I’m steadily approaching a love vortex, the kind that dramatically separates you from your past and the life you currently are familiar with, the personal wormhole that transforms and transitions you by tearing apart your sense of self, only to recombine your elements and spit you back out at a future location in the fabric of spacetime- with an additional baby in your care. If it sounds violent, that’s not quite right, but it’s not far off either. The intensity of what a birthing mother goes through is the closest first-hand experience I have to what I imagine people go through in the trenches of battle: screams, blood, mind boggling pain, life and death on the line. Of course there’s no war here, thankfully. No weapons or politics, just the beautiful all-consuming work of connecting with our primal nature and bringing a new life into the world. So as my wife and I anxiously await the arrival of this new devastating explosion of love, here are some great songs to funk up your lives to. Bear with me if it’s a bit quiet here, I’m not going anywhere, just busy building. Artwork above comes courtesy of the psychedelic Ukranian photography duo Synchrodogs.

After a 12-month hiatus, Mixtape Riot Radio is back with some of the best songs of the year. Carefully selected and mixed by yours truly, these 60 minutes contain the trademark melange of soul, funk, house, Afrobeat and other global styles that we’re known for. Songs from Chaka Khan, DJDS, Jungle, Maleek Berry, and Channel Tres may be familiar to you regular readers, but there’s also a few new joints that are top notch, including work from Aroop Roy, Leon Bridges and Thornato. Weaving through mid-tempo funk, uptempo dance tracks, and chilled out psychedelic soul, this mix is perfect to throw on at your holiday pre-party or in your headphones while you get to where you’re going. The state of the world may be deep in turmoil, but these songs help remind us that at least the state of current music is good.

Happy holidays everyone, and cheers to closing out 2018 with a bang!

download also available on the Brooklyn Radio page

Tracklist:

1. Chaka Khan – Like Sugar
2. DJDS – I Get By ft. Amber Mark & Vory
3. Jungle – Heavy, California
4. Leon Bridges – Bad Bad News
5. Maleek Berry – Sisi Maria
6. Little Dragon – Lover Chanting
7. Channel Tres – Controller
8. Tune-Yards – Heart Attack
9. Shungudzo – Paper (Captain Planet Remix)
10. Aroop Roy – Talkin Bout Life
11. Rhye – Song For You (Mansionair Remix)
12. Topaz Jones – Toothache
13. Thornato – Back It Up ft. Zongo Abongo
14. Dollar DJ – Wolosso (Uproot Andy Remix)
15. Mr Eazi & Diplo – Open & Close
16. Childish Gambino – This Is America (Rell The Soundbender Remix)
17. Waajeed – I Just Wanna Tell
18. Captain Planet – Manman Mwan
19. Kali Uchis – After The Storm ft. Tyler the Creator & Bootsy Collins
20. Khruangbin – August 10

Perhaps my most played contemporary artist this year (at home at least) was Amber Mark. Really looking forward to hearing what comes next for her, and in the meanwhile I’ll keep returning to this goodie when I need that upward boost. Also stoked to hear freshness from one of my favorite bands of the past decade- Little Dragon. The new 3 song EP has only top notch brainfood. Then we go to some older random pop funk I recently stumbled on, a very tasteful Afro-Baile-Dembow remix by the homie Uproot Andy and a collabo made in heaven from Diplo & Mr. Eazi. As the energy picks up, I felt it appropriate to drop a shot of badass house followed by a chaser of beautiful Detroit electronic soul from the maestro Waajeed. Taking things down, and going really deep, we get otherworldly with a recent cut from my friend Atropolis whose new EP (like all his material) does not disappoint. Finishing off with an absolutely gorgeous song that I keep coming back to by Cape Verdean chanteuse Mayra Andrade with spacious production from global bass don Branko. OK, just music for you all today, no rants on the state of the world, accompanied by a cool painting by Rick Bartow who has a show up at the Autry Museum here in LA definitely worth checking.

Here’s your weekly injection of inspiration along with a solid supply of sonic survival tools. It’s heavy out here, so stay seeking the good stuff, then share it and spread it some more. Some chill vibey tracks today, mixed with a touch of classic funk, some dirty bass, a bit of uplifting house music, and some soul salve to heal the nagging heartaches. Artwork above comes from the talented Adebayo Bolaji, check him out.

Here we go, on the eve of a very major election here, I’m trying to keep my calm and dispel the anxiety with positive thoughts- like the release of this remix I did for the super talented Shungudzo. Her original song “Paper” (and the accompanying music video) was so good, I wasn’t sure how I could improve it, but after hearing that she’d been listening to a lot of Nigerian disco lately, I figured that was my angle in. So here’s a great song, completely reworked stylistically, from an artist who you will most certainly be hearing more about soon. We’ve got some original collabo’s in the works, plus she’s responsible for the really dope title track off the latest Rudimental album (a song which can easily serve as a rallying cry for everyone out here trying to steer away from Trump’s divisive, racist, fear mongering rhetoric). With that in mind, let’s have a toast to all our differences while turning up the volume on this one and reminding ourselves that yes, indeed, there is something much greater than paper!

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Brand new banger alert!!! Inspired by a B2B afterhours set together a while back, I joined forces with SOOHAN (who I originally met at a warehouse party in Baltimore about 10 years back) to cook up this heavy grimey late night bass jammy. Something a lil different that what I usually do, but damn if it isn’t fun to drop this one in a set. We wanted to share this one before Halloween so you can have something fresh for your local freak fest. FREE DOWNLOAD from the soundcloud page, go grab it and bump loudly! ✌️