Get it Got it Good

I keep slippin' on posting. I just want to share about what and who inspires me. I think I'm going to try and do this again, though. This will probably be more for me than anyone who stumbles into this spot. Today's post is going to focus on Shad.

I've been following his sounds since the days of MySpace. Every project and collab he makes is fun, smart and special. He comes across as sincere in every project he does without forcing anything. There's often a wink and a nod kind of feel to much of his work. There's always something clever. It's always great.

Here's his latest effort:


I love this song and video. It makes me happy. From the intro screen to how it's shot, to how Shad growls off some of his punchlines in those opening bars. Dude preaches without sounding self-righteous. That's a tough thing to do with a message to share.

Punchline after punchline is profound in this track, and I could loop it all day.

I'm going to post a few more videos from Shad that I've enjoyed. The dude's whole catalog is an easy thing to listen to.
 



Each song has it's own vibe. Each punchline has it's own layers. And they keep coming, line after line. The man is brilliant.


Here's a whole bunch of sounds, all in one video. It's always great to hear an artist play close to their home. It's like a family celebration vibe to it.

Fast Cars, Summer Dog Days, And Poetry

It's been awhile since I've posted, but I just wanted to start writing again, specifically about music. I'll try to make this a regular habit, and we'll see how it goes.

All of these happen to be live performances. There's just something cool about the live delivery and the occasional adlibs.

The first song I'm going to post about here is Tracy Chapman's song, "Fast Car." There's such a brilliant story being told in this song, and it's drawn me in from the gripping, looping melody, to a few of the lines that just hit me.

One of the signs of how brilliant this song is that there are so many covers to be found, many by very well-known artists. Nothing compares to the original, though.

My favorite lines:
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder
And I had a feeling that I belonged
And I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone...








The next song is from a duo that I've been a fan of since they were a trio. The Remnant is a group out of Atlanta, and these two gentlemen deserve a larger platform. Adan and Niles have such great lyricism, and this song features some brilliant give and take. I really enjoy this acoustic, live version of "Summer Dog Days."
Adan has a ton of great spoken word material out there, as well.

My favorite lines:
Life is never how you ever planned,
So when the weatherman forecasts and bets his hand,
Treat it with a speck of sand...

In search of significance,
see, we don't always see the same thing,
but we always try to work through the differences...

Crawlin' in the pollen and the dandelion grass,
Hot enough to light a fire with a magnifying glass...






And the last one I'll share is "Bloody Poetry" by Grieves. I just really love this instrumental and his delivery. He has a number of great instrumentals that feature soulful keys and the use of horns.

My favorite line:
It's forever, slowly resurrected from the dust,
When you realize it's everything inside of you -- It's us.

 

NF, Free Daps, KB & Tedashii

I'm reposting this from my other site, No Time To Be Cool. I've decided to keep that mostly ministry, and dedicate this site to music. I hope you enjoy the artists I feature here.

I've gotten a few questions lately about artists I'd recommend. I'll keep it to the hip hop genre for today and include a few links so that you can sample some of the people in my rotation lately:

NF

 I just caught this young man this weekend at Sonshine Festival in Wisconsin, and he (and his music) connects with people of so many ages. I saw grown men in their forties and teenagers keeping up with him line for line. His flow on the song "Intro" (in the video above) is insane. "I'll Keep On" is my favorite track off of his album Mansion. Check out his website for more on him.


Free Daps

Free Daps is a duo out of Florida that specializes in freestyle and has some fun free music available. They blend wordplay and faith into their lyrics with a sincerity that many other artists can't project. Check out their free InDAPendence album here. I'm a big fan of Jordan's work on this entire project. I can't stop listening to "Briar Patch."


KB


Another guy with great wordplay and theology woven in. His latest project "Tomorrow We Live" has some gems on it. Check out "I Believe." Get to his website here.


Tedashii


Tedashii is another man I saw perform at Sonshine this past weekend. I know some of his back story, which is powerful and inspiring. He has some diverse music in his collection, from Blacklight to Below Paradise. Check out his website here. Enjoy some tunes. I'll post more later this week.

Welcome To The Show

I'm going to use this site as a way to review and share music. From some of my favorite artists, from myself, and just share some thoughts on all of that.

I'm not sure how frequent or how fancy this will be, but I'm going to have some fun with it.

Thanks for clicking. Thanks for listening. Let's explore.