In late September, I received a Facebook message from a college
classmate that "wanted to see if I could do something for her since I was all in the music business."
Oh boy I thought, messages that start off like this usually result in two kinds
of requests: one, to help them get something on the radio or two, concert
tickets. Turns out, she asked if I could type out a playlist of some popular
mainstream Hip-Hop and R&B songs from our freshman year at Marymount
College for a memory box she was complying.
Now, anyone that knows me will tell you, I am always one to
soundtrack associate almost every occurrence in my life. From the moment I
received that message, the wheels started turning, and I saw myself scribble
out a list of over 40 songs the next morning. Once I looked down at my
hieroglyphics, bookmarked moments of my freshman year of college; one of the
most influential 12 months in my life, started to flashback in my mind. A time
in my life when I realized "I knew this world was crazy, but not this
crazy." I realized it moves at the speed of light such as the album cover’s
photo; a shot I took of myself one late night on the college’s
bus for photography class. Just a written list would not suffice nor do
justice, these experiences had to be relived through speakers.
Unlike The Demonstration series, the record selection
process was more based on historic context than my own personal taste. It had
to be given that this was the soundtrack for that time period, and not just for
my own ears (that is another list in itself).
Important to highlight is much of the landscape of what Hip-Hop
and R&B music has become presently started to manifest that year. Just
listen to Snoop and Akon’s “I Wanna Love You”
or the “Hyphy Movement” cuts on this tape and tell me you can’t
hear its minimalist influence on DJ Mustard; currently spearheading arguably
the West Coast’s most influential sound since Dr. Dre and Scott Storch
unleashed the lowrider Grand Piano and Symphony String bounce of the magnum
opus, “Still D.R.E.” Then there is the affair of Hip-Hop
with Dance music. It is a common place now, but later became pop culture
foreshadowing heard in, my humble opinion, Timbaland’s best cover to
cover production work outside of Missy and Aaliyah: Justin Timberlake’s
Future Sex/Love Sounds, Nelly Furtado’s Loose, and
his own Shock Value. All three of those LPs were laced with vibes of
Electronic, dance floor driven monsters.
Admittedly, 95% of these songs I jammed from jump, 4% grew on me over time, and
one song on here I honesty cringed at including. But I knew I had to given both
its popularity and association with one of those hilarious flashbacks I
mentioned above. I'll let you try to figure out which song it is.
But that is the power of music. It is a hell of a stimulating
sensation. The melody and lyrics are the flux capacitor and our mind is the
DeLorean. With that established as the motto, I welcome you to the first
installment of my nostalgia trip with “no roads.”
First stop... 30800 Palos Verdes Drive East... Fall of 2006.
These were the sounds, these were the quotes…
this is the music Yearbook of The Mount: Year One.
Soul Claps & Salutes and Thank You For Listening,
DJ Chuck "thE oLd SouL"
PS- Thank you Sara "placing" the light bulb over my head.
Arranged and Mixed By DJ Chuck "thE oLd SouL" For Honor Flow Productions
Album Art Design: Tyler Ann Nunley For Genevieve Munroe co.
For Promotional Use Only!
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