Songs I Currently Have On Repeat

I recently got an e-mail from one of my readers in London asking me to suggest some songs for her to download since she liked my musical taste (thank you Aianna!) For anyone who hasn’t noticed, I have a playlist of music in the right side panel under the title “music” and those are some of my favorite songs of all time. When you click on one it starts playing in the music player located on the bottom left side of your screen. Anywho, let me get back to business, here are a few new and old songs that I’ve been playing a lot recently…

Flying Overseas by Theophilus London feat. Solange & Devonte Hynes

Maybe She'll Dream of Me by The Foreign Exchange

You Make Me Smile by Aloe Blacc

On The Vista by Blakroc feat. Mos Def

Georgia by Cee-Lo Green

I Don't Know Why, But I Do by Chrisette Michele

I always get people asking me how I discover my music since I tend to listen to stuff you don’t hear in a lot of other places so I will let you guys in on a few of my favorite websites for discovering music (click on the names to go to the websites):

Pandora: I’m sure the vast majority of you all know about this website. It’s the perfect tool to find artists and music that are similar to what you already like to listen to. All you do is enter in an artist or a song that you like and Pandora will generate a station of similar music.

The Hype Machine: This website is really cool; it allows you to listen to the latest songs that have been uploaded on blogs all over the world. This is a good place to find all those remixes and mash-ups you won’t find in many other places. I have found some of the most amazing music on my iPod by using this website.

Okayplayer: Yet another phenomenal website, geared mostly toward true hip-hop heads and soul music fiends like myself. If you are a fan of The Roots, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch, J Dilla, Erykah Badu, Nneka, Meshell Ndegeocello, K-Os, etc., you will love this website. It’s not an online radio like Pandora or a series of mp3s like The Hype Machine so you will have to do a little snooping, but the site is pretty easy to navigate around.

HYPETRAK: I love this website so much! The best thing about it is the extremely wide variety of music that it offers; you will find everything from alternative to rap to pop to underground music. And this site is really good about posting brand new music very quickly, they are really on top of their ish. 

Happy music hunting :) 

The Most 'Slept On' Musicians (In My Humble Opinion)

These are just some of the many artists I feel do not get the recognition they deserve for the music they make. It seems that all the artists that stimulate my mind through their music are the ones who no one has really heard of or the ones that people have heard of but they just don’t really listen to. These artists don’t get paid like those on the top 20 charts, but I feel that is just the cost of producing true art. It’s like how I feel about my clothes; my favorite pieces in my wardrobe are all things I bought from thrift store or vintage shops. Even though they aren’t where most people go to shop, some of the best things can be found in them. The things I find while thrifting are one of a kind, soulful, and express my personality more than anything else. That is the same way I feel about these underrated musicians.

Here they are & my favorite song from each of them in no particular order
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The Foreign Exchange

Come Around by The Foreign Exchange


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Pharoahe Monch

Hold On by Pharoahe Monch feat. Erykah Badu
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K-Os

I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman by K-Os

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Noisettes

Every Now And Then by Noisettes

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Rhymefest

Sister by Rhymefest

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Bilal

Sometimes by Bilal

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Ledisi

Alright by Ledisi

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This list doesn’t even skim the surface of the numerous artists who don’t get enough attention. Don’t even get me started about how I feel about genius hip-hop musicians who have been around for so long but who still have not been given the attention that they fully deserve such as The Roots, Talib Kweli & Slum Village. And those R&B/Soul singers whose voices are ten times stronger and more dynamic than half the media puppets they play on the radio…I’m talking about people like Donell Jones, Jaheim, Amel Larrieux, Raheem DeVaughn, Dwele, Vikter Duplaix, Avant, Donnie…the list just goes on & on. And it’s a dang shame. Crap is so easily accessible in the music world, if you want to be enlightened through music you have to actively search for that good good. It shouldn’t be that way, but unfortunately it is.