Theres no common denominator among these songs. Just those songs that I’ve been listening to and/or I’ve been paying the most attention to.

Junior Murvin – Police and Thief.
timeless (sadly) ode to Jamaica’s reality. If it was merely relevant back in the mid 70’s when he spit it (over a Scratch Perry beat none the less. backa backa!), its message is tattooed across our conscious mind’s today. Also check out the man jeans suit star. Mad tings.

John Mayer – Free Falling (live).
John Mayer is my most favouritest artist in the world (right now) so I suspect part of me liking this new joint from him is at least partially due to me being a sheep and not primarily because its any good. Ojectively speaking though, a bad JM song is better than anything not by John that you could find on ytube/tv/radio anyhow.

Nas – Hero.
I’m a sucker for exceptional productions. Polow Da Don absolutely wreaks havoc with this. That kick drum star. It bad.
Oh yeah, Nas is the artist on top of the beat. I almost forgot to mention.

Easy All Stars (feat Frankie Paul) – Us and Them
For me, Easy All Stars, took something seminal (Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ album)and made it untouchable. This track in particular is a really good example of what the album (coyly titled ‘DUB side of the Moon’) has in store. Frankie Paul has an oh so unique croon to him that just pours itself out over the dub styling of the All-Stars like syrup and pancakes (barf if u must, its how I feel dammit… lol). This track forced its way unto my list of all-time favourite songs based on Frankie Pauls stylings alone.

The Tamlins – Baltimore
So you want a lesson in taking a song out of its cultural and historical context, far and away from its intended audience and STILL manage to completely pwn it? Why we have exactly the thing right here! As if the name didn’t give it away already, Baltimore was a track made popular by Nina Simone (originally by Randy Newman) in the late 70’s that spoke to the muted, unappealing reality that was the North American city.