Can ya believe it? Still locked down and cooped up. How quickly could the world absolutely be turned upside down. When this was first coming on, I never would have anticipated the extremes in which it has gotten to. Never in my lifetime have we had such strange and turbulent times. Where seeing friends and meeting strangers is a bad move. Going into public is frowned upon. We are spending a lot of time with our house. Or an apartment. You might be spending time with family. Or your roommates. Or total isolation. Either way you splice it, every one of us is having our social sanity taken away, and we are unsure when it will come back (for good reason, I am no way against social distancing and quarantining). This time alone is going to grow stale quicker than it came on in the first place. Whether it’s working from home or just cruising around the crib, you might as well take some time to try new things. Yesterday, I tried this thing called “Coffee Soda”, in which I mixed cold brew with tonic water and squeezed a quarter of a lemon into it. You would surely only do that if you had been locked inside your house for 2 weeks. It actually tasted really good. As a coffee snob and coffee purist, I thought there was no way I’d like it. And that’s the point. We should be trying new things we never thought we would do in this quarantine time, simply to pass the time and maybe find new things to adore.
Now is a good time to listen to good music. If your life were a movie (and not like IG clout-chasers saying “Yo, last night was a movie”), the pictures associated with it would grow tiresome quickly. But maybe if you put a fire soundtrack behind the monotony it could be slightly more tolerable. I imagine walking to the kettle to turn on the hot water for coffee as an example. If I sequenced that to Al Green, you would think it’s another mellow early morning. But maybe if I put it to some wild techno or heavy bass rap, you would think something different was going to happen afterwards. No matter what, the next thing that was going to happen was the grinding of the beans. But the music could make you think otherwise.
We all have our go to sounds and the music we bump on the daily, pandemic or no pandemic. However, you might get tired of your normal wheelhouse of tunes, and be looking for something new to spice up the rotation during these quarantine times. So here is a small gift for all social distancing: I’m going to call it a 5×5. A pentagon. 5 genres and 5 songs from each genre. Maybe you’ll discover a new song you like. Maybe after listening to 5 songs, you might have a changed mind about the certain sound. Maybe you’ll still hate rap music. While there are tons of sub-genres and all that jazz (no pun intended), the 5 in this rotation are to the writers preferences: Hip-hop, Rock, Electronic, Reggae, and Blues. Hit play. Shuffling them is up to you.
(If I can’t get the embedded player to work, here’s a list of the 25 tracks):
[Peso-A$AP Rocky, Cabin Fever-Wiz Khalifa, Murder To Excellence- Jay-Z & Kanye West, Gatti-Popsmoke & Travis Scott, Soundtrack 2 My Life-Kid Cudi, Call It What You Want-Foster The People, Up All Night-The War On Drugs, Easy Tiger-Portugal, The Man, The Longest Wave-Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lost In Yesterday-Tame Impala, Land Of Promise-Nas & Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, Sorry-SOJA, Reelin-Iration, Stone Love-Pepper, True To Myself-Ziggy Marley, Wall Fuck-Flume, Runaway (U&I)-Galantis, Happy Violence-Dada Life, The Half-DJ Snake, The City(with QuinnXCII)-Louis The Child), I’m Still in Love with You-Al Green, Cigarettes and Coffee-Otis Redding, What’s Going On-Marvin Gaye, Pusherman-Curtis Mayfield, Changes-Charles Bradley]
We have a lot of time on our hands. Whether we like it or not, we are going to be stuck in the same routine for a while. Working from home, not really leaving the house, and seeing whoever you live with all day long are going to be very real circumstances for the time being (and most likely quite some time after). If you dwell on it too much, you are going to bum yourself out. Remember: it is for the greater good. The quicker we oblige to social distancing and quarantine practices, the quicker we can get out of the very funky time (hopefully). With all this free time on our hands and about a quarter of the social interactions we are used to on the daily, you need some noise to fill the gaps. Music is obviously a great choice (and that, we will be saving for pt. 2), but sometimes we need to switch it up. Ever listen to a podcast? Well, now’s the time to start. Here are some recommendations per the writers interests and biases (with duration included, as some are into short-form and others into long-form):
MUSIC
The Joe Budden Podcast (Long)
This podcast got me through transitioning from working in places that required interaction with customers to working in an office space. While I have loved all my previous and current coworkers, there are certainly times where I just need to plug in and focus to get things done. I felt often that music I was familiar with I would sing along or get easily sidetracked. Locking into a podcast of just banter was one of the best ways I could effectively get work done (at the time, this was mainly copywriting so it wouldn’t side track my word flow on docs). The Joe Budden Podcast is predominantly a music podcast, starting with roots in hip-hop but now covering most everything music related (from releases to the business to specific artists, even to Joe’s music career). The more you listen, the more you start to know about each of the characters and get the jokes that often fly under the table. In it’s evolution, they also cover current events and just about anything that makes headlines. The JBP is for sure the podcast I listen to most, and haven’t missed an episode since 217 (they are now on 334).
This music podcast differs starkly from the JBP. It’s main contributor is Cole Cuchna, a music nerd much like myself, but he is on a completely different level. Dissect takes iconic albums and breaks them down song by song, really taking a deep dive on underlying themes and even the construction of modern music. His selection is for sure Hip-Hop based, but covers some of the most critically acclaimed albums, from KDots TPAB and DAMN to Kanye’s MBDTF. I started with the Kanye album, and by the time I was finished I would argue that MBDTF is probably the best album of the 2000s. While some of it might be a little too in depth on musical notes and history, it does feel awesome to finish a season and have a whole new understanding of an album you already loved.
The first surf podcast I really took a liking to and since I’ve I listened and enjoyed every episode. The two hosts carry the show quite well, one a more average surfer and one an ex-QS surfer turned coach. They both typically tend to have varying perspectives, but always are crushing salt lagers (beers) in unison. Whether it’s contest wrap-ups, contest previews, fantasy surf picks, or the odd guests, they have classic surf banter you and your mates have. They definitely are tapped in to surfing, and especially that coming from their homeland (Australia). It is always nice to hear from the ex-QS surfer (Cahill Bell-Warren) as he has had a wildcard spot on the CT and has grinded the QS for quite some time. Now a surf coach, it’s funny to hear him talk either ultra technical as far as surfing or aussie-slang heavy about surfs or nights out on the piss.
Guilty bias since my dad was a guest on this one (you even can here me chime in on occasion), I actually had listened to the podcast before the invite was extended. The surf world is massive, and there is a lot going on in between the CT surfers, huge corporate brands, and just the culture itself. L8 Night and Choccy do a great job highlighting the more low key but integral parts of surfing’s upbringing. Whether it’s lifelong shop owners, people who steered some of the biggest brands before buyouts, or small groups of surf-minded individuals (companies or boardrider clubs), they cover it all. Both lifelong rippers and both currently working in the industry, it doesn’t get much more core. Whether it’s surf talk, brand talk, or just about anything surrounding the sport or the industry, these guys have the inside scoop.
I really like The Lineup. For me, I am guilty of listening to them all but really only love the ones based on the guest. One thing I love about every single episode though is the lightning round: 10 questions for the guest. My favorite to hear people’s response to is best & worst person to share a session with.
Forerunners is a Surfline-powered podcast that explains wave forecasts to their perspective zones. I couldn’t put it as a favorite since it covers everywhere, and I don’t need to listen to the east coast forecast if I ain’t gonna be over there. But I do love to get the most in-depth breakdown on surf if there is a forecast that looks promising.
Perspective
YNK (Medium)
Mike Stud has always been an artist I’ve been fond of since I found him. While I do like a ton of his songs, his personality at first is what sold me. I was tipped off by a friend to check him out around sophomore/junior year of college, and then fell into the vortex of his Tourings Boring series. One of the earliest vlogs for musicians (salute Wiz Khalifa with DayToday), it follows Stud and his childhood friends in all sorts of debauchery and trouble a couple of lower to mid-20 year olds could get into. Super loose, he was a party guy. When I listened to the first episode of the pod, I realized he had definitely made a lifestyle switch. Post break-up, Mike took his time to slow down and find himself, and in the process became very spiritual. He has taken the podcast platform to interview his friend circle and beyond: fellow musicians, top-level athletes, and entrepreneurs. You can cherry pick the people who you are familiar with, watch ’em all, or listen to their friendly banter when they are sans guests and just with the Steves.
Most of the pods spotlit during this post are in the middle or on the longer side. For me, I typically like to save podcasts for longer periods of time. However, there are some bite-sized podcasts out there that really give you a bang for your buck as far as quality content in a smaller package. While one that comes to mind is the NYTimes podcast The Daily, it recently got a little too corona crazy for me to want to listen to. The GQ podcast Airplane Mode gives you easy to digest tidbits of information, coming from all sorts of different people. From trainers to artists to writers, they all cover topics that they can transfer valuable info based on experience. From 30 minutes to an hour, with the odd long form podcast in there, Airplane mode is good to just get a quick fix. And I always gotta stay true to the GQ brand.
Here’s some shameless self(brother)-promotion. My brother recently beat me into getting into the podcast space (more on that potential later) by starting a pod with two of his closest friends. One thing brought them together when they were younger and it’s something they all still do currently, and that one thing is their love for classic nintendo games. Enter the Nintendads, as these 3 fathers chop it up about game news, express their biases, and overall just goof around. I gotta put some respect on the brozay, as they are only getting more and more quality. While I can’t always follow the subject matter, we all grew up on nintendo games, so the nostalgia just hits home. My one beef with theirs is that there is no video to go along with (while it is understandable since they do not live near each other). Knowing how all of them are, it would be pretty good to see their facial reactions to certain topics.
The Medium Rare Podcast (Short-Medium)
This one is my newest discovery on the podcast front. It is for sure my guilty pleasure podcast. It is no way embarrassing, but sometimes I just think to myself “why am I watching this”. It pretty much details the late-night antics and clout-driven activities between 3 close friends with money. While I am sure if me and my buddies somehow attained a nice amount of loot and a social following, we would be doing the same shit. In a nutshell, it covers girls, going out, fashion, and food. The food part is definitely what first drew me in, as it is interesting to hear their opinions about different food scenes (although it is all very high-end dining, which I won’t be partaking in anytime soon). But like I said, I got sucked in and now am playing catch up. It will act as an inspiration for when we are off quarantine and back to sending it (that’s some shit they would say). This is one I’d say is essential to watch, just because you can see how close of friends they are based on the body language and jargon between them.
*I couldn’t get the Spotify sharing, so we are Sans HITR remix and Gatti
I’ve always been a fan of Travis Scott. Early on, I was hesitant to admit it, because for some weird reason you couldn’t be an A$AP Rocky fan AND a Travis Scott fan. They had some weird beef and people claimed Travis jacked his sound and rode away with it. Nonetheless, I would be lying if I said Travis Scott was not in my top 5 artists. I feel as though he kind of filled the void of A$AP Rocky music when he was quiet from 2013 to 2018. With Days Before Rodeo in 2014, Rodeo in 2015, and Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight in 2016, there was a lot of music to unpack in those times. Both of them have a similar sound, and really tend to go outside the box as far as beat selection and melodies. Plenty of artists passed on the Goosebumps beat, but Travis took it and ran. Recently, as we are gearing up for a new Travis album following his grammy nominated Astrowolrd, Travis teased a new “pack” featuring artists he has been putting on and have signed to his label cactus Jack. It is himself, his DJ Chase B, Sheck Wes, Don Toliver. It happened to drop over the Holiday weekend, and I was listening to it in the headphones and while driving. Here goes a song-by-song breakdown of the 7-song pack.
Highest in the Room Remix (feat. Rosalia and Lil Baby)
I’m going to keep it a buck: I probably won’t be bumping this remix more than the original. I really liked the second verse from Travis on the original. And as much as I love Lil Baby, he really didn’t fit the song. Having someone a little more vibey (this is a cringe worthy adjective) like a Cudi or Quavo or even keeping it in the label with Don Toliver would be a better fit in my eyes. The Rosalia feature also does not do much for me. We all have heard this song so I won’t beat a dead horse.
Jack Boys (Intro/Instrumental)
It’s an instrumental. I don’t want to dive too deep into something so short and simple. But it does provide a ~vibe~ that is felt throughout the project. Kind of ominous and anxious. Definitely a little bit of a bummer though, since this is one of the 7 songs on the tape. It is really a 6-song pack. It does blend well into Gang Gang.
Gang Gang (The Posse Cut)
I am not the biggest fan of Sheck Wes. Something tells me I’m not the only one that feels this way, so a song in which he sings the chorus could be a little painful to get through. However, this posse-cut-esque song that features all the JACKBOYS jumping in and is really the core of this project. Just some guys vibing off each other and sound excited to be apart of the same team. Going back in forth with no warning and going off each others flows.
Had Enough (feat. Quavo and Offset)
Don Toliver is definitely my standout on the whole pack. He was first really thrown into the scene with his feature on CAN’T SAY off of Astroworld. Sounding reminiscent of a new age T-Pain, he can sing with the best of them and also bar out. We hear him deliver the chorus on this song, and then spit some lines to flex the versatility. The beat is a nice touch, just as bit casual as catchy. Quavo and Offset come in and offer their star-studded features to give the song a nice twist. Both are similar to the flow of Don, and all 3 compliment each other, auto-tune and all.
Out West (feat. Young Thug)
This is for sure the standout track on the tape. And if it wasn’t we would for sure have a problem on hands. Travis and Thug together don’t really miss. Think of Pick Up the Phone or even more recently the HOT Remix just for evidence. The beat has a heavy bass and features Thugger on the hook. Add in a verse from Travis and Thug and it’s a hit. No more than 3 minutes long, it is the high point of the tape but goes by quite quickly.
What To Do (feat. Don Toliver)
Don comes in again on this song, with Travis as company. Travis sings the first part of the chorus, offering a drug-induced cry for help, while Don piggybacks off of this. This beat is similar to Had Enough, and compliments Don nicely. Travis can do it all, as he offers a slower paced verse similar to Stop Trying to be God or Skeletons. These two mesh together well with their tones and flows throughout this song in conjunction with the beat. This song much like CAN’T SAY is one people will surely enjoy and come back to.
Gatti (feat. Pop Smoke)
I am a big fan of Pop Smoke at the moment. From his hit Dior to his whole album Meet the Woo, I really like his voice and bars. They are very gritty and gruesome, much like his delivery on his songs. This song features a hard-hitting beat that you typically find Pop Smoke delivering verses over. We then get a Travis verse over this style of beat, and it sounds great. To me this was definitely more of a Pop Smoke song with a Travis feature. I am stoked he is getting some recognition, and surely will gain a couple more fans from this track.
2019 in comparison to 2018 was definitely a lot less jam-packed. We saw plenty of artists go quiet in 2019, whether it was very little features or not a peep from them at all. Towards the end of the year, more and more people started teasing singles and projects slated for 2020. While a lot less albums were put out in 2019, some artists still dropped projects that were very pleasing to the ear. We saw many notable artists secure their first number one album slot upon release, debut albums that shook up the charts, and sophomore albums that slapped. I thought I would put out a top 5 list of the albums I found myself jamming out to a ton or were just overall easy and enjoyable to listen to. So here goes nothing:
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DaBaby- Baby on Baby
Fav 4: Carpet Burn, Celebrate, Best Friend, Walker Texas Ranger
This definitely would become a classic for my 2019 and also for a ton of others who I would show the tape to. DaBaby was relatively unknown for a little while, but this tape had minimal flaws. Add in the chart topping Suge and DaBaby has blown up so much you can find him on tracks with Camilla Cabello or J.Cole. Probably the feature king of 2019, on Baby on Baby we hear the first inkling of his easily recognizable flow and pronunciation. I honestly first listened because the album cover as so hard, and then heard praise from multiple sources. It would become the new artist for me to slap in 2019, and also grow with as I watched him go from the bottom to the top.
Freddie Gibbs always delivers. For the hip-hop fan like myself, nothing disappoints with just straight bars. The only way it can get better is if the brutal bars are over big beats. Couple together Gangster Gibbs and Madlib and there you have it. The highlights would be all over ESGN. Freddie just talks his shit in the way he knows best, while Madlib lays beats that couple well with the braggadocios coke raps. We saw the chemistry on Piñata, and then had the two solidified themselves as a power duo on Bandana. I am very pleased because A) this albums is getting recognized as album of the year from some reputable sources, giving Freddie the shine he deserves and B) we are going to get served Bandana 2 sometime in 2020.
Benny the Butcher- Plugs I Met
Fav 4: Sunday School, Crown For Kings, 18 wheeler, 5 to 50
I maybe intended to leave only one slot of my Top 5 for bone crushing bars and great beats, but since it’s my top 5 I can do what I want so The Plugs I Met was definitely going to get its spot. Being put onto Benny after Mal from the Joe Budden Podcast gave high praise, this short 7-song pack was easy to listen to and sounded superb. Benny paints the picture he is rapping, as I easily could see the situation being depicted in his raw raps. Featuring legends Jadakiss, Black Thought, and Pusha T, the people who join Benny on the tracks compliment him perfectly. We then are given 3 songs with just Benny rapping, and it really lets the star in him shine. He and Griselda has been busy in 2019, so expect them to come in hot for the new decade.
Young Thug- So Much Fun
Fav 4: Ecstasy, Surf, Circle of Bosses, Mannequin Challenge
Thug has always been one of my favorite acts to follow for his sheer talent in sounding different and employing sometimes almost non-comprehendible voices. While this definitely isn’t my favorite Thugger album to date (Barter 6 takes the cake on that one), it was nice to see Thug put together an album full of heat features and also see him clock his long overdue #1 album debut. While some songs are more tailored to be radio smashes, there are plenty of classic thug rhythms over hard hitting beats. Add in a Gunna and Quavo feature and you get a handful of songs in my Spotify top 50 for 2019.
Roddy Rich- Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial
Fav 4: The Box, Perfect Time, Moonwalkin, Peta
This Roddy Rich album came in late in the fourth quarter of the year, but quickly caught my attention. I had been bumping Feed The Streets 2 a bit beforehand, and since it came out around the time I was playing him a bunch I immediately went in for a listen. Roddy has the ability to change his flow and tone in many different ways, sometimes even on the same song. He switches it up a lot, and actually can sing a hook very well while also serving bars about the grind and growing up in an impoverished neighborhood. While he has plenty of relevant features, a ton of my favorites have him alone on the track. I highly suggest checking this out and also Feed the Streets 2, as it features just Roddy on all the tracks.
Rookie mentions: YBN Cordae- The Lost Boy + Pop Smoke- Meet the Woo
These two are my two favorite debut albums from two starkly different artists. On one hand, we have YBN Cordae, one of the youngest and most lyrically talented young guns in the game. This album, The Lost Boy would get him a grammy nod, as well as a cult following of fans that love the likes Pusha T and Kendrick, but were looking for a younger version. He overall seems like a humble fellow who is just taking in all the fruits of being a successful artist. On the other end of the spectrum, we have Pop Smokes debut album Meet the Woo. The Traphouse Mob delivers ridiculous hard and bass driven beats atop Pop Smoke talking about all things gangster. If you step on his Diors, you better have your gun. Pop Smoke takes no time before flaunting and bragging about his dangerous and in-the-streets lifestyle. Dior and Welcome to the Party would be anthems for the NYC rap scene and for those who are really outside. We seem him gaining steam at the end of 2019, being featured with Travis Scott on Gatti.
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So there you have it, 2019s best projects and songs based on my humble opinion. I’d say keep an eye on these artists for 2020, as most have garnered a ton of steam from these projects. Whether it is a good time slot at Coachella, award nominations, or more projects and features from these artists, it’s safe to say they aren’t going anywhere in 2020. Check em out!
My weekends have become pretty routine at this point. I am unsure as to whether or not I am happy or sad about this, but it is what it is. Here is the skinny: I can guarantee to wake up one morning hungover. Lately, it’s been both mornings. On Saturdays, I need to rise somewhat early, as I work a shift at the Catch Surf store in Laguna. So if I want to surf or get some sort of exercise before putting in the work, I kind of have to be on it. Fast forward through my shift and I tend to be pretty toasted.
I usually go to catch surf strapped: coffee, kombucha, and a decent packed lunch. This can get me through most of the days, but sometimes I am just smoked. No amount of snacks or coffee can give me the extra edge. Work usually goes by decently quick however, as I am friends with my coworkers and the people that trickle in and out of the store tend to be on the more friendly end of the spectrum. We wrap it up at 7 and typically by 7:15 slapping fives in the lot and peeling away, everyone heading south and me being the lone soldier northbound.
What happens next is a toss up. I’d say my group of friends and I are more on trend of going out Friday rather than Saturday, so if we are limiting it to one night of going out, I can cruise home and play some mellow jams or whatever I am vibing as of late. If it is the other way around and a night on the town is imminent, I usually am thinking if I need to pick up any supplies on the way home as the turnaround time is tight. Even when my morale is the lowest, I know one way to get amping and ease into the mindset of sending rather than sleeping: music.
I had given up using Soundcloud when they started making you listen to not one but TWO ads in between a certain number of plays. While I am a dual citizen of both Spotify and Apple Music (because of Sean Carter), I can’t see myself purchasing Soundcloud Go anytime soon. Not even the commercials about it that bombard me on the rare occasion I open the app can sell me on it. Some time ago, I really enjoyed making playlists for different occasions. Soundcloud has a lot of mixtape songs and unreleased music floating around, so you can find some awesome mixes and even stuff from artists not available on the traditional streaming platforms.
So where is this going? I decided to make a playlists on Soundcloud that mimics one of my Spotify ones. The Spotify playlist is the music I put on at 7:15 on a Saturday night to crank on the drive back home. This Soundcloud playlists would give me the same energy and excitement. So whether you are in my case and are leaving work or somewhere low on energy, or the energy is already flowing and you want to amplify it, hit play and let it run. I even added a cool photo of 1800 tequila as the main image and sequenced the songs in a nice order, so shuffle is not necessary. Press play!
James Giordano 