This past weekend I was lucky enough to spend time with all of my friends for my friend’s 40th birthday party out at my buddy’s farm. We all had a great time getting “off the grid” and enjoying each other’s company. You know, like life used to be before the days of the internet and social media took over our mental health.
As usual, I woke up at 4:15ish which is actually sleeping in for me but nobody ever can begin to comprehend that. So I did what I do and chased a sunrise but this one was different as I didn’t have a car. I had to hike through the darkness to get up to the plateau to get a view of it all. The land itself, the 360 degree views it provides, and a bird’s eye view of where all of my friends were sleeping in their homes, RV’s, Airstreams, tricked out Vans, tents, and hammock tents. The crew straight represented for our homegirl’s 40th birthday.
15 minutes before sunrise
Being that I was up and moving around, I threw on some Freddie Gibbs as I prepared to ruck through the wilderness with 2 CleverMade Tamarack Chairs in my hand. As I sat and waited for the sunrise. I set up my position and just started flooding songs into a new playlist. And this couldn’t just be a playlist that I throw together after hitting j after j while the owls communicate. This was being created at a time when we were together to be with one of our dear friends so I wanted to cater the mix to something that could be played in the home with their youngster. Sure there are some cuss words here and there but at this point, aren’t there other more pressing issues to be concerned about.
Wiz’s “Waken Baken” has to be the intro because that Kush & OJ mixtape was just a vibe in itself. But after “Waken Baken” I had to immediately set the tone for the playlist. And what better way to do this from going from an older Wiz intro to some Michael Franks from the Mid70s. This has to be a top 10 song of all time right? “St. Elmo’s Fire” is on another level. Such a beautiful way to kick off a playlist..
Tone set… Now where we do go from here? Well, at 5am when I was making the decision the time had changed a few hours earlier and the only sounds were the wolves, coyotes, owls, donkeys, and crickets chirping. The crickets chirping instantly made me think of the farm and the present moment I was in so my girl Aaliyah gets the now with “One in a Million” which is a masterpiece. Missy and Timbaland helped write the song and Timbo did his thing on the production. Timbo, Magoo, Aaliyah, Missy, and Jermaine Dupree among many others… That’s a creative little circle right there. And just to think, Puffy was first slotted to handle the production which eventually fell through. Could you imagine Biggie and Aaliyah in the studio???
At this point I have to bring a little hip hop into the mix but not on a boom bap tip. Need for it be able to cross genres so that this playlist could just melt together without any trippin about dippin in and out of genres. Were past that point now right? As this playlist builds to coincide with the sunrise, I feel the need to pick up the tempo just a bit as I imagine there is some moving around going on with everybody at home base. Hiatus Kaiyote came to mind and while the Q-Tip version was on my mind, the track with Tip became the go-to. Again… Another absolutely beautiful song.
So now we are able to transition right to Ab-Soul’s latest single “Do Better” which I think will end up being a Top 5 hip hop track when the year ends. Ab and Zacari on rhymes and vocals and carrying the TDE torch that Kendrick passed off when he started his new label. This is the first single off of Soulo’s new album which I have to imagine is dropping soon. In this track, Soul keeps chanting that he needs to do better which tells me he’s putting large amounts of pressure on himself to be great. The funny thing is we all do this. Spending time with friends at the farm showed me the pressures and challenges we all face as human beings. It seems like every other week we’re hearing some kind of bad news but you know what…. tomorrow isn’t granted and we must keep things moving and grow. Just like Ab-Soul seems to be doing coming out of a deep depression that has seen him dealt with a rare virus when he was 10 that left his face discolored and his vision greatly affected forcing him to hide his eyes through his patented locs. Then he had his soulmate Alori Joh take her own life jumping to her death at a radio transmission tower in Compton. Rough shit… How do you even keep going? Then he has one of his main homies Mac Miller pass away just a few years ago. I couldn’t imagine carrying all of that weight…
Hope you’re doing better Ab. We’re all excited to hear the new album. Based on the loosies and new single we could have something on our hands here.
Now we need to bring the playlist up a smidge so I just cruised right over to Nas and Amy Winehouse waxing poetic over a fantastic Salaam Remi beat. Nas’s bars cut up with amazing vocals from the late great Amy Winehouse is really what I need from a hip hop and R&B mashup. But Amy’s voice really makes you think it could be a sample from the 50’s but could also be something that will come out in 5 years. Amy Winehouse transcended time. Nas and Amy Winehouse hit it out the park with this one.
If you’re like me, a part of your morning is spent reflecting on the day/night before. At the farm that morning, my memories of the night before were all good ones with my friends letting themselves go and having fun without judgement. I mean let’s be real, the ego dies a bit in the 40’s right? And without the ego, we’re all just people who grew up with each other trying to lay a good foundation to our kids we’re all raising. And doing a fantastic job of it by the way. Real cool to see that growth amongst your loved ones. The end of the video from Los Retros for “Someone to Spend Time With” paints the picture of the type of vibe me and my crew roll with. We stay growing young and that’s a beautiful thing.
These first few songs set the vibe captured that Sunday morning at my buddy’s farm. The entire playlist is a mix thrown together with my friend’s 40th birthday in mind along with our recent times at the farm being present in the moment and catching back up old and new friends. It’s funny how we always picture a vacation as somewhere far away and nice but I’ve shifted how I view vacations. While flying somewhere nice is a lot of fun to get out of your comfort zone and spread your wings, I’d much rather opt for a 40 minute drive to my homie’s farm to get a mental vacation if only for a few hours. Our lives are all moving fast and if you take anything away from these words or this playlist just know; take a deep breath and try to take things a bit slower than you did yesterday. Our time on this earth is often spent stressing about the future while often ignoring the day in front of us. Live life… Have fun… And remember, don’t worry about a thing, cause every little thing gonna be alright.