7/26/2006 - Touch

Song: Touch
Artist: Omarion
Why this song is the current jam: The beat is hot. I love the hyper-artificial sound they get with the drums and the voice in combination. There is someting about the way this song sounds that is fuckin sexy. Also, an easy way to get hooked on this song is to check out the video on youtube, because Omarion and that chick dancing straight up KILL it with the dancing. Amazing. That is the kind of choreography/dancing that I love because it makes you hear new and interesting things in the music. And plus, this song would never exist had not my main man Prince come along first. Listen to this song in the context of "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker" and the key changes and feel of the song come into focus a bit. Try though one might, Prince's ever-present influence on popular music is nigh-unavoidable. This one is dedicated to Nomster since we shared our love for this song and the video at Herrang this year and celebrated with a dance to this song. Check for O's new album in October if you like this song.

7/6/2006 - This Is Life

Song: This Is Life
Artist: Krukid
Why this song is the current jam: Hey so I met this guy through my friend Dave who met him at some camp somewhere, and this dude wanted to freestyle with my boy cuz Dave is a rapper. So they do it up, and whoa, this kid is really really good, really has a sound a lot like Jay-Z. He is originally from Uganda and now lives in Illinois, and I think he is gonna be a pretty successful rapper eventually. As far as I can tell from my completely-disconnected-from-anything-that-is- keepin-it-remotely-real-in-hip-hop-circles position, I think he is blowin up in the underground scene already. So this is his first album and really just listen to the flow. It is easy, has that feeling like he could just keep going, like he is talking to you. He also says clever shit and is even pretty poignant from time to time which is a tall fuckin order when it comes to hip hop these days. Plus I really enjoy his production. For all you heads out there, you should definitely "cop" this one as the kids say. This one gets me just because the sample is so tight. So interesting and such a long, weird sample, and his rhymes are tight too. Enjoy.

7/4/2006 - Sugar

Song: Sugar
Artist: John Starkey
Why this song is the current jam: OK, how about 1 good song every 3 months. Shit, I have gotten a little derailed on this music blog mission here, but hey, what better day to get back on track than the 4th of July? So here is a little something for anyone who ever checks this. This guy is from the Twin Cities, and he is really talented. I got to see him the other day and he has a tight little band with two female backup singers (which I think would be just great to have in general, two chicks to back me up whenever I felt like busting into song). You can tell that he has listened to a lot of D'Angelo and Prince, both of which are good things in my book. It was also really fun dancing to his music. So anyways, you can get this album on iTunes, I recommend checkin it out.

Here is a little bonus track since I feel so guilty for not posting anything for 3 months. This is from his live album, which I guess you have to buy at a show, so it may be tougher to get a hold of. This is Don't Be Afraid which is his own song, not to be confused with the Aaron Hall jammy jam from back in the day off of the Juice soundtrack by the same name.

p.s. Here is that Aaron Hall song, it is exemplary of the style of R&B/Soul in the vein of Joe Tex, that I have dubbed date-rape music. There is something about the sultry stylings here that seem to cross some sort of legal line. But when you dont listen to the words, it all works the same.