As with many hip hop classics, this song is underpinned by a smooth beat. Terrible rapping ruins great instrumentals, and great rapping is wasted on…
Month: November 2020
29/11/2020: “I’ve Got A Woman” by Ray Charles
The chorus of this song is better known from Kanye West’s “Gold Digger” (2005). The sample is flipped on its head there – in the…
28/11/2020: “Jah Is Mighty” by Bob Marley
Dig into Bob Marley’s back catalogue, past “Buffalo Soldier” and “Three Little Birds”, and you’ll be surprised. Many of Marley’s most profound and beautiful songs…
27/11/2020: “King Of My Castle (Roy Malone’s King Mix” by Wamdue Project
At one stage in my life, I worked as a lifeguard at my local pool. In the evenings, when it was quiet, we’d sometimes have…
26/11/2020: “Snow Creatures” by Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones is on the more ‘experimental’ end of Jazz. Frankly, a lot of his music dives into glittering pools of weirdness and splashes iridescent…
25/11/2020: “Stink Face” by Kerwin Du Bois
When I think of Caribbean music, I normally think of reggae, or ragga dancehall – both associated with Jamaica. They’re laidback and bass heavy. But…
24/11/2020: “Here Comes Your Man” by The Pixies
Released in 1989, on Doolittle, this track was actually written quite a few years later, when frontman Black Francis was 14. It’s a very sweet,…
23/11/2020: “Youth Of Eglington” by Black Uhuru
For context, Eglington is an area of Toronto with a large Jamaican community. Brixton is an area of London with a large Jamaican community. And…
22/11/2020: “Surfin’ Dead” by The Cramps
The Cramps are one of the craziest bands ever. Their pioneering status in punk marks them out as legends regardless of their other attibutes. But,…
21/11/2020: “Fashion” by David Bowie
This is typical trailblazing David Bowie. It’s simultaneously entrenched in its time, and beyond it. There’s just enough weirdness to mark it indelibly as a…