“Five o'clock and off the work, ready to go home and write”
Everyone has their comfort food. In times like these, we may be overindulging on it. Molasses cookies. Mexican food. Those are my go-to's when I need my food to hug me. The same can be said with music. Listening to New Edition or Whitney Houston instantly takes me back to my parent’s living room in the 80’s, musically cushioning the couch where I could feel the springs. As I aged, different eras of music padded my comfort zone. The Seattle grunge era. The golden age of hip hop in the early and mid 90’s. And the mid-2000’s.
“Zonin' out ‘cause working-working out ain't worth what I make”
Any self-proclaimed hip hop head over 30 should know Below The Heavens from Blu and Exile. An underground classic from 2007, a strong year for rap albums from heavyweights like Kanye West, Jay-Z, Common, T.I., and 50 Cent. Below the Heavens rose above most of those releases, with strong production from Exile and honest, vivid storytelling from Blu.
“And the music made a way when I was hopeless / He told me to remember the rain, it'll diminish the pain”
Dancing in the Rain is one of the standouts from the album. Blu brings us into his pre-fame world, a world where 99% of us currently live. Not paying bills, no ride to work, just the everyday frustrations that we all have faced or are facing. His advice? Remember the rain. Comfort food for the 99%.
“Don't nobody wanna dance slow in the rain / Just move your ass, just move your ass”.
You can learn more about Blu & Exile here:
About the Curator - Ben Young:
Ben Young lives a life of polarity. He has split his life between the coasts: half his life on the West (California) and half on the East (Georgia and Virginia). He has pursued careers in the art world (film school graduate) and the corporate world (executive with Fortune 500 companies). And he is Biracial, the personification of being two things at once.
Ben’s musical influences were formed by music loving parents, raised in a world of John Coltrane and John Lennon, James Taylor and James Ingram, Huey Lewis and the News and Prince and the Revolution. Saxophones, electric guitars, synthesizers, and breakbeats filled the air Ben breathed from birth. And being born one year after the birth of Hip Hop, Ben has been joined at the hip with the genre his entire life.
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