In Heavy Rotation (April 2016)

The beauty of a being a perfectionist is that you're always figuring out ways to produce a better product while fine tuning it along the way.  Originally, the intent of "In Heavy Rotation" was less about a standard album review and more about sharing what I was listening to within a given month.  However, I have decided to tweak the format just a wee bit to make it one part sharing, one part specific showcasing and all parts dope music, and I wholeheartedly believe that the new structure will guide this series in a direction closer to who I am as a person and an avid lover of music.  Without too much rambling as I'm prone to do occasionally, time to roll out the new-and-hopefully-improved "In Heavy Rotation"...

AGAINST THE GRAIN PICK OF THE MONTH: STURGILL SIMPSON, A Sailor's Guide to Earth (Atlantic, 2016).  Unlike everyone else who will be featured in this month's edition, I know absolutely nothing about Sturgill Simpson and I couldn't tell you one song that he has sung, written or produced before today.  However, that's the beauty of choosing him as my first-ever "Against the Grain Pick of the Month" because there is no lengthy narrative about my connection his music; all I have is my unfettered opinion.  As soon as I heard the first few notes and his voice on the opening track, I knew that I would enjoy A Sailor's Guide to Earth as much of the album gives me classic Nashville country--where Simpson moved with his wife in 2012 after spending most of his life in Kentucky--mixed with a little Memphis soul reminiscent of the Stax Records heyday.  Moreover, reading his inspiration for the album brought it all together even more as it's intended to be a 39-minute letter to his son to prepare him for the adventures of life.  On the spiritually-stirring "All Around You", he sings:

There will be nights that go on forever/Like you're long-lost at sea/Never to be found/Just know in your heart/That we're always together/And long after I'm gone/I'll still be around/'Cause our bond is eternal/And so is love/God is inside you/All around you/And up above...

Putting me in the mind of Al Green's "Love and Happiness" being met with a country rock treatment, "Brace for Impact (Live a Little)" is a battle cry for living a passionate life: "So go and live a little/Bone turns brittle/And skin withers before your eyes/Make sure you give a little/Before you go to the great unknown in the sky."  The soulful, blaring horns of "Keep It Between the Lines" wake and shake you into listen-up mode as he provides more sagacious advice:

Don't turn mailboxes into baseballs/Don't get busting selling at seventeen/Most thoughts deserve about two or three more/Motor oil is motor oil/Just keep your engine clean/Keep your eyes on the prize/Everything will be fine/Long as you stay in school/Stay off the hard stuff/And keep between the lines...

As an artist and a father, I can only hope to one day create even one song that resonates with my son as much as A Sailor's Guide to Earth will affect the course of the life of Simpson's young son.  OTHER NOTABLES: "Sea Stories" and "Call to Arms".

HOMETOWN HERO PICK OF THE MONTH: KLUTCH DA RAPPER, 3275 Da Privates (Hosted by DJ Migoo, 2016).  So this could also be titled a "Shameless Plug of the Month Pick" as I have personally known this brother for nearly 14 years, so I'll try to be as unbiased as possible.  Since his days with rap group K-MOB, Klutch has delivered an undeniable energy on the mic and has continued to progress as a recording and performing artist.  Following up the buzz from his debut solo album, Blood, Sweat & Tears (2012), Klutch sticks to the script of gritty street anthems with plenty of Southeast D.C. "swank" on his latest mixtape, 3275 Da Privates.  On "Corner", he teams up with LaCosa S.O.S.A. to illustrate the struggle for survival in the roughest parts of the city: "Momma prayin' for me, hopin' she can wake God up/Bills due, I'm pushin' product, tryna resurrect the Carter."  On the ruggedly-vivid "Can You Picture", he candidly lays out various scenarios from the struggles of a homeless man to a girl being abused by her father to even his own experiences in the streets:

Got me feelin' like da Vinci, tryna crack the code/A different clue gettin' me warmer, but I'm still so cold/How can a n---a only twenty-somethin' feel so old?/Answer, life's a b---h, streets done stole his soul...

The tour de force track, however, is where the project begins as "Supreme" as he flexes an air-tight flow and unapologetic bravado.  On this majestic beat, he spits stone cold bars like "Boys in the hood, you n----s get treated like Ricky shot running, catch two in your spleen" and (perhaps the ultimate HYFR moment) "dissin' my name in your rap, I'ma smack the sh-- out you, I don't give a f--k who you wit".  On the strength of "Supreme" alone, 3275 Da Privates has been worth the listen.  OTHER NOTABLES: "Fearless" and "What It Do".

SOCIAL MEDIA PICK OF THE MONTH: BLACK MILK & NAT TURNER, The Rebellion Sessions (Computer Ugly, 2016).  Back in 2011, I remember seeing Black Milk live at U Street Music Hall and hearing a significant amount of his music for the first time; truth be told though, I initially went to support my longtime buddy Malik Hunter aka FireArcher, who was playing bass as part of the D.C.-based band Nat Turner that also included keyboardist and singer Aaron "Ab" Abernathy.  Because I was so impressed with Milk's material and how he absolutely owned that room that night, I went on iTunes the very next day and purchased all of his albums.  Several tours and collaborations later, Milk and Nat Turner (now including drummer Zebulun "Z" Horton) have finally put together their first official collaboration, The Rebellion Sessions, resulting from a week's worth of music that tucks away Milk's lyrics for an instrumental fusion of jazz and funk with him as the orchestrator.  The fluid movement of Hunter's bass on "Burn" reigns supreme on the smooth ride while Abernathy's keys provide bright splashes and Horton's drums quietly hold the pace steady.  "Just a Thing" fuses a little more of Milk's grittiness with Nat Turner's jazzy funk, allowing everyone to especially shine at about the 0:50 mark--particularly Abernathy's twinkling and sparkling keys.  Ending the album strongly, "4 Blacks" absolutely bangs with Horton smacking you in the mouth with the snare, Hunter dictating just as much of the rhythm with a steady bass line and Abernathy adding melodic fullness.  Yeah...this is my kind of rebellion indeed.  OTHER NOTABLES: "The Knock" and "Take 2".

PERSONAL PICK OF THE MONTH: ROYCE DA 5'9", Layers (Bad Half, 2016).  From one dope Detroit artist to another, the Motor City just manufactures some of the best MCs and producers in the game.  Although I have known how dope Royce Da 5'9" is for the past 18 years, he is a prime example of how you strive to get better as an artist.  After a memorable collaboration with DJ Premier on the PRhyme album (2013), he continues his lyrical master class per the usual on his first solo album in five years, Layers.  Part of the story of this album begins where it ends as "Off" finds Royce weaving through a retrospective narrative as well as assessing his significance to hip hop:

Now how do I stop being underrated?/How do I get props like, let's say, a Drake?/But I rap with the skill set of let's say/A Black Thought or an Elzhi/If Jay Elec can bag a Rothschild without an album/Then I can come back to rap after doing some jail time...

Supported by the soulful vocals of Loren W. Oden, "Dope!" is the smoothest submission on Layers as Royce wittily centers everything around one recurring theme:

A fan asked me for a picture, I squatted down for a jail pose/Then I dashed before the picture could flash, I forgot I had to go sell dope/What news you got, if it ain't about selling dope, I can't take it/The doctor gave me five months to live, I told her, "N---a, I can't make it"/Tell whoever set my expiring date I had a prior engagement to sell dope...

The other part of the story to Layers ends where it begins, and that's with the spiritual retrospect manifested magnificently on "Tabernacle" where he talks about family history, addiction and his path through hip hop.  Perhaps the most interesting contrast that he draws is between death and life as he speaks on his grandmother and his son after he finishes up a performance:

But I'll get back, I got the family waitin'/I get to skatin'/As soon as I get to the hospital, they tell me that my granny didn't make it/She just died, I'm feelin' helpless, it hurt me/On the flip side, my little boy is healthy in the nursery/I picked him up, looked in his eyes for the first time and I cried/Ain't no denyin' this is the power of God/I said, "I love you, Granny" and looked to the sky/Like even though he just got here, goodbye...

Whether it's been collaborating with Eminem, teaming up with Slaughterhouse or standing on his own, I've listened to a lot of superior bars from Royce.  However, "Tabernacle" is an accomplishment all on its own because it reiterates my initial point: there's nothing like watching an already dope artist continue to mature and evolve--much to the chagrin of the rest of the rap game.  OTHER NOTABLES: "Layers" (feat. Pusha T & Rick Ross), "Quiet" (feat. Tiara & Mr. Porter).  

THROWBACK PICK OF THE MONTH: Prince, 1999 (Warner Bros., 1982).  Before the unexpectedly tragic passing of Prince last Thursday, this spot was reserved for Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon after narrowly beating out Rush's 2112 album.  However, there was no way that I could do an "In Heavy Rotation" and not include one of Prince's best albums.  Although Purple Rain has taken back the spot as my favorite Prince album, 1999 was king for a while because everything about it feels like just enough of the grit from Controversy with some of the spit shine later put on Purple Rain.  With seductive lyrics like "if for any reason there is a loss in cabin pressure, I will automatically drop down to apply more" and "please bring your lips, your arms, your hips into the upright and locked position for landing", "International Lover" is erotic creativity at its finest--so much that I'm pretty sure that it fueled a significant portion of my "vivid imagination" from adolescence well into adulthood.  As a three-year-old boy, there was no way for me to comprehend that "Little Red Corvette" was a poignant ode to what we in the D.C. area refer to as a "rolla":

I guess I should've known from the way you parked your car sideways/That it wouldn't last/See, you're the kind of person that believes in makin' out once/Love 'em and leave 'em fast/I guess I must be dumb because you had pocket full of horses/Trojan and some of them used/But it was Saturday night, I guess that makes it all right/And you say what have I got to lose?

In a stable full of thoroughbreds on 1999, the title track has always been the steadiest horse in the race as well as my favorite, being yet another example of the age-old saying of "with age comes wisdom":

I was dreamin' when I wrote this, so sue me if I go too fast...But life is just a party and parties weren't meant to last...War is all around, my mind says prepare to fight...So if I gotta die, I'm gonna listen to my body tonight...

I suppose that even as a child, the main thing that I needed to pick up on was the general concept of "party".  Not even "party" or "dance" in the obvious sense, but just living life to the fullest because with so much chaos and destruction in the world--which seems to have grown worse in the 34 years since 1999's release--we might as well be our boldest, happiest, truest selves.  That alone is why this album is among his best.  OTHER NOTABLES: "D.M.S.R." and "Lady Cab Driver".