#tmhu

Up until now, Spanish-language hip-hop has only been on my radar in a very peripheral way. And there, mostly in the context of bilingual US-american emcees. Sparked by my recent journey to learn the language, and using music as a means of advancing towards that goal, I decided to look a little more closely. 

And... whoa. Talk about opening the floodgates. I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me before, but nearly half a billion people speaking one language and dispersed over several continents is an extremely fascinating exercise in the acquisition and expression of hip-hop culture. 

I tried to make a mix of some of the artists I’ve been listening to as of late. Right now, my understanding of the music is still on a very superficial level. I like the way it sounds, but my understanding of the lyrics is still rather limited. It’s sure to be a hodge-podge of accents, dialects, and flavors. 

If anyone out there wants to throw recommendations my way, I’m always open to that.

Chances are good that I’ll revisit this particular subject more than once (maybe showcasing artists from particular countries or regions)

My process for choosing show playlists goes something like this:

- Create folder labeled [Month name] - Bit-by-bit dump in tracks that I like - Week before show: Begin culling the list - Week of the show: Holy shit... really start culling the list - Two days before show: Mix first hour - Evening before the show: Mix 30 minutes of the second hour -> panic -> DGAF -> whatever

This process leaves me with about 70% of that original folder un-played (for various reasons). Hence, the “TMHU presents:” Mixes. Here’s one with a bunch of breakup song remixes and mashups. Enjoy!

Sooo... 

I’ve neglected this page for so long, but as you can see, I am wearing a set of large headphones so that means that things are happening. Musical things. Wonderous things. Things you’re going to want to listen to. 

Thing #1:

I’m going to start posting playlists here again. Sorry that I stopped doing that. I was posting them on the FSK website and it took me about 6 months to realize that their content management system wasn’t saving them in the show descriptions in definitely. So... I lost months and months of playlists. 

Thing #2

As of 2016, Turn My Headphones only airs about 5 times a year. It’s total bullshit, but I’m a busy gal and the monthly pace was really sapping the fun out of the whole project. That said, there’s a lot of music that I want to present, but 5 times a year isn’t that much. So now, I’ve got a Mixcloud page  and I’ll periodically throw up a mix to tide you over between shows. Themed-mixes, too hot for radio mixes... all that jazz... so keep an eye out

Thing #3

This month’s show will feature some offering from my partner in rhyme and TMHU’s Senior London Correspondent: Sista Sis. She interviewed rapped Ray Vendetta and we’ll post a transcript of the interview right here (along with some clips in the show). 

Thing #4

This month's show was a semi-first, but an experience upon which I'd like to build and repeat. For the first time, I set the playlist over a week in advance of the show (instead of the night before). One of my goals is to make more solid transitions from one song to the next, rather than just fade in/fade out transitions. It's a work in progress, but getting better (I think). As far as "workflows" go, I think I've found the one for me, but I really need to stop mixing inside of my headphones. It all sounds janky as fuck on the studio speakers after I've mixed everything on my headphones. And then I have to try to balance out the sound in the studio, which leads to the volume bullshit that you can hear in the playback. DJ-ing 101: Unless you're mixing live and can make split second adjustments in your headphones and hear the results on big ass speakers....uhmmm don't mix in your headphones, you'll be disappointed. As always, my radio show is less about the acoustics and more about playing music that I love. Still, I want to make a playlist that floooooows. Right now, the problems is that I get home late at night sometimes and I don't want to subject neighbors to loud music from my speakers. Work in progress. I've got an amazing new graphic for the show with more to come; still, I want to put something together that does it justice. I don't necessarily want an entirely scripted show, but I like talk about the music that I'm playing and that I like and I've got a lot of ideas swirling around in my head. Now I've got the new name, the new graphic...the two big steps to greatness. Now, I need to get guests. This Friday, I was in the whole studio by myself. Usually, there are people pre-producing their shows or other shit like that. On Friday ,I felt like Tom Cruise/Joel Gooden in Risky Business. It's fun, but also creepy since you're by yourself talking to yourself (since you have no idea who's listening).

I literally wrote this sentence in my journal in the 11th grade.

  Anyway, hanging out alone in the studio is kinda played out. I've got the part now where I live blog links and shit, so I need to make the next steps. Maybe I'll start out with friends. If you want to hang out with me in the radio studio and shoot the shit about music then hit me up!

In the meantime, listen to this month's show. I actually put some effort into it. It was intended to be a show about mashups, until I realized that hip hop and mashups are kind of the same thing. Mashups, remixes and samples. What's the difference? Not really anything. Life is a remix.

Some people say that sampling is wack. Sampling can be an art. You can hear two (Jay-Z + Alicia Keys) different tracks (Asamov) with the same sample (Atmosphere) flipped different ways (Jean Grae) and each song conveys a different mood. Last Beer Thursday at work, a co-worker said (paraphrased), "I studied music and when people listen to music that I think is shitty, I die a little inside." 

I recognize this feeling. I studied music, sang in a choir, played piano, trumpet, and French horn (lots of brass instruments). I'm not a professional, but I can kind of decipher musical notes. It might take me a lot longer than, say, 15 years ago, but now I think -- fuck -- if shitty music is your kryptonite, then that's a huge genetic minus. You're not very equipped to survive on a Darwinian scale in the grand scheme of the history of homo sapiens. If music that you think is shitty is the thing that kills you....then....well...........sucks to be you, I guess? Whatever...change the channel. Get over it. I don't think we can be friends.

At any rate, I think I played some tight tracks this month. Some I'd consider mashups, some remixes, some are flipped samples....it's all good to me. Just need to work on the talking parts. 

Here's the playlist; take a listen to the show and the playlist:

The Hood Internet - Wiz Khalifa + Phantogram - Move Up

The Hood Internet - Ace Hood + Black Keys - Hustle and Gone

The Black Keys ft Biggie - She's Long Gone (Wet Paint remix)

DangerDoom - Benzie Box

Fünf Sterne Deluxe - Wir ham's drauf

Eins Zwo - Das alte Lied von und mit Mutter Nature

NMZS ft Gabo - Wunderschön

Dendemann - Lalalabernicht

Käptn Peng und die Tentakel von Delphi - Der Anfang ist nah

Ozomatli - Cumbia de los Muertos

Da Beatminerz ft Last Emperor - Mafia Don

Hocus Pocus - WO:OO

Pigeon John - Money Back Guarantee

Käptn Peng und die Tentakel von Delphi - Champagner und Schnitten

Blumentopf - Party Safari

Kamp & Whizz Vienna - Frag mich wofür

The Hood Internet - Kid Sister + Flosstradamus + Symmetry - City Luuk

Johnny Polygon - Everyday's a Holiday

K.I.Z. - Abteilungsleiter der Liebe

K.Flay ft MC Lars - Paper Planes & Spitballs

Wick-it the Instigator - Big Boi + Black Keys - Black Bug

Wick-it the Instigator - Busta Rhymes + ODB - Woo Haa

The Hood Internet - Wale + Kavinsky - Nightchain

Koljah ft NMZS - Rapamukkale

Notorious BIG - Everyday Struggle (Dead Battery remix)

Atmosphere - Ha, this one's about alcohol, too

Brother Ali - Pedigree

I don't have any special notes about this show. There was a mini-tribute to NMZS, who passed away last month. Initially, I was thinking of doing an entire show of Antilopen Gang/Anti Alles Aktion tracks, but decided to save that for another time. Also, the subject of nerdcore came up (veryveryvery briefly), so I might do a nerdcore show soon (keep in mind that time is all relative to me and "soon" can mean a lot of things).

Overall, I think I played a lot more German-language tracks than I have in a long time, which is a nice change of pace. And, as usual, quite a bit of free / name-your-own-price tracks. The links are below.

Anyway, you're here for the playlist...so here it is!