So in yet another attempt to expand my blog and include as many facets of myself as you can stand, I thought about how songs frequently get stuck in our heads for hours, days, weeks and even months. There are some that we absolutely love, some that we are in like with and nails scratching on a chalkboard might pale in comparison to the rest. Most times, they're renting out brain space because we associate them with a memory, a place or a person; other times, it's completely inexplicable. Hence, I bring to you all a new monthly posting series: "Scribbler's 'Get Out of My Brain!' Countdown of the Month." Now before we begin, two things. First, I don't have an ASCAP or BMI representative in my head tracking every single spin in my own head, so these are totally metric-less estimations. Second, y'all know that I can't kick off the inaugural post of a series like this without naming the songs that got bumped out like "Grateful" by Hezekiah Walker & LFC, "Hold On (Change Is Comin')" by Sounds of Blackness, "5 Steps" by Dru Hill (which almost came back into the countdown), "Truffle Butter" by Nicki Minaj and "Splackavellie" by Pressha (which some of y'all either don't remember, have never heard or haven't heard since it was out, so that would've need a nice throwback to '98). It would've been nice to include those songs--all of which I fool with--but they didn't flood my brain as much as these ten little numbers...
#10 RIHANNA FEAT. DRAKE, "Work" (Anti, Westbury Road/Roc Nation, 2016). I don't care if people say that RiRi is speaking "jibberish" in this song. This joint cranks and it's ridiculously catchy. Kinda weird because the way that she sings it strangely makes me think of a woman's answer to Slim from 112...like I just hear his voice on this song, but please don't ask me why. I'm a weirdo of the highest order, so I'll spare you the details of my peculiarity and just leave it at that. Anyway, three thoughts are at play when I think about some of the shade being aimed RiRi's way. First, I think people got spoiled with how gangsta she was on "B---h Betta Have My Money", but everything clearly can't be that. Second, as much range as Rihanna has shown in career in terms of the styles that she can pull off, she sounds a little more at home doing a song like this--literally. Third, she's not doing what Beyoncé is doing right now and the Beyhive and many of its affiliates feel like she's trying it. As much as I'm loving what Bey is doing artistically, she hasn't put out a song in 2016 that makes me wanna get sweaty like I'm at the '97 Battle of the Bands. Rihanna has. It's all about that work, work, work, work, work...
#7 PRINCE FEAT. SHEENA EASTON, "U Got the Look" (Sign o' the Times, Paisley Park/Warner Bros., 1987). There are two obvious reasons for "U Got the Look" being on the list: 1) so much of Prince's music has been stuck in my head since his passing, and 2) it just rocks! Outside of those two factors, this ended up going around and around in my head as I was writing the second part to last week's "Rave & Favorite Five" Prince tribute. Whole time, it's really one part that keeps circling around: toward the end when his repetition of "here we are, folks...the dream we all dream of" from the intro is combined with a dope guitar solo. Truth be told, I nearly put "Pop Life" in place of this and that wasn't a song that had ever been on my mind for very long until recently. Nevertheless, considering that "U Got the Look" is still occupying brain space as we speak, this had to stay on the list...
#6 THE MANHATTANS, "I Kinda Miss You" (It Feels So Good, Columbia, 1977). So in coming up with an idea for a future project based off of one of my most personal and successful posts, I thought about including a snippet from this little number right chea in the introductory track. Part of the reason for the inclusion also had to do with this older lady who lived across the street from us and used to sit in her Chrysler Pacifica listening to songs just like this for hours. Well, on a recent trip to the grocery store brainstorming more about the idea, I pretty much did the same...only it was all in my mind. I've always loved this song, although it has always reminded me of a slower, more melancholic continuation of "Kiss And Say Goodbye". Much like its predecessor did when I was a boy, this was lodged in my brain for days. Then again, anything that Bobby Martin touches can stay up there for as long as it wants...
#5 GOODIE MOB, "Soul Food" (Soul Food, LaFace, 1995). In watching American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson, which is the one of the best entire seasons of a television series that I've seen in years, Dungeon Family fans can understand exactly why this song popped in my head. In the second verse, T-Mo says, "They know they're making it hard on the yard/F--k Chris Darden, f--k Marcia Clark!" Even as a teenager, I always thought, "Well dang, T-Mo...tell 'em how you really feel!" As I watched the reenactment of how the two prosecutors pretty much had O.J. and his "Dream Team" of defense counsels nailed to the wall with evidence but blew it because of tactical errors, no other lyrics from this song even remotely came to mind. Meanwhile, although this has never been my favorite song from Soul Food, I ended up appreciating and liking the song a lot more once I had the whole album--which is one of my favorite hip hop albums of all time. Might have to dust off my copy and get some good ol' fashioned soul food...alright...
#4 BROWNSTONE, "If You Love Me" (From the Bottom Up, Epic/MJJ, 1995). This one is simple: blame Mrs. Scribbler for playing Tory Lanez's "Say It" ad nauseam. I don't think this song was stuck in my head that much in 1994; as a matter of fact, "Grapevyne" and "Don't Cry For Me" got way more play when I bought From the Bottom Up. The last time that I really thought about this song at great length was during my junior year in college when one of my friends was bumping this in her CR-V on the way back from the bar. That moment took me back to listening to music in my room in high school, and having it swirl around in my head recently recalled that same "innocent" time. Perfect example of why I understand the younger generation's love affair with the 90s. This is one of the many gems from one of the best periods of music ever...
#2 BILLY PAUL, "War of the Gods" (War of the Gods, Philadelphia International, 1973). Another simple one here: my Billy Paul tribute is the guilty culprit, but let me tell y'all how serious my obsession is. As I was listening to it on a portable speaker and came to my favorite part at the 2:38 mark, the fullness from the Rhodes didn't translate to that speaker very well. When I played it from YouTube on the computer speakers, it still wasn't the same. However, when I plugged my headphones into my iPhone, that fullness was there and made me realize how much of an audiophile that I can be because I started the song all over again. Since writing the post, "War of the Gods" has dominated my brain nearly all day long every day. Unlike many of the songs on this month's countdown, different parts have replayed constantly: the warm-up before the song truly begins; the part when Paul sings, "The time has come for bad things to end/The time has come for life to begin/The time has come for the war of the Gods"; when he and his background singers go through the different "Gods"; when he praises "the only one God that's true" and says, "You are the strong and You are the mighty/I hope I'm with you when they start the fighting the war of the Gods," and everything reaches a dramatic climax before the final change in the song; and one of the funniest parts of the song when he shades Lucifer, "God...kicked you out of Heaven 'cause you didn't pay your rent!" You tell him, Billy...
#1 IMAGINATION, "Just an Illusion" (In the Heat of the Night, R&B/MCA, 1982). Although I have no idea how "Just an Illusion" recently ended up on my mind so heavily, my storied infatuation with it begins on a cloudy day in Southeast. I'm in the car with Big Dadi and Momma Scribbler circa 1983 riding along Southern Avenue and this comes on the radio. From that bass line to the chants in the pre-chorus, I was hooked. Unfortunately, because it wasn't as big of a smash here in the states as it was in the U.K., I was glued to the radio in vain and don't recall hearing the song again for a while--not knowing who sings it or even the name of it. Years later, I was watching the end of F/X, heard it during the end credits and was so busy nostalgically jamming that I forgot to check the credits to see who sings it! Then I don't hear even a remnant of it until 1999 during the end credits of the movie Senseless with Marlon Wayans. Once again, the beauty of hip-hop samples (featured in "Gotta Be...Movin' On Up" by Prince Be of P.M. Dawn featuring John Forte and Ky-mani Marley) and meticulous crediting worked to my advantage as I saw "contains a sample of 'Just an Illusion' as performed by Imagination". Boom went the dynamite and the rest was history. Although I realize now that it's not the greatest song ever made, you couldn't tell that to three-year-old Dirk Scribbler without as lengthy of a pitch regarding why it was as one could expect from a kid who could read The Washington Post with ease, but could barely understand the concept of loop, swoop and pull.
If you have a song or two or ten that have been stuck in your brain for the past month, then please feel free to drop them in the comments. Please make sure to come back next month and see what won't get out of my head--and don't be surprised if any of these songs are repeat offenders!!
If you have a song or two or ten that have been stuck in your brain for the past month, then please feel free to drop them in the comments. Please make sure to come back next month and see what won't get out of my head--and don't be surprised if any of these songs are repeat offenders!!
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