1. J Dilla feat. Nas "The Sickness" (Prod. by Madlib) 2016 "The Sickness," vocals recorded in 2001, is the bonus track on the iTunes release of J Dilla's "The Diary" album earlier this year on Nas' Mass Appeal Records.
2. K.Raydio and Psymun - "Sweet Dreamz" 2014 King Of The Category goes to Minneapolis' K.Raydio and Psymun for the most rotating head action in a video thus far.
The video reminds me of this Rolling Stones album cover.
3. Disclosure feat. Sam Smith - "Latch" 2012 This song is super played out now, but that doesn't change that this is an epic love song. I saw Sam Smith perform this song live at the Paramount in Seattle but he made it a slow jam, ew. Don't get me wrong, I love slow jams but I much prefer the original.
4. Joe Jackson - "Steppin' Out" 1982 This song still goes...hard.
5. Cyne - "Running Water" 2005 I love how many different special effects there are in this video. Cise Star of Cyne recently performed at a show I helped make happen at Barboza with Shing02, Spinmaster A-1, Marcus D, and Dex Amora. They all killed it.
6. Alessia Cara - "Here" 2015 Ballsy move to sample Portishead, but, she nailed it. The rest of her album is just meh to me. This song got her a big ol buzz, she'll be able to keep my attention if she stays weird but that may not be up to her at this point.
7. Jessie Ware - "Tough Love" 2014 Props to Jessie Ware for knowing how to be a classy pop star, she can even make a ponytail glamorous. I got to see her at an in-store performance at Sonic Boom in Ballard and later that evening at The Neptune Theater during her "Devotion" Tour in 2013.
8. FKA Twigs - "Water Me" 2013 You will lose this staring contest.
9. Glass Animals - "Cocoa Hooves" 2012 Slugs are pretty awesome as long as you don't accidentally step on them, which happens a lot in Washington. I am down with Glass Animals but their sound is almost too distinctive (almost too similar). Their "Love Lockdown" cover remains to be my favorite from their camp.
10. THEESatisfaction - "EarthEE" 2015 So glad that these ladies are Seattleites and I love that they're going to explore solo careers. Evolution and personal growth are where its at.
SassyBlack gets my vote for most inspiring social media presence (Dam Funk, Gary Vaynerchuck, and sometimes Russell Simmons are the fellow nominees). She's proving to us how hard work, a great attitude, an open mind, and having the guts to be yourself is the best way to succeed in this world. This is one of my favorite SassyBlack quotes so far.