Grier’s Warehouse

hi there,

hers a list of songs i’ve grown an attachment to within the month. vibes are all over the place but i’m sure you’ll find enjoyment is some if not all.

At first I was unsure of how I felt about them dropping Mac's unreleased work. Mainly because I had a ton of questions such as "Was the work complete?" Who's in control of his estate? Do they need money? Was it finished before he passed? Was it in his wishes to have this released?" After listening through a few times though, I love it. Packed with premium bars per usual. I think it's dark and sad at moments but it’s also very reflective and energetic.. and that's on brand for Mac. I feel it added a bit of color to his mental state in his final days. Rest in peace, legend.

I was a HUGE fan of Luv 4 Rent (also She Already Decided - his mixtape) as they both exhibited his artist development and exploration of sound, so when I saw that Smino dropped 'Maybe In Nirvana' I was ecstatic. At first I felt it was too soon. Luv 4 Rent was still breathing I felt.. then again Luv 4 Rent is 3 years old now 😬 Oh how time flies. Personally, I'm more in favor of Luv 4 Rent but I enjoyed this piece as well and its features.

Now this is one of those songs that has movement. Very good summer drive energies. It’s also a collab that I never expected. I love EarthGang, and Pharrell, proving time and time again that his talent is boundless. I wonder how it feels to elevate everything you touch.

My intro to _By.Alexander was ‘Trumpets’ and ‘the absence’ featured on his first album ‘000 Channel Black.’ His fusion of jazz and ??? idk, I love it though! With this new album, I wasn’t sure what to expect but expectations were exceeded. GREAT production and again, something new and refreshing but also quite enjoyable. ‘BYA’ on the 2024 album ‘MEMORIES FOR SALE —-AT—-> 66 GREENE ST SOHO NY’ (quite the name btw) has that movement that I refer to often. It’s a progressive feeling of moving forward with an objective in mine as the speed is definitely felt. ‘FRIENDZONE’, ‘BLUH BLUH BLUH’, and ‘TRUMPETS - Retake’ are some of my other favs from this album but ‘FOCUS’ is hands down my favorite. Tainted by its sample & feature, Julius Rodriguez. Prisner by Julius is in my Asylum ✨ playlist which features songs with minimal words and is used as a safe space decorated by sounds the create a vacuum for uninfluenced though. Perhaps my brains association with that serene feeling is what made me fall in love with this track so much, a Jersey Mix (adjacent opposite) feel. I’m a fan!

This track reminds me of my Cosmo Pyke/Yellow Days era. Quiet, grainy, industrial room on an overcast day vibes. River Tiber is underrated. I thought they were hugely well known based on their features list but their Spotify monthly listens comes in at 700k at the time of this post.. I would’ve estimated them to be at 1.2M. If you like this, and my By.Alexander tracks, check out ‘Here and There’ and ‘Nevada’ by River Tiber as well.

Now, let’s talk about it. Domi & JD Beck. Let’s give them their flowers! Such a vibe. This entire album is a great study, clean the room, chill vibe. I was put onto them by ‘Pilot’ featuring Anderson Paak. (who i recently found out was dating Mariah Carey? Is that true? Hmm 🧐)

This California dude… I have such and affinity for this man. He loves good music and cars! If I were an artist, my lifestyle would most align with his.. or how it appears. Being a lover of cars, most of this album artworks include his latest automotive acquisition and I’m always a fan. Perhaps great marketing cos I always have to check it out. ‘Cleaning My Spot’ reminds me of independence, some of my old apartments, sunny weather, letting the car roll down the street instead of touching the gas, a freshly lit j and I’m here for it! Here are some other tracks to check out if you’ve never heard of my boy Larry J.

Brand New Machinery (ft. DUCKWRTH🤗)

A Little While

Imported Couches

Summer Reign

Watering My Plants

This is gonna be another big year for SZA. Her name is on a lot of recent projects. My gf and I went to check out ‘One of Them Days’ and thought it’s marketed as a chick flick, i thoroughly enjoyed it! It also had a pretty nice soundtrack. None of SZA’s songs were on there but… Chill Baby has such a great flow. I love that slow head bob and the way she throws her voice in a wave pattern. 🥰 My cousin is a STAN and was forcing me to listen to this album. Drive was the first one I heard in a shuffle and was the track that essentially brought me to the album. These two songs have had me in a chokehold!

I guess Goldlink will be dropping soon. After checking this out, I will say I’m quite excited for it and feel that this will bring him back since it’s so sample heavy. I know they tried to cancel him! but I like this and am hopeful it will regain him acceptance.

I ran out of links so here are my honorable mentions:

Crowded Afternoon | Contour

Be The Good People | The Mighty Tiny & The Many Few

Agave | okay coleman

Good Evening | Arin Ray

'GNX' | Kendrick Lamar

'Maybe in Nirvana' | Smino

'MEMORIES FOR SALE ---AT---> 66 GREENE ST SOHO NY' | _BY.ALEXANDER

'Balloonerism' | Mac Miller

'Anyway I Can' | Elmiene

‘Why Lawd?’ | NxWorries

‘TIMELESS’ | KAYTRANADA

‘Dark Times’ | Vince Staples

‘FRANCIS’ | ESTA

‘North Vol 2.’ | Sango

First on the list is Cleo Sol. Fans would know that she blessed us with two albums this year, Heaven and Gold with only 14 days elapsing between releases. With Heaven being the first release, we can start there. After running it back for a few revolutions, I didn’t dislike it… but I also didn’t LOVE it the way I did he Sophomore release in 2021 entitled ‘Mother.’ If you haven’t heard that one, you should definitely check it out after reading this. It’s the perfect example of an album that sprinkled itself throughout your shuffle, and by the time you realized it, the entire album was saved. Mother, to me is very much a no skip album and I can confidently say that it’s in my top 10 albums of all time.

Getting back into it though. Frequent readers will come to realize that I describe things the mesh very well as cake or lasagna. This song is a slice of cake. The vocals over the keys with the drum in the back, a very well produced song. I like how raw it sounds as well. Infrequently, Cleo will post clips of her sitting on a very comfortable couch, holding a mic singing. I can hear that with this song. Aligned with the band Sault that she’s in, they often preserve the raw sound of them recording these songs in very intimate settings and being able to hear that, if feel, invites the listener into the room.

To keep from getting fixated on Cleo, I’ll just list my favs from Gold, but rest assured that I adore this album more than Heaven. Not sure if I’d appreciate it over Mother but I’d entertain the debate/discussion. I can be influenced.

Following up with another of my fav artists rn, Leon Thomas. (I’m sounding more and more like that Spotify DJ with these entries. At the time of my typing this, I’m going to see Leon Thomas perform later today. Stay tuned. I may create an entry about the performance in itself. Electric Dusk is a very good album. I could be blinded by my fandom from Crash & Burn & Breaking Point but I think Leon did a very good job with this. I just hope he gets a proper Marketing team for his tour. I don’t have high hopes that he will tour this album the way I want him to but we will see.

Now, I can’t stand being a member of the mainstream but Tyla but her foot and alll 5 toes into this song. It’s a vibe! How could you not wanna move a lil after hearing this. It’s a feel good song. To expound on my growing appreciation for her, check this other song by her out. As a preface, give it some timeeeeeee and I you might hit a lil step on this one too. Just wait for the beat to topple as it doesn’t really drop in the manner we’re used to.

And since we’re on the island vibes, I might as well throw this one in here.

I don’t think this woman can make a bad song or make anyone upset even if she tried.

Slowing the vibe down with this one. If you work in an environment where you need to focus but can listen to music, check this album out. ‘Black Classical Music’ by Yussef Dayes. Rust, and Woman’s Touch are my two other recommendations from this album but if your interest is peaked, give it a spin and come back to this post to let me know what you’re thinking.

Let’s talk about Terrace Martin. This weekend, this song played in my shuffle and whatever I was doing before it came on, I was no longer doing it. I love this song and I love this artist. It’s like water. The song is pure but fluid but it also has as slight rasp or a hint of dust on it, y’know. The kicks, and the echoing vocals overtop. Yes please. Now from here, there are so many directions you can go in, which I hope speaks to Terrace’s range. As I go through my liked songs by him, I see that he’s credited on Dinner Party several times, so I feel a little behind the curve on this realization now but.. 🤷🏾

We’re not going to spend too much time here because Terrace Martin is the mainstay of this discussion though. Just listen to this one as a brief intermission/ moment of appreciation/ entr’acte.

I’ll try not to to brain dumb on this one but I need you to relax, assume your most comfortable music consumption setup and tap into this.

Alex Isley? Oooowwwweeee. THESE KICKS. It’s like a chocolate cake. You don’t even have to like chocolate. Lasagna, shyt! It’s all meshes and melts together very well. He knows what he’s doing musically but in a suave fashion. When I listen to this, I think, yes, everyone involved in this grew up with music being heavily rooted in their life. You can hear the generations, again going back to the Nascent post I made. (Go check that out) This song adds a different layer of volume and becomes 2.54 dimensional. If you don’t get what I mean, I’m saying it’s not quite 3D. I’m not tripping, but it’s an added layer of life and volume that the song has.

Now this is where I might loose some people, and that’s okay. But for those that are still with me, where my Donny fans at? Though I think you can appreciate this without being a Donny Hathaway fan, I do thing having taken that pre-requisite, you can appreciate what Terrace has done here. An not only did you write an Ode to Donny, you included his daughter on the same body appreciating both of their talents as individual artists. Check this out.

If you didn’t appreciate what Terrace did with Valdez Off Crenshaw, that’s fine because you may appreciate this one more but buckle up because it’s 11 minutes long.

A percussive Mortal Man remake? OMG. I think I also appreciate it even more too because it’s not one of the more popular songs from ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’

I hope you enjoyed these few songs. Go check out more of Terrace Martin’s discography and come back to let me know how you’re feeeling about it.

This album meant a lot to me and spoke to me when I was going through a crossroad in what I was going to do with my career.

Bringing it back to the top though with this one. I remember listening to this and being like… damn, but I fw it. Focus on your creative career and put that negro in an intro. I RESPECT that. To me it was a subtle way to talk yo shyt.

This was another one that had me hooked for a minute. Short but sweet.

Now you know how I feel about features… Already being a proud fan of Saba, and retaining my increasing appreciation for DUCKWRTH’s production, my interest was peeked. It’s a very smooth feature that encompasses three very different vibes rolled into a smooth pulling splif. So now I’m like “Wait, he’s working with these names? He’s respectable” re: ‘Nascent’ - the artist. Which again goes back to the subtle “talk yo shyt” feel for your name to be a word defined as “just coming into existence and beginning to display signs of future potential.” +5 point on the scorecard

This one right here though. This one stuck a creative spark. It’s a voicemail that he wrapped the music around. I love that progressive feel of going on a journey. It kind of gives the song more volume or introduces it into a 2.54th dimension. Do you feel the same, or see what I’m saying?

S

This feature right here though. Y’all know I loveeee a good feature and am again, A PROUD FAN of Jordan Ward. If you’re not hip, pleaseeeee listen to ‘moreward(FORWARD)’ by him after reading through this one. SN: Which makes me wonder, does ‘Striaght Forward’ have anything to do with Jordan Ward’s whole Forward, thing he got going on? For the people who know, let ME know what you thing.