Darian

Ten Songs from 2015 that you should be listening to: #6 Mocky’s Tomorrow Maker

Mocky-by-Vice_Cooler-15_04_29_1[1] The whole reason I’m writing these post about by favorites from 2015 is because of Mocky’s Key Change. I was mousing around online a few weeks ago, and, by chance, came across Mocky’s 2015 release in iTunes. I’m not new to his music: Saskamodie’s “Music To My Ears” has been part of my iTunes library since 2009. So given than, I should have been on the lookout for his new album.

Key Change is a gorgeous, gentle blend of songcraft that recalls classic pop and soul records but still feels decidedly modern.
– Fact

Well, I missed it, and many of the online blogs I read missed it as well. So, I’m making up for lost time by telling the world how great this album is. There are a number of stand-out tracks: “When Paulie Gets Mad” sounds like it could be the main theme in a Woody Allen film¹; “Soulful Beat” makes me long to zip around town on a hot summer night with the car windows down; the sparseness of “Weather Any Storm” is beautifully haunting.

My favorite track is the three-minute “Tomorrow Maker”. Mocky starts out with a slow, burning groove that’s custom-made for a blaxpoitation flick. He then flips the script at the 1:58 mark, turning the late-night jam into a funky, bass-thumping, hand-clapping, piano-scatting romp

Mocky – Tomorrow Maker

Ten Songs from 2015 that you should be listening to: #7 Teedra Moses’ All I Ever Wanted

NEW YORK - MAY 10: Recording artist Teedra Moses poses for photos at Teedra Moses and Keke Wyatt's Showcase at Room Service May 10, 2007 in New York City. (Photo by Ray Tamarra/Getty Images) Teedra Moses dropped a classic “hood-life” LP – Complex Simplicity – in 2004 and disappeared (outside of the occasional mix-tape or guest appearance).¹ 11 years later, she’s back with her second official release: Cognac & Conversation. Teedra is still down, but has evolved: check her lyrics to 2004’s “You’ll Never Find”

Oh cat daddy…

Tell me what you know about, tell me what you know about.
(You and me together)
Loving, so sweet, no beef, just us two
Tell me what you know about, tell me what you know about
(Love through any weather)
Fuss, fight, put you out, take you back cuz baby it’s a
(Ghetto love affair, Ghetto love affair, Ghetto love affair)

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Ten Songs from 2015 that you should be listening to: #8 Jazmine Sullivan’s Mascara

Jazmine-Sullivan-Mascara-Promo[1] As Kanye once said: “I ain’t sayin’ she’s a gold-digger, but she ain’t messin’ with no….”

Well, Jazmine Sullivan does call them gold diggers, in the excellent “Mascara”. Her opening lyrics let you know exactly what’s she’s singing about (in the first person, no less)¹:

Yeah my hair and my — fake, but so what?
I get my rent paid with it and my —- get me trips
To places I can’t pronounce right
He said he’d keep it coming if I keep my body tight

Simply put: its a great song with great production from Key Wane. And yeah, it’s about a “kept” woman, but really I think its about all of us – the paranoia or worry we have about our looks.

Most people think I’m shallow
‘Cause I’m always dressed like I’m going out to the club
But I gotta keep up cause it’s new chicks poppin’ up everyday
And they want the same thang

Jazmine Sullivan – Mascara

Ten Songs from 2015 that you should be listening to: #9 Jill Scott’s Prepared

music2-1-57b0cc5098090001[1] I’m a sucker for artists that write and record from the heart; maybe that’s why I have every studio album that “Jilly from Philly” has released. I find her honesty refreshing: everything’s not always ok, sometimes things are good, sometimes bad… and everyone likes grits.

Her 2015 release, Woman, is another peek into her life; however, it feels like the drama has subsided since 2011’s Light of the Sun¹. When I first listened to the album, I heard a theme of cleaning up the messes we make along the way. That speaks to me; maybe it’s what I love “Prepared”.
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Ten Songs from 2015 that you should be listening to: #10 Yasiin Bey’s Sensei On The Block

Last September, the underground hip-hop community lost their stuff when a new Mos Def track dropped out of the sky. The track, “Sensei on the Block”, featured the Brooklyn rapper at his finest, over a killer steel-drum beat by Ski Beatz¹. Many, me included, thought that this was a return to glory for the Mighty Mos Def – both from a lyrics and titular perspective (in late 2011, Mos decide to perform under his gov’t name – Yasiin Bey).
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