Mayer Hawthorne is a man of distinction — he wears argyle sweaters, neckties and sunglasses five days out of seven, and subsists on breakfast foods two of three square meals a day. Banana pancakes, well-done hash browns with the peppers and onions, turkey sausage, Clancy’s Fancy hot sauce, coffee, OJ and so on. He takes pictures of every plate in front of him that inspires a beat, whips up a quick Sidekick™ boom bap and forwards the food/beat pairing to anyone within range of a text message.

To ask Mayer Hawthorne to choose between music and food is to ask him to choose a limb to amputate. This is a man who won’t divulge his sources for rare vinyl and who posts blog entries when Wendy’s™ is having a sale on Frosties™. So we combined his loves — I asked him to pick his favorite five Motown® joints that inspired his upcoming Mayer Hawthorne and the County album, A Strange Arrangement, and to put the song with a favorite food dish. Like the freshest wine and cheese pairing of your life…

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Smokey Robinson and The Miracles – “Once I Got To Know You”

“Best enjoyed with a Double Double and Animal Style Fries from In-N-Out. I wasn’t really feeling In-N-Out at first, but once I got to know it, I couldn’t help but love it.” Read the rest of this entry »

The soundtrack to our daily grind, all in a nice & neat format. You know what it is © Cliff Harris. It’s Crew Love.

Corey Bloom

C-Rayz Walz & Swave Sev – “The Family Crest”

This has to be one of the iller tribute songs I’ve heard, done by one of favorite MC’s for one my favorite duos. C-Rayz and Swave Sev pay homage to Gangstarr with cleverly worded web of the albums, songs, productions and musical significance that built the legacy. More than anything this song has sparked my annual Daily Operation or Mass Appeal debate which has dominated my playlist…Daily Operation.

Z-Man – “Street Creed Need Me”

Z-Man spits so much relevance on this one the whole song is a quotable. Topics cover the spectrum and the wordplay is seasoned with too many flavors to favor. Off the Machete Vox sampler Sneak Preview the DNAE Beats produced banger is undisputable, plus you can’t front on the title.

S. Cadet

Pac Div – “Shut Up”

This is the song of the week already and we didn’t hit the weekend yet. I might have to sneak into the studio Read the rest of this entry »

I was dumped yesterday.

No, this is not a pity party post. No worries. I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him © Bill Shakespeare. But we all have break-up music we file away for those awful special moments, and so for the moment TSS is my Quiet Storm request line. My dedication show. Read the rest of this entry »