1. Ari Lennox - "Night Drive" 2017 Ari has been touring the globe as part of J. Cole's Dreamville Records crew and collecting new fans every step of the way; myself included. This song went straight to the New Hotness Spotify playlist.
2. L'Orange feat. Del The Funky Homosapien - "Blame The Author" 2017 L'Orange is that dude 100%. One of the reasons I'm so all about his production is that he is smart enough to use samples with women's voices in them. L'Orange's new album, The Ordinary Man, is due out October 27.
3. Falon Sierra - "Sprained Ankles" 2017 SEATTLE MUSIC Love the effort that went into the video for this song, keep it up Falon! KEXP did a great interview with Falon around EMP Sound Off... peep it.
4. J'Von - "Grey Beanie" 2017 SEATTLE MUSIC I'll be a J'Von fan for life; I can't wait to see where his journey takes him. His animation always take his projects to the next level.
J'Von's latest EP was released on October 20.
5. Last Word - "Andrew" 2017 Can't say enough good things about Last Word and this mix hosted by Brother Ali. Last Word is Brother Ali's DJ/Tour Manager/Super Homie and is currently driving the van I'm writing this in... until it's my turn to drive again. He's giving this mix away for free.99 via the Fifth Element website.
6. Jessie Reyez - "Fuck It (Stripped)" 2017 I have yet to find a Jessie Reyez song I didn't like.
7. Wu-Tang Clan feat. Redman - "People Say" 2017 Wu-Tang Clan recently released an album many of us are afraid to listen to in fear it won't live up to our expectations. I will face my fears later today and get back to you...
8. WESTSIDEDOOM - "2STINGS" 2017 (Produced by Alchemist) Alchemist = Beat Nasty Face every single time.
9. Akua Naru - "My Mother's Daughter" 2017 Akua Naru's Mother must be so proud and honored to be featured in her daughter's music in such a way. It's beautiful to see women pay tribute to each other with their art.
10. ODESZA feat. Leon Bridges - "Across The Room" 2017 Leon Bridges is just so damn classy.
11. ill Camille feat. Damani Nkosi - "Home" 2017 (produced by Georgia Anne Muldrow) Still hoping to find a rabbit hole of dope producers that just happen to be women. For now, Georgia Anne Muldrow is the Queen.
12. LayFullStop - "YinYang" 2016 I discovered LayFullStop via the UK magazine/website Bonafide's 5 Essential New Voices In Rap. She's in a crew called Cul De Sac, a group whose video will appear on the next installment of bicycle videos (you should watch their 2016 video for "Know We Now" asap though, it's that awesome).
Her latest, released back in September...
13. Bomba Estéreo - "Internacionales" 2017 You best believe I just added this to the Roller Skating Music Videos YouTube playlist. Bomba Estéreo makes the most fuego videos of them all.
14. Tierra Whack - "MUMBO JUMBO" 2017 Bless you Tierra Whack for embracing the weirdness and making such a rad video.
15. Prince Paul - "REDUX ALBUM 2018" 2017 Prince Paul will always be in my Top 5 Producers. Here's hoping when I eventually meet him that I'll be smoother than when I met Dan The Automator. Prince Paul is giving this album away for free cuz he's that dude.
16. ¿Téo? feat. Jaden Smith - "Uno Dos" 2017 At the age of 19, Jaden Smith has already surpassed most of us on his journey of self growth. I'm 100% on board.
17. Guayaba - "Live On KEXP" 2017 SEATTLE MUSIC Guayaba is a Queen on this Earth with infinite potential. I love her.
18. Lute - "Morning Shift" 2017 From the Dreamville crew...
19. hERON - "hERON" 2017 SEATTLE/SAN ANTONIO MUSIC In the words of the artists themselves...
hERON is a long-distance, Seattle-slash-San Antonio collaboration between Progeny of Chisme/Ghost Palace (MPC) and Rob Castro of Grayskul/Ghost Palace (bass). Instrumental trip-hop infused with a gloomy dreamlike melancholy, hERON’s cinematic sad bangers draw as much from psych rock, 70’s pop and Twin Peaks as they do from Seattle’s chief exports of hiphop and grunge.
In my words...
This is dope, I love it.
20. John Legend feat. Chance The Rapper - "Penthouse Floor" 2017 The mainstream still has some cuts...
21. Nick Hakim - "Cuffed" 2017 My intro to Nick Hakim was his animated video for "Roller Skates" and I was hooked immediately; peep the video on 10 Animated Music Videos Part VI. If you're itching to learn more about him, check out his interviews with FADER and Pitchfork.
22. Little Dragon feat. Faith Evans - "Peace Of Mind" 2017 This jam is almost too smooth... wouldn't mind if it hit a little harder but I felt the same way about Little Dragon's last release as well. I much prefer Faith Evans on this track to her "new" album with Biggie.
23. Zensofly - "Getting Started" 2017 I was blessed to meet Zensofly briefly at Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, North Carolina. She was headlining a show in the smaller room of the venue The #OwnLightTour was also performing in. Didn't get to catch her set cuz I was posted up at the merch booth but I loved discovering an artist in this way.
24. Method Man + Black Thought Cypher On Sway In The Morning 2017 Everything about this is whoa.
25. pinkcaravan! - "A LLAMA BROKE INTO MY HOUSE AGAIN" 2017 If I tried to find ten llama music videos, I may never get a chance to share her sad happy rap.
26. Everything Is Recorded feat. Syd + Sampha - "Show Love" 2017 A lyric video for people who aren't into lyric videos.
27. Bahamadia - "Dialed Up" 2017 Bahamadia recorded this entire EP in her car on her phone. Amazing what we can accomplish if we make the most of what we have!
