The entire 2 disc set of Stevie Wonder's Songs In The Key Of Life:
First off, let me explain this: I grew up listening to Lionel Richie, Marvin Gaye, of course Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson, all thanks to my moms Jeanette Singleton (who became Jeanette Thomas after her marriage). Every Friday she would play songs like GQ's 'Disco Nights' would play for as long as I could remember. It was our way of winding down from our long week's work.
Of course you knew Stevie's award winning album would somehow make it's way into this post. The post's title paying homage was a clue that's too obvious to be ignored. The thing about this album is every song on both of these discs has been my favorite at some point in my life and songs like 'Ordinary Pain', 'Ngiculela-Es Una Historia - I Am Singing' and 'As' never leave out of my music rotation.
Commodores: Zoom
This song is a constant reminder to me that not only is it cool to let the mind wander and think of how this world can be a better place, especially when you're surrounded by nothing but turmoil and chaos, sometimes, this thinking is a necessity. That's what I get from this song. Of course, every student learns a different lesson.
Randy Crawford: Give Me The Night
One of the first neo-jazz songs that I fell in love with. It's also a blueprint of my 20's.
Creative Source: I'd Find You Anywhere
Audio Two: What More Can I Say
The first cassette tape I could ever say that was mine and mine alone.
Prince "Purple Rain"
Lynard Skynard: Freebird
Rolling Stones: Sympathy For The Devil
Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here"
When I first got into music videos on MTV, the most dominant music was rock n roll and Michael Jackson. They would play hard rock, soft rock, soft rock, Mike, hard rock, Michael, etc. If you remember the time (bad pun, I know), then you know I ain't lying. It didn't get rock n roll at first. I didn't really get rock really until Purple Rain, the movie and the album, and then it clicked. When it did, Lynard Skynard's Freebird became my unofficial official theme song, the Stone's Sympathy For The Devil become my mantra, and Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" became my favorite rock album not named "Purple Rain".
N.W.A.: Straight Outta Compton,
The D.O.C.: No One Can Do It Better,
2Pac: 2Pacalypse Now,
"Who is the man..?" Everybody knows Hayes' theme for Shaft but the song that I most relate to is this instrumental. I loved this beat when it was sampled by Dr Dre for the D.O.C. for the aptly titled "The D.O.C. and the Doctor" on his debut album 'No One Can Do It Better' but I didn't research the origin of the beat until I heard 2Pac use it for "A Soldier's Story" from his first (and best IMO) album '2Pacalypse Now'. These 2 hip hop albums are completely different but both made me love hip hop more than ever. If you ask me, the album that stood out as the best around that time frame was NWA's Straight Outta Compton, the first hip hop album I felt wasn't afraid to tell it like it is. Honarable mention should go out to Slick Rick's "The Further Adventures Of Slick Rick" and Eric B and Rakim's "Paid In Full" for cementing my love for hip hop like no album before them but these 3 albums I named above made me think that even I could be a rapper, something most inner city kid these days believe anyway. "Straight Outta Compton" told a story that I was seeing at that time, and one that I would eventually experience personally a few years later, on a level Ice T reached a few years prior to this album's release. I think the fact that NWA was only a few years older than me had a great effect on me too. They did this. I can do this too.
Boys II Men "CooleyHighHarmony"
Jodeci "Forever My Lady"
Mint Condition: "From The Mint Factory"
The first few slow cuts albums I could claim for myself. I found these albums all on my own while my moms was still bumping Heatwave, Stephanie Mills, etc. Of course I still loved here music; she just couldn't get into too much of these albums, though she would later tell me Boyz II Men's "II" album was pretty good. These albums were what I listened to my first year at Hyde Park Career Academy and I'm glad to say that 20 years later, these albums still hold up.
Nas: "Illmatic"
Common Sense: "Can I Borrow A Dollar?" / "Resurrection"
Psychodrama / Twista / Do Or Die / Crucial Conflict
Those 2 albums are standouts from the early 90's for me because they are the reasons I expanded my flow beyond gangster rap. Nas and Wu Tang Clan's "Enter The 36th Chambers" And Common Sense, who would become much more famous after dropping Sense from his name, made me believe I really could become a rapper since he was not only from Chicago but from a 'hood not to far from me. They were conscience rappers that had me wanting to go the conscience route. A few years later, other Chicago acts like Psychodrama and Crucial Conflict gave me a sense of pride since they were blowing up on various levels. I had never been prouder of Chicago hip hop than when these acts along with Do Or Die and Twista had the whole city on their shoulders for a time being.
Nowadays, hip hop acts like J Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Chance the Rapper, Childish Gambino keep my ear since I've become almost exclusively a fan of conscience hip hop. And while I got love for Bruno Mars, Chris Brown, Miguel, etc., they don't hold the same sway over me that the old school crooners do. Nonetheless, if I was asked to list the most influential music of my lifetime, this list would be as good as you got.
Later, WORLD.
Smokkee
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