So it's the end of the year.
We were real reluctant to do a big "end of the year" write-up because it seems so standard.
So here it is in a nutshell.
We started out as uno,Gotty™, sending an email with a few songs, old & new, to a group of about five to ten friends.
Sort of a daily inspirational/"music makes me high" deal.
That was roughly March of this year.
It grew.
We created this spot & started posting here around May/June.
It, too, grew.
Roughly 200,000 visitors later, here we are.
That was our online year.
What happened in with rest of the world...well Skillz can cover that for you.
If you're not familiar, Skillz (formerly Mad Skillz) had a few tracks back in the day...."The Nod Factor" & a few hot mixtape tracks. But in recent years, he's slid off the scene, only to show up at the end of each year with the "The Rap Up" and each one has been entertaining & amusing. Skillz manages to run down all the major news in entertainment and the world, all from the perspective of a former one-hit wonder/current parking lot attendant in Va./ghostwriter to some top shelf label talents.
Previous years' entries
Skillz - "The Rap Up"
2002
2003
2004
And now, this year's version...
Skillz - The Wrap Up 2005
Throughout our short time here, we've tried to lace you with the new, the different, the unheard. I believe this album qualifies as such. Check the blurb then check the album.
This trio consists of Christian McBride, Ahmir Thompson aka ?uestlove and Uri Caine. The musical palette of this group is amazing, especially for a three piece. They do enlist some help from guitar virtuoso Pat Martino and session horn man Jon Swana on a few tracks, which just adds to the color. My favorite tracks are the numerous funkier groove numbers on the disk. Craine's tribute to Grover Washington, aptly titled "Grover," "Call for All Demons" by the jazz mystic Sun Ra and Marvin Gaye's "Trouble Man Theme" are all 24/7 head boppin' good. But it's the vibrant keys, the staccato drums and the bubbling bass of "Ain't It the Truth" that really does it for me, including a McBride solo that gives new meaning to funky. On the more abstract tip are "Lesson #4" and the extremely heady "(re)MOVEd" which comes complete with modified siren sound effects. As a bonus, Christian McBride does a bass only version of Bill Withers' "Just the Two of Us," which is awesome.
The Philadelphia Experiment - The Philadelphia Experiment (2001)
Normally, we don't get a chance to allow true independents to shine. However, the mood is blissful over here right about now & my dude hit me up with a request so we put him down.
Hailing from the eastside of Long Beach Ca. by way of Washington D.C.,comes Big Speech! A veteran out of the Black Mob camp is back with an all new cd called "The Passion". With cameos from the Black Mob capo's - Alias,Black Lou, Sally Balls and guest vocals by Slim Thug, 2pac, Big C-Style and Eric Wright, this is a tremendous event for your ears!! All production was handled by Big Speech. Nineteen tracks of pure fire for your audio. Check it out.
Big Speech - The Passion
And now, time for some straight rambling to finish the year off...straight like the end of the album & dudes is just doing the do on the outro!
1.) This is one of the best R&B albums to come out in the past two decades. This joint, to me, is the the R&B version of "the purple tape" from Raekwon...we'll start dubbin this one, "the red tape". Fuck the golden showers, the court cases & the strange personality. All R. Kelly needs to do is keep puttin out hits and we'll ultimately forgive all his misgivings, because through it all, our artists are here to entertain, period. And the man has managed to do that throughout the years.
R. Kelly - R
2.) Two songs that are tough & have been in constant rotation the past two days...
a.) Teedra Moses - "Just Wanna Be Your Girl"
Why? The beat is infectious & it's innocently smooth. I've been runnin around singin the chick parts no homo. It's just got a real feel good vibe to it (I kept listening to it over & over again on D.Rose's Myspace page til finally I just had to go ahead and grab it.
b.) Joe Budden, Jae Millz & Stack Bundles - "6 Minutes of Death"
Simply because Joey shitted all over this track & did what he does best, spit.
3.) No matter how we grow and change, our essence is that raw boom-bap, aggresive hip-hop. There's alot of songs that epitomize that sound but this has gotta be one of the best. The only other track I can honestly remember these dudes coming out with was "Change The Style" and I remember they had a wacky type video that ran on Rap City way back in the day. I don't care. This one song was enough to cement them in my memory for life.
Son Of Bezerk - "What Could Be Better Bitch"
4.) Pimp C is FREE!..yep, comin home today. Chea chea chea!!! Now I just want the federal penitentiary system to free my brother JM aka Cookiehead,my other brother Ichy and my lil cousin Jay and most of life will be back in order.
5.) I, Gotty™, wanna give credit to the original folk in the email group who listened to me rant and the few who encouraged me to do this shit. And I want to give an extra special birdcall shoutout to NquestII and CIPH4 who help me update and make changes to this piece on the reg...and listen to my rants and wishes. Dally, MrC, Dingle, Retro, The Facts, Froz1, Louie Po/Dominicanluimi, Donpoppa, HtownTXballa, Kim L aka F Lupus...the whole Co-D's page...respect due. Be sure to go to their page and give them some comments & show them some love.
6.) Despite all the music we share with you, never forget to go out & support your favorite artists yo. They gotta eat too.
7.) I want to thank you (yeah, you reading this) sincerely and from the bottom of my heart. Celebrate with us & let's throw up more comments than you all ever have before lol.
Salute!
John Gotty™
• Got a request? We're gonna change the game up a little. If you request something & we have it, all we ask is that you upload something as well. Doesn't matter what; somebody else prolly wants/needs something you might have. Then we'll do our damnedest to honor your request. Give in order to recieve, pay it forward & everybody benefits greatly.
• Know any other sites worthy of mentioning? Maintain your own site & want to do a link exchange? Email us @ smoking.section@gmail.com because we're always looking to grow.
• We need an e-street team to post updates. We've been getting alot of visitors from various boards & to increase traffic, we think it would be a good idea to post updates on those boards along with some of the boards we ourselves visit & update. Wanna help? Email us.
• Got music you want to share? Email us at smoking.section@gmail.com and include the artist, album, filesharing link & password (if applicable). Your contributions are what keeps this joint moving.
• Click some ads. Let us make a little paper if you want to support us spending time here on the daily.
• Tell at least one friend or mention the site on any forums or boards you visit. Put a shoutout to us on your Facebook/Myspace pages. Personally, I want to see us crack 5K visitors per day.
• Come see me/us @ Myspace and be sure to join the group. We try to circulate update info & some extras thru there.
Our Requests
• Gene Harris - In a Special Way (Blue Note)
• Mob Style - Game Of Death or any other album
• Julie Dexter - Conscious/Dexterity
Stray Shots
Don't worry...we'll be dropping quite a few more in here today so check back.
Check MrC's page on here, "Goddamn That DJ Made My Day, to see what he's got in store for you.
Peep over at The Charivarious Section to see some good Erykah Badu footage & a beautiful selection of jazz.
Lil Wayne - Prefix
Lil Wayne - The Suffix
Cage - Movies for the Blind
Cage - Hellz Winter
Cage - WaterWorld
DJ C-Wiz - Still Pimpin
Anthony Hamilton - Coming From Where I'm From
Donell Jones - Where I Wanna Be
The Isley Brothers- Mission to Please
M.I.A. vs. Diplo - Piracy Funds Terrorism, Volume 1
M.I.A. - Arular + Bonus Tracks
Mos Def - Black On Both Sides
Curtis Mayfield Superfly
Rah Digga - Dirty Harriet
Busta Rhymes - Genesis
Freddie Hubbard - Looking Up Fixed
Brick - The Best Of Brick
Billie Holiday - Lady In Satin
Cunninlynguists - Sloppy Seconds Vol. 2
Quasimoto - The Further Adventures of Lord Quas
J-Zone - A Job Ain't Nothin But Work
Chino XL - Here To Save You All
Common - Be
Allstar - Hatin’ Ain’t Healthy vol 1
StreetSweepers presents Skarr Akbar The General
Lloyd- Southside
StreetSweepers Presents Freestyles Vol 2 Hosted By PostaBoy
Big L- Harlem's Finest
Rare Freestyles Vol. 1
Young Buck and D-Tay- Da Underground
Mitch Headburg - Mitch All Together
Ludacris - Chicken-N-Beer
James Brown - Funky People Part 2
