The reason why music has always been seen as a form of therapy is because of the emotions it evokes. It’s a large reason TSS decided to take on the The 30 Day Song Challenge and why the process has been so cleansing in a sense. Music, better yet good music, is the greatest scrapbook and Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours” happens to be a portal to the past and, what I hope, is a vision of the future. Read the rest of this entry »

If this is any indication of what Late Nights & Early Mornings will spawn into, the stock in box springs for beds is almost certain to skyrocket in 2011. This is some real grown folks type music right here. Leaving her vindictive feelings behind, Marsha focuses her attention to the bedroom and the fantasies that can fulfilled with the proper theme music. Read the rest of this entry »

Mr. Nick should be a doctor, or at least a male nurse or something, for his ability to load any sample with 100ccs of soul. While adding any amount of flavor to a Stevie Wonder sample should be like emptying a glass of water into the ocean, Nick manages to do each track justice on the second installment of his monthly tribute series.

This tribute to Stevie Wonder takes on the legend’s early years, flipping classics like “I Wanna Make Her Love Me” and “Bang Bang.” The latter is grimy and muddy like the Mississippi waters Nick has emerged from.

As usual, download and donate whatever you feel is right. MCs, if you’re spitting over these beats, come correct.

Download – Mr. Nick Presents: A Tribute To Stevie Wonder Vol. 1 (1961-1969) | Alt. Link

Travel to any major city and one image manages to stand the test of the time. It is the image of hundreds of thousands of men, women and children walking aimlessly towards a destination known only to them. Some house stories of success, while some of failure. Some harbor feelings of love, while others let pain encompass them. It’s the beautiful trait about the human race. We’ve all got a story. It takes a special storyteller to spawn these personal tales into timeless audio art. Ironically, it was a man never afforded the sense of sight who painted a beautiful picture of inner city life.

Stevie Wonder’s “Living For The City” is a fluid, introspective tune broadcasting the all-too-familiar lives of millions. Maybe not your own, but every community has a family trying their hardest to make ends meet. And do it legally at that. Every city has a determined young lady hellbent on beating the odds, even if they are ultimately stacked against her. And unfortunately, countless families suffer from the feeling of hopelessness from having to visit a relative behind bars. It’s a reflection of everyday life, otherwise known as music in its purest form.

On “Living…,” the picture Stevie painted describes a social temperature that, depending who you ask, hasn’t changed all that much in the decades since. People are still victims of circumstance. Women still have invisible hurdles to conquer. And the prison population, unfortunately, continues to rise. Some things never change.

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Download — Stevie Wonder – “Living For The City”

Fan footage of a surprise appearance by Stevie Wonder @ a recent John Legend show. Read the rest of this entry »

The papers must signed, sealed & delivered because Usher’s back where he belongs… in the club.  With some help from Ms. Ménage Minaj and Polow on the beat (although Grandma may not approve of the Stevie sample given the content).  Hopefully, this is just Usher getting back in the swing of things. Because while this is club ready, it sounds a bit familiar given his discography & recent track record.  Can’t catch lightning in a bottle twice sir, better go holler at L.A.

Which reminds me to send a quick congratulations to Usher for “Yeah” being pegged song of the decade by America’s Top 40 Countdown.  While the show’s faded towards the background over the years, it’s pretty big accomplishment since it’s based all on radio spins and chart positions.  Not bad for song he initially wasn’t sold on & has an interesting back story.

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Download – Usher Feat. Nicki Minaj – “Lil’ Freak” (Prod. By Polow Da Don)

Bonus — Usher Feat. Nicki Minaj – “Lil’ Freak” (Instrumental)

[Via]

Before this year, I hadn’t heard too much about Beatnick & K-Salaam.  But after their mixtape Where The Streets Have No Name held my car’s stereo down for a solid week, they were officially on my radar.  Now the production duo’s back with their latest effort Beatnick & K-Salaam Present… Never Can Say Goodbye, where they took on the arduous task of remixing songs by Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder & Marvin Gaye.  Usually when you hear the words remix attached to names of that magnitude, you’d instantaneously cringe at the thought of these standards being desecrated.  Beatnick & K-Salaam do the originals justice though.

Link and track list are one click away. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve read several different autobiographies & biographies over the past several months. Bobby Womack. Sly Stone. Marvin Gaye. James Brown. Fred Wesley. They all had one name that recurred within their pages: Stevie Wonder. Across genres & decades, Stevie’s music has sold literally tens of millions of copies chronicling many different emotions & experiences along the way. What many may not realize is Stevie’s work as it pertains to others. Read the rest of this entry »

That’s All You Need To Know About Jessica Roxas

How To Burn In Hell: Stevie Wonder Twitter Page [Urban Daily]

UNCDUKESPN [Buzz/Bull]

Chad Ochocinco Wants You to Help Him Tweet During Games [NFL Fanhouse]

The Koalition’s Back To School Playlist [Koalition]

It Was All Good Just A Leak Ago [Poisonous Paragraphs]

4 Reasons You’re Still A Virgin [Coed]

Old St. Ides Ads > New Rap [Unkut]

Why Are the Leaked Blueprint 3 Songs Getting Worse? [Vulture]

Frankie Beverly And Maze Get A CD Tribute [AP]

Teams Will Get ‘Do-Over’ If Punts Hit Jerry Jones’ Gigantic Video Board
[The Sporting Blog]

Lessons Learned: How Does Success Happen? [Wesley Verhoeve]

For The Free: Killer Mike’s Underground Atlanta Compilation [TSS]

TSS on Twitter: TSS Crew | JohnGotty™ | Beware | Contra™ | Darius Sinclair™ | David D. | Devin Chanda | J. Tinsley | Jesse H. | K1NG | P. | MZ | TC

Two words, children. Stevie. Wonder.

Finally. A worthy tribute. Tears flowed, yo. Tears flowed.

Enough has been said over the past week, so let’s not Read the rest of this entry »

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 »

When we do these things, it won’t always be a chune classified as “Funk” but it’ll always be funky. The Moog & harmonica make this your jam of the day. Now, go clean the house with this on volume ten.

Stevie Wonder – Boogie On Reggae Woman

For every Dennis Miller & Bill O’Reilly trying to knock Hip-Hop’s newfound connection to politics, there’s a Neil Armstrong.

You can pretty much ask anyone (literally) who’s encountered him in some way & they’ll tell you that through it all, Neil is one “grounded” dude to say the very least. And to watch his rise from the dude politely asking me to take down his catalog…then granting us our inaugural Smoking Session. Since then homie’s progressed to DJ’ing for Hov, to working Obama’s Inauguration and, still, nothing’s changed.

He sent out this email blast yesterday & posted it on his blog. It’s his recap of the Inauguration Day events. It was so moving, I told him I’d be reprinting it in full.

“You need to grow up…Djing will get you no where.”

I’ve actually been told those exact words. Years ago when I was maybe three years into DJ’ing, by an ex-girlfriend. She was Korean. (ohh yeah u know I was gonna mention that – its called being salty….).

Actually that sentiment has been expressed to me by many a person at times in my life, even myself. Ask my boy Vinroc; at one point he had to pretty much convince me with his hippy lollypop land mentality to keep at it.

Hmm, well let’s fastforward to what I did for the last 3 days shall we ;)

The people of the United States inaugurated the 44th President – Barrack Obama. 1st time in history, we have a black president – actually as Jay drops in the new remix – “Our president is black , in fact he’s half white – so even in a racist’s mind he’s half right…”

That’s a line from one of Jay-z’ new remixes – You can download the “My President is Black” song right here. It’s dope, give it a listen…

On this grand occasion, I actually got to contribute a bit of my craft to the celebration at the neighborhood inauguration ball, and also for the 1st time in history 2 turntables and a mic were there on this grand stage to welcome the President to his new office. Read the rest of this entry »

Words By Jada G.

“Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand…”

I spent most of my childhood under the impression that all of Stevie Wonder’s songs were about me.

My mother told me that The Original Musiquarium was the released the same year that I was born, which only solidified my theory. “That girl thinks that she’s so smart, that soon she’ll have my heart…” I enjoyed the simple piano melodies that were warm and easy for me to understand with a child’s heart. And of course, jam sessions on Sesame Street and The Cosby Show didn’t hurt.

As I got older and realized I was never really Stevie’s muse (“Isn’t She Lovely” was written about his daughter after all), however I started to really understand the deeper messages in the music. The haunting acoustic gem “Visions” is about a world without racism that Stevie pictures in his mind. The song is a product of someone who can’t even see the colors that shade discrimination in our world, yet is affected by it every day. Stevie’s lyrics encourage me as a writer to speak from an honest place and not to shy away from idealism.

Stevie Wonder’s craftsmanship with melody and his artistry with words are pure genius. But behind many timeless classics, there is one universal theme—love. The love shared between two lovers, family, nature, the world, and oneself. He lifts you on the cloud of a fairytale love, but you can return to his songbook when the love comes crashing down: “You took me riding on your rocket and gave me a star, but then a half mile heaven, you dropped me back down to this cold cold world.” Stevie’s magic is that he simply tell the story of life, without pretense. Read the rest of this entry »