“Murder On My Mind,” - YNW Melly: When this melodic rap track first came out back in 2018, I loved it. The rapper behind the song, YNW Melly is currently in prison awaiting trial for double murder charges, and much of the evidence against him is pretty damning. I don’t really like the newer music that he’s recorded, but this track and “Mixed Personalities,” among a few others are tracks that I love to come back to. The storytelling of this track is very vivid, and Melly’s singing abilities shine on the track. The production by SMKEXCLSV isn’t very complex, it’s a simple piano instrumental with trap drums, but it allows Melly’s vocal talent and lyrics to shine.
“That’s All She Wrote,” - T.I. featuring Eminem: This week’s five songs stuck in my head features a lot of rap songs, but this track features a nastily mean verse from Eminem, and has a catchy hook. I also like the calm guitar loop instrumental, over those hard hitting snares.
“Good Times,” - Styles P: A total stoner anthem, I love Styles’ aggressive rhymes about weed over that infectious instrumental, which is produced by Swizz Beatz and Saint Denson, and samples “I Get High (On Your Memory),” by R&B singer Freda Payne. The pitched up sample reminds me of the chipmunk soul style beats that Kanye West produced, and made popular early on in his career.
“Tony’s Song,” - Tijuana Panthers: A song from a genre and band I love, surf rock group, Tijuana Panthers. Composed of Daniel Michicoff on bass and vocals, Chad Wachtel on guitar and vocals and Phil Shaheen on drums and vocals, they’re a band that have been together for nearly 20 years, and hail from my hometown of Long Beach, California. I love the surfy guitar riffs soaked with reverb and fast paced drum rhythms. I highly recommend their music to any fan of rock music, and to my fellow Long Beach residents.
“Butts T— Money,” - KNOWER: A groovy electronic track, this humorous song is by independent electronic jazz-funk duo, KNOWER, composed of multi instrumentalists/vocalists, Louis Cole and Genevieve Artadi. It’s a funny track that’s relatively short and tongue in cheek, with brief verses, a funky synth loop and a variety of synth harmonies as well.