual level.
4. Slick Rick | Children's Story
The song that taught me the Art of Storytelling... Point blank... Period. There's not much else to say about it, but if you check my Music you’ll see why that means so much to me.
5. Jay-Z | Most Kingz (feat. Chris Martin)
Conceptually this song is like the Holy Grail of Champions…It so accurately depicts what it's like to be at the top and be the best at what you do…It's not all butterflies and rainbows.
6. Aesop Rock | Food, Clothes, Medicine
+ Garbage... + Holy Smokes... Anything off of the Labor album (pretty much any Aesop Rock record)... I just love the way he puts words together to form unique ideas. His Music is like one huge piece of Abstract Art, I swear I get something new from it every single time I take a listen. Truly a poetic Art form.
7. Frank Ocean | Pink Matter (feat. André 3000)
Beautiful sound, beautiful message, beautiful composition, just a beautiful record overall…Aside from making me play it over & over again, this song made me question everything around me & and I'm sure it'll have a similar effect for anyone who will listen.
8. Lupe Fiasco | Mural
At time where I began to take a step back from the Music and started to doubt that (in my own opinion) Hip Hop was headed in the right direction, this song gave me Hope again. The way Lupe Fiasco throws almost every bar at you like a riddle is just thought provoking and inspiring… Not to mention, the track is a total head knocker.
9. Drake | Going In For Life
This song is just too smooth, from Drake's flow to the instrumental he uses, but what really made this song irresistible for me is the monologue Drake goes on at the end which brings the entire song into perspective…It's just so deep and perfectly embodies the name of the track. It kind of forces you to take a look inward and ask yourself Do you have the type of Love you should for what you're doing?...
10. k-os | 4 3 2 1
This song (and the video that goes along with it) are just so unique in style I can't help but mention this track as one of my favorites of all time. The chorus for this song is the perfect meld of catchy & clever, I can’t help but jam to it any time it comes on.
